To Refine Beer, Ale, Wine, or Cyder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the isinglass
Soak the isinglass shavings in 1 quart of the liquor for a few days, whisking daily until dissolved.
Draw off one-third of the cask.
Fine the beer
Mix the dissolved isinglass, pearl-ashes, salt of tartar, and burnt alum into the cask, then stir well.
Return the mixture to the cask and stir with a clean stick.
Seal the cask and let it sit for a few days until clear.
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 shavings
- Fish-derived protein that binds suspended yeast and haze particles so they settle out.
- Pearl-ashes
- Alkaline potassium carbonate that helps the fining agents work by adjusting acidity.
- Salt of tartar
- Potassium carbonate that raises alkalinity, supporting the clarifying reaction.
- Burnt alum
- Aluminum salt that carries a positive charge and helps haze particles clump and sink.
The step that matters
Dissolving the isinglass fully before mixing. Isinglass must be completely dissolved before it goes into the cask; undissolved pieces won't spread evenly, so they can leave cloudy patches or fail to bind haze.
“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.
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