Today, we got our FAP shipment in from White Labs and in it was a sample pack of Clarity-Ferm. It comes in 5mL vials and one vial is good for 5 gallons. Applied to the cooled wort during pitching, it is supposed to get rid of chill haze. I am planning on using it for my IPA this weekend, but I was wondering if anyone has heard of or used it yet. Any feed back would be awesome, and I will post my results when I know anything.
Interesting. Please let us know what you hear. I wonder now if it is a proprietary
item or if an MSDS exists (and by law an MSDS should exist).
Polyclar comes to my mind…
I also wonder what the trade off (if any) is for a ‘shortcut’ solution like this is in terms of the end product compared to just giving the brew time to clear on it’s own.
I have the Data Sheet that was emailed to me by John @ White Labs. I will give him a call Monday and see if he will allow me to post the information contained within on this forum.
I was given permission by John from White Labs to post the Data Sheet on Clarity Ferm, unfortunately I wasnt able to figure out how to link the pdf, so I just copied and pasted.
White Labs Fermentation Enzymes
Made with Brewers Clarex™ by
Product Specification Sheet
CLARITY-FERM
Product Information
Product Description
Enzyme preparation for food use containing proline-specific endo-protease
derived from a selected self-cloned strain of Aspergillus niger
Product Number
WLN4000
Application market
Beer: Improves the colloidal stability of beer
Appearance
liquid (appearance may vary from batch to batch)
Standardized activity
≥ 5 PPU/g
Status
The production strain is improved by biotechnological techniques and contains
multiple copies of a gene naturally present in the strain
Kosher approved
Halal approved
Allergen statement available on request
Regulatory information
The product complies with general specifications for food enzyme preparations as published by JECFA, FCC and in
French “Arrêté auxiliaires technologiques du 19 octobre 2006” and with FDA current GMP standards (21 CFR 110).
Composition
Carrier
glycerol ≥ 45 %
Chemical properties
pH
3.8 - 4.2
Heavy metals
< 30 ppm (as Pb)
Lead
< 5 ppm
Arsenic
< 3 ppm
Cadmium
< 0.5 ppm
Mercury
< 0.5 ppm
Microbiological properties
Total plate count
< 5 * 104 CFU per g
Coliforms
< 30 CFU per g
Escherichia coli
absent in 25 g
Salmonella
absent in 25 g
Staphylococcus aureus
absent in 1 g
Sulphate reducers
< 30 CFU per g
Anti bacterial activity
absent by test
Mycotoxins
absent by test
Yeasts
< 10 per g
Moulds
< 10 per g
Stability data
Recommended storage temperature 4 - 8°C
When stored in recommended condition, the activity loss will be less than 5% within 18 months.
WHITE LABS, INC. ■ 7564 TRADE STREET ■ SAN DIEGO, CA 92121 For orders: 888.5.YEAST.5
888.693.1026 (fax) ■ www.whitelabs.com
White Labs Fermentation Enzymes
Made with Brewers Clarex™ by
Safety and Handling
Please refer to the Materials Safety Data Sheet available on request
Contact
White Labs, Inc. www.whitelabs.com info@whitelabs.com
Laboratory and
Administrative Offices
R&D Laboratory
Sales & Customer Service
7564 Trade Street
2001 Second Street
5455 Spine Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Suite 2
Mezzanine East
USA
Davis, CA 95618
Boulder, CO, 80301
Tel: (858) 693-3441
USA
USA
Fax: (858) 693-1026
Tel: (530) 756-2879
Tel: (888) 5-YEAST-5 (US & Canada)
Fax: (530) 756-2870
(303) 530-0469 (International)
Fax: (888) 693-1026 (US & Canada)
(303) 530-3816 (International)
WHITE LABS, INC. ■ 7564 TRADE STREET ■ SAN DIEGO, CA 92121 For orders: 888.5.YEAST.5
888.693.1026 (fax) ■ www.whitelabs.com
White Labs Fermentation Enzymes
Made with Brewers Clarex™ by
APPLICATION DATA SHEET
CLARITY-FERM
A highly specific endo-protease to prevent chill haze in beer
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
CLARITY-FERM is a product containing a highly specific endo-protease which only cleaves polypeptides at the
carboxyl end of the amino acid proline. It is standardized at a minimum of 1 PPU per gram.
FUNCTION
Chill haze in beer results from the precipitation of complexed polyphenols and proteins during cold storage. The
nature of this precipitation has been shown to be the result of hydrogen bonding between the polyphenols and the
proline-rich fraction of particular polypeptides. This haze develops over time and, initially, is reversible (haze
disappears when the temperature of the beer increases). As the hydrogen bonding becomes stronger this chill haze
can become permanent.
CLARITY-FERM will prevent the precipitation of complexed polyphenols and proteins by hydrolyzing the
sensitive (haze-active) polypeptides in the region where such hydrogen bonding occurs. The specificity of the
enzyme ensures that no other beer parameters are affected.
APPLICATION
CLARITY-FERM can be used with all kinds of malts and other raw materials.
CLARITY-FERM is added to cooled wort at the beginning of fermentation.
The required dose rate is determined by:
− The percentage of barley malt, raw barley and/or wheat of the total grist composition;
The specific gravity (Plato) of the wort at the beginning of fermentation;
The shelf-life required (months).
Note: There is no requirement to treat any adjuncts derived from maize grits or rice with CLARITY-FERM.
Recommended Dose Rates of CLARITY-FERM*
Shelf-Life Requirement
Raw Material (by extract)
6 – 9 months
9 - 12 months
100% malted barley
6 – 10 g/Hl
10 – 15 g/Hl
60% malted barley
3 – 6 g/Hl
6 – 9 g/Hl
*Recommended dose rates based on a 12ºP wort
I just found this exchange after posting a question to Randy Mosher about Clarity-Ferm. It’s been 6 months but I just read in the Jan-Feb 2011 issue of Zymurgy about Charlie Papazian using it in his low-gluten beer.
I’m a Ph.D. biochemist so I can state that biochemically speaking this product makes a lot of sense. A proline-specific endopeptidase will only clip the protein where the amino acid proline occurs. This means that there will be relatively large pieces of protein or polypeptide remaining in most cases, since proline is not that common in most proteins. Thus, the Clarity-Ferm enzyme is a highly targeted approach to reducing the complexation that takes place between the proline sections of the protein and the polyphenols. This would be in contrast to a less specific enzyme that would clip the protein in multiple places, results in small peptides and maybe even single amino acids. Finally, the product being made in Aspergillus is no big deal. This mold is a common host for expression of recombinant proteins.
My interest in the product was to find out what the beer was like from people who have used it. Also, have some homebrewers actually tested the product scientifically, by splitting a batch and using Clarity-Ferm on one half and nothing on the other?