beer finings

Russ2109

hi ya chaps its been a while
my ? is I am  having a little trouble with my brew clearing, tried a few kits, made mistakes as I knew I would , when do you add finings? I am unclear as you need the cloudy brew after racking to start secondary fermentation so do I add finings after a few days or will this kill carbonation , I have just bought a pressure vessel from your shop hopefully this will help me but I am still in the dark when it comes to beer brewing , got the wine making down to a fine art now using kits, that is , will experiment this summer with traditional wines , but any help on the beer & lager front would be a real godsend .
Cheers Russ

HBO_Staff

Hi Russ, no problem, it's good to hear the wine making is going well. For beer and lagers you can add the finings at the end of fermentation, before adding the priming sugar, usually at the end of fermentation in the first vessel, and leave it for a couple of days to help clear the brew before bottling or transferring into a barrel. Once the beer is in your barrel or bottles you would then usually add the sugar to prime it, seal it up and this will then create secondary fermentation. If the beer is already quite clear aty this stage it may increase the time taken for the beer to carbonate, as it is the yeast which is suspended in the beer which works with the sugar to create the secondary fermentation.

There are other ways to help reduce sediment and clear your beer as an alternative to using finings, a few options are on this link if interested;

http://homebrewonline.vanillaforums.com/discussion/457/cloudy-brewsediment-a-guide-to-reducing-sediment-clearing#latest

Russ2109

Hi
 yet again full of good advice . One ? though this upgraded yeast ,on the link you provided it says nottingham ale yeast , can it be used for lager ? I am desperate to try coopers ceveza kit but don't want to mess things up ,any tips?
Cheers again Russ

HBO_Staff

Out of the Danstar range the Nottingham would be the most suitable, and will really help with the sediment, it forms a thick sludge which is much harder to disturb. The Cerveza is very popular, in fact it sold out and has gone back on sale this morning, we recommend for best results you follow the manufacturers advice and use Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 instead of sugar - this will much improve the mouth feel and flavours, although it is not essential and sugar will make a good lager

Russ2109

Hi
thanks. I ordered a couple of yeasts this morning & with your last posting I am just about to order coopers enhancer 2.
Cheers Russ

HBO_Staff

Cheers Russ, much appreciated, you will see the difference, we'll get them out to you asap, it's all in stock as usual. See what you think to it and we'd love to hear a review once it's made and see what you think, as usual though, the longer it's left to condition in bottles (or a barrel) the better it gets!