Finings – A ‘Cloudy’ Judgement Call!

What Are Finings?

Finings are substances that are usually added at or near the completion of the processing of brewing wine, beer, some ‘washes’ and various non-alcoholic juice beverages.  Some are a one-part fining and have a single active ingredient. Others are a two-part fining and have two ingredients.  There are a number of different fining agents, including some that are suitable for vegetarians and/or vegans.

What Do Finings Do?

Finings are processing aids added to your brew to remove yeast and protein haze; i.e. the cloudy look in what you have made.  During fermentation yeast cells and proteins form a colloidal suspension that appears as a haze. A colloidal suspension forms when very small, charged particles are suspended in a liquid making it look cloudy.

Do I Have To Use Finings?

The choice is yours and it depends on how much you care about the clarity of what you are making. If you are after clear or cloud free liquid, then using finings is one very easy trick to help you with that goal.

What Are Finings Made Of?

There are various different agents for fining and it is the use of animal-derived products, such as egg whites or milk casein, which can prevent the end product being marketed as vegan.  That is not to say that there are not vegan friendly options also.  In general the common fining agents include gelatine, isinglass (aka fish bladder), egg whites, casein, bentonite, carbon.  Irish moss (aka ‘protafloc tablets’), a type of carrageenan seaweed, is often added to the boil to help reduce protein haze.  This is often referred to as ‘silicated’ or ‘vegan finings’. They aren’t quite as effective as isinglass however still can produce the desired outcome.

Chris Marshall – brewathome.shop (Last Updated: 22nd October, 2022)