Help with finings

[Grindcrusher]

I'm about to enter a competition where I'm bringing beer to the event. I have a pin cask and a couple of mini kegs, so 30 litres of beer total.

Load-in at the venue is on the morning of the event, but I will leave my kit in a cooling room evening before the event.
The beer will be moving around a lot during travel to the venue, but then resting for aprox 15hours from 7pm the day before event in a cool room, then moved a little for setting up on the morning after. Event starts at 12.

1. What do I do for finings? Will isinglass do the trick, even with only 15h rest and then a bit of movement?
2. Can I add the Isinglass through the shive and then hard spile it, a couple of days before event? My beer will be racked to cask this week, event is on the 9th of May.
3. How do I vent the mini kegs to use with my beer engine? Can I just lift the top? Never used these before... hoping for an easy setup with tubing to my angram.

[Kyle_T]

Add 250ml of mixed Isinglass when racking to the cask.

[Grindcrusher]

I'm starting to think that perhaps I should just skip the isinglass. To many questions at the moment.

What happens if the isinglass goes bad?
Will my cask ferment out and condition properly even if isinglass is added during racking to cask?
How many hours of warm storage will ruin the cask?
Will the isinglass do any good even with only aprox 17 hours of stillage before the event?

I might be racking tonight, or tomorrow. I'm three gravity points away from FG at the moment.

[Kyle_T]

If you skip the Isinglass it will take longer to settle, that's what it's there for. The Isinglass will last for 4 weeks refrigerated or there about from what I know.

Yes the cask will still ferment and condition as normal, the Isinglass has no effect, it is there to improve clarity.

You don't need to do any warm storage, store somewhere cool around 12 - 14c for minimum 2 weeks, no more than 4, Job done.

It is not unheard of for casks to be bashed around as little as 3 hours before service and still serve a crystal clear point. Stop worrying. It'll be fine.

Or alternatively skip the Isinglass and have cloudy beer

[Grindcrusher]

Thanks for your input. I've been emailing the company who sold me the isinglass and apparently they store it in roomtemp at the warehouse. I'm going to skip the isinglass this time.

4 weeks is no good because I'm racking to secondary tomorrow and the event is on the 9th of May.
Also, concerned about the fact that the beer will travel to the event and it might be a warm long day in the car.

Still curious to what exactly happens when it goes bad. Does it ruin the beer or does it just stop working (i.e. go cloudy)?

[Kyle_T]

Pardon my maths but the 9th is four weeks from tomorrow? The Isinglass will be fine. And it'll help your beer settle quicker.

One days warmth in the car won't have any effect on the beer.

[Grindcrusher]

Well 4 weeks +3 days. So it's on the edge. And the supplier claims to store it room temp. Isn't that supposed to be a big no-no?

If there's a chance it will ruin the beer I'm not going to put it in. It's a competition. I'd rather serve cloudy beer than spoiled beer. Still not sure exactly what happens when it goes bad though... Haha.

[Kyle_T]

That depends on wether you have premixed Isinglass or powdered Isinglass.

[Grindcrusher]

Premixed. It's from https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-produc ... SV6J1zdihZ

[Seveneer]

Why not fine with isinglass then rack bright to another cask prior to transporting it? It will survive the trip and you'll be able to move it on the morning of the event without any fear of disturbing any sediment (because there won't be any). You might want to top it up with some similar beer, while racking, to make sure the cask you use is full. So long as the beer is well conditioned it won't suffer from being bright.

Phil.

[Goulders]

I'm not a cask expert by any means. However, I brewed a beer with a brewer yesterday who was sending casks out to customers and asked him what he did.
1. He racks at 0.5 deg above FG and that provides enough condition for beer. He adds finings and the cask is then put in the cold room (cellar temp) for a couple of days.
2. Before the beer goes out, the beer is stood on its end at a slight angle and the keystone removed (in case the beer is overactive) and further finings added before replacing the keystone.
3. It's then shipped.