Oh Beerie! You’re so biofine. You’re so biofine you blow my mind. Hey Beerie!
Fining, the act of dropping sediment and providing clarity to beer; too far for ultra modern craft, not far enough for old school craft, somewhere in the middle for brewers just living their best life.
Biofine, the product we use, is a solution of Silicic acid (SiO2). This guy is loaded with negative charge, and so attracts positively charged things, like proteins that form haze. This is in contrast to fining agents like gelatin that are positively charged and this attract negatively charged targets. There seems to be some conjecture in the literature about whether yeast is positively or negatively charged at the end of fermentation and the biophysical specifications of flocculation (natural sedimentation) are poorly understood. Biofine, however, has always provided consistent outcomes for us (think Kalifornia and Devils Double).
Biofine comes as a colloid from our regular brewing aid supplier. We dilute it in near boiling water, for pasteurisation, before purging with CO2 and cooling. This solute is then injected into the tank with minimal rousing. A few days later and the flocc bois are running riot on their keyboards.
Fining, because sometimes we like to be classy.
