To Fine Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the isinglass
Draw out 1 gallon of ale.
Cut and beat the isinglass into small pieces.
Fine the beer
Stir the ale and whip it with a whisk to dissolve the isinglass.
Strain the mixture and pour it back into the cask.
Stir well for a few minutes and lightly put the bung in.
Ferment and rest
Allow for fresh fermentation, then stop it close but keep the vent peg loose.
Once fermentation ends, tighten the vent peg and let it sit for two weeks.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass
- Fining agent that gathers suspended yeast and haze so they settle out, clearing the beer.
- Ale
- The liquid being clarified; it is the base that the fining agent acts on.
The step that matters
Whipping the isinglass into the ale. Isinglass must be fully dissolved and evenly dispersed so it contacts the haze particles throughout the beer; clumps leave uneven clearing and waste the fining agent.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.