Finings and Hop Profile

[Midlife]

I've noticed my bottled beers where I don't use finings keep a hop profile/aroma... but my barrel beers where I use a fining (beer brite) I loose it. I have read that finings strip oils and aroma, how do you get round this problem? dry hop more? add % more hops in the kettle? I am thinking of not using finings at all and reverting to time/patience to clear.

My current kegged beer, is absolutely crystal! but lacks hop aroma.

Cheers

D

[mark4newman]

Hi

I suspect it is down to bottles, keeping the aroma as there is little headspace, for the aroma to disperse into. I would guess at some point it becomes saturated with the aroma and can't absorb any more.

However, when you keg you end up with more and more space for the aroma to disperse in.

[Rick_UK]

Hop aroma degrades with time which is why hoppy beers are best drunk young. Midlife makes a good point about head space which may well explain why bottles retain aroma better. Crash cooling and using a flocculant yeast is probably the best way to go if you want to avoid finings - I've has kegs clear in a week by doing this.

Another option is to use hop tea to add aroma after the keg has conditioned and then pressurized it with CO2. This may affect clarity slightly though.

My preferred option is to brew a nice complex dark beer or stout though!

Rick

[Charles1968]

Cold storage is a good compromise. It will help clear the beer, making fining unnecessary, but if the temp is low enough the hop aroma won't degrade as quickly as it does in beer stored warmer.