[jrhomebrewing]

What kind of finings do you guys use to make your beer clear and how do you use them?

[MNWayne]

Time. Up until now I've always just let time take care of things, however, I just purchased Whirlflock and forgot all about using it this past weekend, so maybe next batch this coming weekend. Lot's of people swear by gelatin. Check out Brulosophy.

[klickitat jim]

Cold: After fermentation is complete, I set my controller to 32F.

Gelatin: Once my beer reaches 32F I add gelatin. I heat 8 ounces of distilled water to about 120F and stir in 1 envelope of Knox unflavored gelatin. Ignore the aroma, it does not remain in the beer. Continue zapping in the microwave, stirring between zaps with a sanitized thermometer until it reaches 150F. At that temp it should become clear. I split that into two 4 ounce portions and pour 4 ounces per 6 gallons into my beer. I VERY gently oscillate the fermentor (about 2 seconds does it) to hypothetically spread the gelatin out. In about 2 days I rack the beer to a keg. I don't jostle the fermentor, and i fully purge the keg.

I suspect that some folks who don't get good results with gel fining, it's because they either don't get the beer cold enough first, or they move the fermentor around before racking. That kicks up the powdery sediment and defeats the purpose.

The only other fining I use is a half a tab of whilrflock per 6 gallon batch at the last 10min of boil.

[ethinson]

Irish moss in the boil.  Works pretty well in things like british bitter and pale ale.  Doesn't work as well in my dry hopped IPAs.  Clarity is not something I worry about much.  Some yeast flocs better than others, so I really don't know if the irish moss even does anything.  My best results have been combo of irish moss and quick dropping yeast.

[klickitat jim]

I don't think Irish moss or whirlfloc will do anything for post boil.

[Philbrew]

Cold: After fermentation is complete, I set my controller to 32F.

Gelatin: Once my beer reaches 32F I add gelatin. I heat 8 ounces of distilled water to about 120F and stir in 1 envelope of Knox unflavored gelatin. Ignore the aroma, it does not remain in the beer. Continue zapping in the microwave, stirring between zaps with a sanitized thermometer until it reaches 150F. At that temp it should become clear. I split that into two 4 ounce portions and pour 4 ounces per 6 gallons into my beer. I VERY gently oscillate the fermentor (about 2 seconds does it) to hypothetically spread the gelatin out. In about 2 days I rack the beer to a keg. I don't jostle the fermentor, and i fully purge the keg.

I suspect that some folks who don't get good results with gel fining, it's because they either don't get the beer cold enough first, or they move the fermentor around before racking. That kicks up the powdery sediment and defeats the purpose.

The only other fining I use is a half a tab of whilrflock per 6 gallon batch at the last 10min of boil.

Yup, you have to get the beer below 38F for the chill haze proteins to come out of solution so that the gelatin can grab on and settle them out.