Brewing Master

Question:

I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Response:

Sprinkle about a teaspoon on top of the wort about 3 days before bottling.  No boiling needed.  Give it a few days to settle to the bottom before yu bottle.  bada-bing, bada-boom.  you’re done. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Response:

I found that backing off of the finishing hops and then dry hopping before you bottle achieved the same effect. It cleared the beer, helped in preventing the haze, and added a fresh hop character.  But watch what hop and how much your using in the brew. dto www.theosbornes.com

Response:

It’s almost too easy…  Boil a pint of water.  Put a tablespoon of polyclar (for 5 gal) in a sanitized cup, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, swirl gently to ‘rouse’ the polyclar, and pour into the fermenter.  A sudden release of co2 from the beer (neat to watch) will disperse the polyclar and push out any intrusive air. You prob know that  Polyclar works mostly on tannins (from grain husks). Haze can also form from semi-soluble proteins,  the cure for this is to add 1/4 tsp of Irish Moss to the wort during the last 10 minutes of boil. Best,     Joe. . – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Response:

I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

I have stopped using PolyClar and will outline the reason at the end of this post…. but to answer your question, here is how "I" used PC… Place TWO teaspoons of polyclar in an empty carboy.  There is no need to boil the pc assuming it isn’t full of room dust etc.  Rack your beer from the secondary to this third carboy, (tertiary), and gently swirl to suspend the PC into the brew. You only need to do this as the first half inch of beer is racked.  Place under airlock and let sit for 5 to 7 days….rack to keg or bottle as normal.  Now for some comments…… You "CAN" merely sprinkle the PC on the beer whilst it is in secondary and it will have an effect on the clarity, but not as much as in the first method outlined above.  Reason is that PC is incredibly fine and will clump together as you attempt to "sprinkle it through the narrow carboy neck and fall quickly to the bottom of the carboy…it does little good there.  Pre-mixing the PC with boiled water does help a little bit,  but I don’t like adding water to my beer.  I promised to explain why I don’t treat my beers with PC anymore and the answer is…. Wait while I put on my flame retardant suit….  ok,  the reason is that PC reduces MY beers’ heading properties.  I "cleared" a few hundred batches  with PC ’cause that is how I started out brewing.  I fought with head quality and retention problems for a few years before accidently "forgetting" to clear a batch.  The beer took a little longer to clear, (two weeks), but the head…oh the head was just wonderful…. creamy and long lasting.  Well, since that happy accident I have brewed another 50 or 60 batches and every single batch exhibited excellent head qualitys.  I even tempted faith and treated one of those batches with PC and sure enough…reduced heading resulted.  I have about a pound of PC left… I will sell it cheap! The Real Robert A. Corny kegs $14.00 – Promash Brewing Software $19.95   Mahogany 6-pack carriers  $14.95 http://www.calweb.com/~robertac

Response:

Just leave the beer in the fridge and it will clear. Polyclar is plastic, so you have to make sure when using it that none of it ends up in your beer.   Sorry, can’t help otherwise. cheers, -Alan I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

–    "Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer"     – Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide http://www.magma.ca/~bodnsatz/brew/tips/

Response:

how do polyphenols affect foam quality/stability?

Response:

how do polyphenols affect foam quality/stability?

Assuming that "polyphenols" refers to PolyClar,  I have the absolutely perfect level of knowledge on the chemistry/mechanics involved to keep my mouth tightly closed on the subject. The information I provided was perfectly emperical by nature.  During the extended period that I brewed beer and cleared it with PC,  I had very mixed results regarding head formation and/or stability.  During that same period of time,  I worked at improving same with virtually no positive results.  The instant that I stopped using PolyClar my beer exhibited PERFECT head qualities.  To tempt fate, I tried a batch with PC and observed the old familiar (and poorer) heading qualities. 1. Over 300 batches with PC and had trouble with heading, then brewed…. 2.approx 30 batches without PC and was rewarded with very excellent heading,  then ….. 3. brewed a test batch with PC and saw poor heading, and now…. 4. have brewed another 25 or 30 batches without PC and without exception,  experienced excellent heading. I will say that PC seemed to hurt head stability more than it hurt foam formation.  Even with PC, many of the 300 batches DID form a nice creamy head,  but rarely did one of those beers exhibit a long lasting head and the only beers that ever showed "belgian lace" were those beers that I normally didn’t treat with PC.  My Barleywine, Scotch ales and Belgian ales were never treated as they spent quite a lot of time in secondary and then kegged, CP bottled, then aged in bottles for an extended time. I never treated those beers with PC as they had plenty of time to fall bright on their own. The Real Robert A. Corny kegs $14.00 – Promash Brewing Software $19.95   Mahogany 6-pack carriers  $14.95 http://www.calweb.com/~robertac

Response:

Robert, I appreciate all of your comments and advice. I have an ample supply of product and will study clarity v. time. I certainly do not want to sacrifice head quality and retention for early asthetics. Good things, hopefully, come to those who wait. Mike – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike I have stopped using PolyClar and will outline the reason at the end of this post…. but to answer your question, here is how "I" used PC… Place TWO teaspoons of polyclar in an empty carboy.  There is no need to boil the pc assuming it isn’t full of room dust etc.  Rack your beer from the secondary to this third carboy, (tertiary), and gently swirl to suspend the PC into the brew. You only need to do this as the first half inch of beer is racked.  Place under airlock and let sit for 5 to 7 days….rack to keg or bottle as normal.  Now for some comments…… You "CAN" merely sprinkle the PC on the beer whilst it is in secondary and it will have an effect on the clarity, but not as much as in the first method outlined above.  Reason is that PC is incredibly fine and will clump together as you attempt to "sprinkle it through the narrow carboy neck and fall quickly to the bottom of the carboy…it does little good there.  Pre-mixing the PC with boiled water does help a little bit,  but I don’t like adding water to my beer.  I promised to explain why I don’t treat my beers with PC anymore and the answer is…. Wait while I put on my flame retardant suit….  ok,  the reason is that PC reduces MY beers’ heading properties.  I "cleared" a few hundred batches  with PC ’cause that is how I started out brewing.  I fought with head quality and retention problems for a few years before accidently "forgetting" to clear a batch.  The beer took a little longer to clear, (two weeks), but the head…oh the head was just wonderful…. creamy and long lasting.  Well, since that happy accident I have brewed another 50 or 60 batches and every single batch exhibited excellent head qualitys.  I even tempted faith and treated one of those batches with PC and sure enough…reduced heading resulted.  I have about a pound of PC left… I will sell it cheap! The Real Robert A. Corny kegs $14.00 – Promash Brewing Software $19.95 Mahogany 6-pack carriers  $14.95 http://www.calweb.com/~robertac

Response:

Hi, Mike; Never used polyclar- let me know how it turns out. I’ve used (knox) gelatin and had great results in the secondary. I like my beer clear, and even the heavy porters look good. The gel is also economical and has no taste. Cheers, Seascrod – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Response:

I just switched to all-grain brewing. The first two batches had chill haze. Third batch was a stout, but who cares. The flavor of the beer is great. However, I like to have good presentation. Anyway, I bought some Polyclar via homebrew catalog, but the stuff came with no instructions for use. I know to add it to secondary a day or so before bottling. After that, I have no clue. Does this stuff need to be boiled and added? If so, how much water? any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike

Mike. Use polyclar by boiling two teaspoons of it for about 30 minutes in a small amount of water. Allow to cool (covered) and pour it into the secondary. I would let it sit for a week. It makes racking a pleasure, rock hard sediment layer. DO NOT USE if you plan to harvest the yeast for reculturing or pitching to a new batch. Strange Brewer aka Rick Olivo Vitae sine Cervesiae Sugat!!! Life without beer sucks!!!

Response:

Mike. Use polyclar by boiling two teaspoons of it for about 30 minutes in a small amount of water. Allow to cool (covered) and pour it into the secondary. I would let it sit for a week. It makes racking a pleasure, rock hard sediment layer. DO NOT USE if you plan to harvest the yeast for reculturing or pitching to a new batch.

I don’t think Polyclar has to be boiled.  I’ve used it for years and never boiled it (doesn’t mean I’m right, ya understand).  I just add it to ~a cup of water (sterile, of course) and pour it in. John

Response:

Hi, Mike; Never used polyclar- let me know how it turns out. I’ve used (knox) gelatin and had great results in the secondary. I like my beer clear, and even the heavy porters look good. The gel is also economical and has no taste. Cheers, Seascrod

Hey Scrod,         How do you apply the gelatin to the secondary?  Do you notice any head reduction with gelatin? (another poster in this thread noted a reduction in head when using Polyclar).         TIA                         Rick

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