Author: Ray Found
For some brewers, haziness in their beer is a point of pride, an indication that it is somehow more “natural” than the gin-clear swill produced by macro-breweries. Any attempts to clarify beer is often viewed by these folks as antithetical to homebrewing, a practice that sacrifices quality for beauty.
I am not one of these brewers.
Personally, I find nothing more appealing about a hazy beer than the same beer that’s brilliantly clear. From the moment I discovered the power of gelatin, I’ve used it in every batch and have never looked back, even for styles often expected to carry a bit of haze such as Belgian Tripel and Saison. Gelatin is purported to bind to haze-forming proteins, increasing their mass and ultimately encouraging precipitation much more quickly than time and cold can do alone. Whatever it is, it fucking works. My gelatin fined beers usually drop bright within 1 or 2 days of packaging.
Lately, there’s been a lot of chatter about another option for clarification, a product manufactured by White Labs called Clarity Ferm (Also known as Brewers Clarex) which works by enzymatically breaking down the haze forming proteins, making them too small to coagulate and become visible in beer. One of the proteins the enzyme reportedly breaks down is gluten, such that beer treated with Clarity Ferm during fermentation tests to levels consistent with federal “gluten free” regulations. Frankly, if you’ve been avoiding malt-based beer due to gluten concerns, you owe it to yourself to research Clarity Ferm a bit more, as it may be your best bet to enjoy “real” beer.
One potential process advantage of using Clarity Ferm is it’s added when the yeast is pitched, thus eliminating the pre-chilling steps involved in fining with gelatin. With no inherent post-fermentation timeline requirements, one might expect Clarity Ferm treated beer would be clear and ready for serving even sooner than beer fined with gelatin. Let’s see how well this pans out!
| PURPOSE |
To evaluate the differences between Clarity Ferm and gelatin when used to fine a split-batch of the same beer.
| METHOD |
A few beers have become effectively house beers for me that quite frankly need to remain on tap at all times. My Märzen rapidly achieved this status, which, being a beautifully colored lager, I figured would serve as a fabulous platform for evaluating appearance as well as the subtleties of any other potential differences.
Ray Found’s House Märzen Recipe
| Batch Size | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | OG | FG | ABV |
| 11 gal | 90 min | 34 | 10.1 | 1.052 SG | 1.010 SG | 5.2 % |
Fermentables
| Name | Amount | % |
| Vienna Malt | 10lbs 11oz | 45.7 |
| Munich (10L) | 6lbs 6oz | 27.4 |
| Belgian Pils Malt | 4lbs 4oz | 18.3 |
| Gambrinus Honey Malt | 1lbs 1oz | 4.6 |
| Melanoiden Malt | 8.5oz | 2.3 |
| Special B | 6.8oz | 1.8 |
Hops
| Name | Amt/IBU | Time | Use | Form | Alpha % |
| Magnum | 25 IBU | 60 Min | Boil | Pellet | 12.6 |
| Czech Saaz | 120 g/9 IBU | 15 Min | Boil | Pellet | 3.6 |
Yeast
| Name | Lab | Attenuation | Ferm Temp |
| German Ale/Hybrid Kolsch | White Labs 029 | 80% | 58°F |
Water Profile
| Ca | Mg | Na | SO4 | Cl | HCO3 | pH |
| 80 ppm | 0 ppm | 0 ppm | 104 ppm | 68 ppm | 16 ppm | 5.3 |
I made a large starter using 2 vials of WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch yeast the day prior to brewing in order to achieve the cell count prescribed by my yeast starter calculator of choice.
This batch would be the first of many brewed at the new location for Fandhaus Bräu, I was excited for this maiden voyage! I hooked up the natural gas line to my KAB4 burner and started heating my strike water. Once to temp, I mashed in with the assistance of one my favorite brewing tools, the comically large 24″ wire whisk.
The mash settled in to a hair under my target temperature of 152°F.
I used FermCap-S to keep the large volume of wort manageable as it came to a boil and let it roll for 90 minutes.
Once the boil was complete, I quickly chilled it to 6°F above groundwater temps.
I then ran the wort off into identical carboys, alternating between the 2 to ensure equal distribution of kettle trub.
Once full, they were placed in my fermentation chamber to continue to my target fermentation temperature of 58°F, it took a couple hours. Both worts were aerated via shaking just prior to receiving equal portions of my starter, then a vial of Clarity Ferm was immediately added to one of the carboys.
Contrary to warnings that WLP029 experiences poor fermentation below 65°F, both batches were off to the races within 12 hours, and by 36 hours both were making a mess of my blowoff vessel, even at a cool 58°F.
After 5 days of active fermentation and signs of slowing activity, I ramped the temperature over the course of a couple days to 68°F and let it sit for a few more days before verifying the FG. This is when I made the first interesting observation– the Clarity Ferm batch appeared to have attenuated 0.001 SG more than the gelatin batch. Huh. I did a little digging and couldn’t find any good explanation as to why this would be the case.
I began cold crashing 11 days post-pitch. The following day, I dosed the batch that didn’t receive Clarity Ferm with 1 tsp* of unflavored gelatin dissolved in hot water. Three days later, it was time to package. I thought it was interesting how similar the trub in each carboy looked given the differences noted by Marshall in the first gelatin xBmt.
After 24 hours at 40 psi followed by another day at 12 psi, I pulled samples from both kegs for early evaluation. The carbonation was almost ready and both beers were clea… wait. What the..? Sure, the beers had only spent a couple days in the keezer, but the one fined with Clarity Ferm looked markedly different than the gelatin fined batch.
A couple more days in the keezer didn’t help much, as samples 5 days post-packaging revealed a fairly dramatic difference in clarity.
At nearly 2 weeks in the keg, the Clarity Ferm beer was clearer, but the gelatin fined beer was far more so.
| RESULTS |
The participant panel consisted of a mix of BeerMe Brew Club members along with craft beer loving friends and family. Thanks to Sons of Liberty Aleworks in Norco, CA for hosting the meeting!
In all, 22 people participated in this xBmt, meaning 12 (p<0.05) would be required to accurately identify the odd-beer-out in order to achieve statistical significance. Only 5 tasters (p=.29) made the correct selection, a result consistent with chance.
Clarity Ferm is generally accepted to have little if any impact on the overall character of beer; however, many contend fining with gelatin reduces hop character. The fact a rather hefty majority of tasters were unable to distinguish it from the other beer at least supports the idea it’s no more detrimental than Clarity Ferm. Combining this with the results from the first gelatin xBmt where tasters weren’t reliably able to distinguish between a gelatin fined and untreated dry hopped beer, it would seem gelatin has little if any demonstrably negative impact on beer character. Obviously, more data is required to make any conclusive statements, we’ve certainly got more planned.
My Impressions: For my initial attempt at the triangle test, I got it right. But that was it. Afterwards, I was consistently wrong. While drinking these beers the week prior to data collection, the observable differences were initially rather dramatic, I was absolutely convinced there was a flavor distinction early on, but this perception faded at about the same rate as the haze in the Clarity Ferm beer. After about a week in the keg, it had cleared considerably and the beers became increasingly less distinguishable to me, even knowing the nature of xBmt. I wasn’t surprised by the results. I’ll happily drink either without prejudice.
| DISCUSSION |
Taken at face value, the results of this xBmt suggests the impact of both Clarity Ferm and gelatin on beer in terms of flavor and aroma is about the same, enough so that a panel of tasters weren’t reliably able to distinguish between the two. However, neither of these products have necessarily been purported to have a huge impact on anything other than appearance, they’re both marketed as fining agents to assist in the clarification of beer, which allows for arguably more objective measures of differences based mostly on observation:
Overall Clarity
The batch fined with gelatin has better clarity, hands-down. The Clarity Ferm beer is clear, but the gelatin beer is brilliant.
Clarifying Speed
Again, gelatin has the edge, it was pretty much in final form by day 3 in the keg. Even after 3 weeks, the beer treated with Clarity Ferm still hadn’t achieved a similar clarity level.
Ease of Use
I have to give Clarity Ferm a point on this, it is dead simple to use, all one has to do is dump a vial into the fermenter when pitching yeast. Gelatin requires a little post-brew day work, which is easy enough for even the drunkest drunk to do, but it does add another step.
Cost
The comparison here is laughable. A 1 lb container of gelatin costs $16.99 and is good for between 139-278 batches depending on whether you use 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp per batch– that’s $0.06 to $0.12 per batch, possibly the cheapest ingredient in my beer. Clarity Ferm costs $3.49 per 5 gallon batch. Note: it has been brought to our attention that White Labs will reportedly sell the 1L Clarity Ferm preparation to brewers through Yeastman if they have a “pro” account, or by emailing them directly. This lowers the cost of Clarity Ferm to roughly $0.60/batch, YMMV.
Lifestyle Considerations
Gelatin is not for those of the vegetarian/vegan persuasion… it’s made from animal collagen. While not a concern of mine, it’s certainly something to consider if you brew for those sensitive to this. As mentioned earlier, Clarity Ferm is also capable of reducing gluten levels, gelatin has not been reported to do so.
I suspect the early differences in clarity may have been the result of yeast in suspension. Clarity Ferm, being an enzyme that works on proteins, wouldn’t be expected to encourage yeast to flocculate and drop out of solution, though gelatin seems to do just that, clearing not only protein haze but helping to precipitate suspended yeast as well. Thankfully, anecdotal evidence from those who bottle condition indicates enough yeast remains for carbonation to occur, as I’ve heard from many who report great success with gelatin fined beers.
Ultimately, this xBmt largely supports my opinion that gelatin is “powdered time” in that it appears to hasten the impact of time and cold storage. It clears beer much faster than any method I’ve seen or heard of other than manual filtration, which I’ve not tried (and don’t intend to). Another product I’ve yet to try is Biofine Clear, which apparently clears both yeast and haze causing proteins very rapidly, I look forward to comparing it to gelatin soon. Until then, I can’t think of a better way to get an ultra-fresh, crisp lager in 2-3 weeks or a brilliantly clear IPA from from grain-to-glass in 12 days without the assistance of gelatin, and for that, I plan to continue using it in every batch. Cheers!
If you have any thoughts on this xBmt, please share them in the comments section below!
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28 thoughts on “exBEERiment | The Gelatin Effect: Clarity Ferm vs. Gelatin In A Märzen”
Looking forward to the Biofine Clear vs. gelatin comparison (so I can serve my fined beer to my vegan/veg friends – who seem to be plentiful!)
I’m very interested to see a comparison between Biofine Clear and Gelatin
Oh, it’s coming!
My dear spouse has a severe case of celiacs so this approach has some appeal – too bad gelatin doesn’t pull out gluten
No reason you couldn’t use both… to my knowledge. That’s what I would do if I had to brew Gluten Free. White Labs also offers testing, so you can verify it is working. (not cheap though)
I use both and it allows my celiac roommate to drink my beer. She does get sick if she drinks any normal beer.
I’m not surprised by these results. My experience with Clarity Ferm is that it is a product which magically strips gluten from beer, but it in no way compares to gelatin as a fining agent. If I want a gluten-free and clear beer, I use CF and gelatin. Gluten free vegetarians are out of luck, though.
Any idea how long the gluten takes to go away? I was wondering about using BOTH – the gelatin for its fining properties and the Clarity Ferm to get rid of gluten.
The clarity ferm seems to work faster than the yeast. I’ve never had issues with residual gluten even with fermentations as short as 3 days.
Another victory for the cheaper technique! Thanks guys!
I’ve been using clarityferm in everything (15 consecutive batches now) to remove gluten, and can say that it absolutely does *not* clarify beer on its own. Even after sitting at 40F for a month, beer with just clarifyferm stays somewhat cloudy — I then pour gelatin-water into that keg, and it’s brilliant two days later.
Use both, they are completely different tools for different purposes.
It will be nice to see the difference between these two batches and a control batch (untreated) to see the real effect of the clarity ferm. Did you perform it ?
No, haven’t done that yet, we’ve got it on the list.
How does gelatin compare with isinglass?
I have never used isinglass so I cannot comment.
This is something I’ll be interested to find out myself. I have used gelatine in bottled beers before, and it just caused the yeast sediment to become far more easily disturbed than if I hadn’t used it. I am now kegging and using a combination of isinglass to drop yeast, and Polyclar to drop tannins (remove chill haze), however I’ll be bottling the leftovers that aren’t kegged.
First batch into the keg was fined with isinglass and Polyclar. There was never any chill haze in it, but the yeast haze hung around a few days. A week later it’s almost gone. That’s good enough for me considering most of them will be left alone for longer than that once I get into a pipeline of supply kegs.
I dont think this is a fair comparison. Im quite disappointed with this experimental methodology here.
ClarFerm is for polly phenol removal, hence chill haze reduction. Gelatine is for yeast Flock. Your comparing two different properties without a cross control. The clarFerm has yeast in it. And the sample was not served at 0 degrees C to see the difference in chill haze.
You need to use both as a third group test and chill the beer. Use a high protein beer such as a mild ale (without the dark grains),
From White Labs:
“APPLICATIONS:
1) To increase the collodial stability of beer by reducing chill haze.
2) Producing gluten reduced beers in beers made from barley and wheat.”
I agree with Neil…Clarity Ferm and Gelatin do different things. Clarity-Ferm doesn’t clear yeast from the beer, it simply prevents chill haze. Personally, I have had trouble with chill haze even when using fining agents. It was when I started using Clarity-Ferm in addition to the fining agents when I started getting brilliantly clear beer.
Regardless, your results are still meaningful. I thouroghly enjoy your experiments and look forward to them every week. Keep up the great work.
I was going to say pretty much the same thing. Clarity ferm doesn’t claim that it can help yeast flock, it is for chill haze. A different beast altogether. This might as well have been a comparison between gelatin and pectic enzyme or something. It doesn’t make any sense. 🙂
Have you ever tried Kieselsol? A brewer in town swears by the stuff, they put out some really clear beers and don’t have any fancy equipment. I think that may be a decent follow up exbeeriment – Gelatin versus Kieselsol
Definitely a good idea for a future xBmt. I’ve never heard of Kieselsol.
Might wana read up on Kieselsol before designing the experiment… Remember, Gelatine is Negativity charged….
From https://winemakermag.com/26-a-clearer-understanding-of-fining-agents
Kieselsol (negative charge): Also known as silicon dioxide. Kieselsol works well with gelatine as a clearing agent, since it acts as a tannin substitute and works well to remove bitterness from white wines. When used with gelatine, the gelatine is added to the wine first, and then 24 to 48 hours later, a very small amount of Kieselsol is added, and should be racked off within 2 weeks. Kieselsol also works with chitosan (see the section on chitosan earlier).
What charge is yeast? Negative, I assume..
And what charge are polyphenol and tanins???? I dont know.
And so what woud the experiment testing for?
How would we test for the effective removal of each haze producing element if we were to be looking at an independent variable.. Chilling to 0 degrees C? Vs warm?
Or would we combine them and compare to one alone?
Interesting.
Im quite happy with Gelatine alone, however would be grateful if we could find something more effective.
I’ve never heard of it.
Great experiment. Sorry if this has been shared and I missed it but any chance you have posted more info on your blowoff vessel? Looks very interesting and much better than my star san in a bowl setup.
Haha, sure… it is an old costco pub mix container (http://www.costco.com/Utz-Original-Pub-Mix-44oz.product.100113277.html) that I drilled (4) 5/8″(I think) holes in the lid of to fit 1/2″ hoses thru. Works pretty great.
Really, really like your ExBeeriments. Saves me tons of time and energy from performing them myself. Your processes/results are very detailed and truly deserving of merit IMO. In this exbeeriment however, I think the beer style has a lot to do with the “hop flavor stripping” notion that is associated with gelatin. In truly hop forward style beers such as intensely kettle and dry hopped IPAs I’ve certainly noticed gelatin making a serious impact on removing significant hop flavor and aroma vs not using it. In a Marzen style where bold hop flavor isn’t really a requirement I can see gelatin having little impact on the final product flavor and the reward of the crystal clear clarity is well worth using it. Definitely not knocking your exbeeriments by any means because they are more logical and thorough then I would ever expect from myself. Just saying that people who want a huge hop punch you in the face flavor from lots of late hopping, hop stands, dry hopping, etc will find gelatin does affect flavor substantially. I’ve used clarity ferm once before and didn’t notice a flavor difference in that particular batch but that was over a year ago. My equipment and knowledge on how to make a good hop forward beer has changed a lot over the last year and currently I have 2 IPAs fermenting with clarity ferm so I shall see what if any affect on the aspect of flavor it might have. I’m also using the clear beer draught system in conjunction with clarity ferm which should definitely help with the speed of clear beer coming from the tap. My hopes are that this combo will give me similar results in clarity as using gelatin but without sacrificing the precious oil extraction from hops I’ve worked so hard to get right.
A little more reading for you:
NE (hoppy) Pale Ale
On an APA
We hear what you’re saying on hoppy beer, and it makes some sense instinctively…. but we haven’t been able to experience for ourselves or experimentally the notion of Gelatin stripping hop character.
Thanks for the links. Interesting info.. Personally I still find a difference but granted it’s only based off of my own palate instead of a controlled experiment. In any case, you’re site is my go to when I need an opinion on whether to implement something new into my brewing system. Chances are you guys have already experimented and documented it. Please keep us the good work!