Wonderful experience with Magicol isinglass finings

[guypettigrew]

This post is about how good Magicol isinglass finings are. If you haven't used them perhaps this will persuade you to give them a go.

For several years my beer has been dry hopped in my King Kegs. A commercial cask hop filter is fitted onto the back of the tap to ensure the tap isn't blocked.

This has always worked well, until last week. One of the kegs stopped running. It wasn't a pressure issue so I guessed it had to be that the hop filter had dropped off the back of the tap.

There was 3/4 of the keg left, no way was I going to throw it away. The only thing to do was to pour the beer into another keg. It couldn't be syphoned because the hops would block the syphon almost immediately.

I poured it in, hating every moment the beer was exposed to the air. The hop filter had, indeed, dropped off the tap. First time ever.

For fining my beer I use auxiliary finings and Malt Miller Magicol finings. This brew was no exception and it was beautifully clear before the tap got bunged up.

The finings always clear the beer in <48 hours. But this time they performed above and beyond their duty! 24 hours after tipping the beer into a new keg, including all the hops and the dregs at the bottom of the keg, the beer was just slightly hazy. After another 24 hours it was crystal clear again.

Well done magical Magicol!

Guy

[rpt]

How much do you make up at a time? Just enough for one keg?

[guypettigrew]

I'm just mixing some at the moment!

I make 250ml at a time, which is enough for three batches of about 23 litres each. It stores well in the 'fridge as long as a quarter of a Camden tablet is crushed into it once the dry finings are fully dissolved. 250ml uses 1.5 grams of the dried finings. The pot from The Malt Miller holds 20 grams of the dried finings. Enough for nearly 40 brews.

Guy

[Bad 'Ed]

I'd add a review on the MM site then, it's currently got a rating of 0.5 stars...

[guypettigrew]

Thanks for that suggestion--haven't ever thought about reviewing stuff on the MM site.

Odd that the finings have only got 1/2 star. The review on the site is very positive. The reviewer must have given the wrong number of stars by mistake.

My review has given it four stars. let's hope that improves things!

[rpt]

So how long does it store for in the fridge? The Malt Miller website says 8 weeks but is it longer with the camden tablet?

[Newbrew1]

Would the isinglass work well on kits, and would there be enough yeast left to carb up the botles

[guypettigrew]

So how long does it store for in the fridge? The Malt Miller website says 8 weeks but is it longer with the camden tablet?

The amount I make up (250ml) does me for three brews. This isn't usually much more than a couple of months. It still seems perfectly OK after a couple of months. No off smell and clears the beer really fast. My guess is the Malt Miller is being conservative in the best before date.

But if you're only going to be using it infrequently then make up only as much as you need when you need it.

Guy

[guypettigrew]

Would the isinglass work well on kits, and would there be enough yeast left to carb up the bottles

The finings will clear yeast whether grown in a kit beer or an all grain beer.

Sorry, I've never bottled my beers so don't know how you'd use it. I fine in the keg.

Guy

[alexlark]

You want to give gelatine a go. Absolutely great at clearing beers to star bright clarity, and it's cheap.

[guypettigrew]

You want to give gelatine a go. Absolutely great at clearing beers to star bright clarity, and it's cheap.

The magical costs about 11p per 23 litre batch. Probably not going to lose sleep over that!

I vaguely remember trying gelatine many years ago. Seem to remember it worked OK. Happy with isinglass, though. If the commercial brewers use it rather than gelatine then that must say something. Dunno what!

Guy

[rpt]

AFAIK the big advantage with isinglass is that it will re-clear a disturbed keg or cask. It is much more effective than gelatine. The disadvantage is that it's harder to work with. But it sounds like the Magicol makes it much easier.