16 replies to this topic

[davelew]

Finings are allowed as long as they don't end up in the final beer. Isinglass is the traditional fining for a central European beer, but it's not required by the Reinheitsgebot. Whirlfloc and other forms of irish moss are fine, because they drop out of the beer.I expect your biggest problem is going to be kegging a Reinheitsgebot beer. You can't add in CO2 that doesn't come from fermenting beer, so to be strict you have to bottle condition with DME, or krausen. No external CO2 tanks are allowed, unless they are bottled fermentation by-products.

[MyaCullen]

luckily for us we don't have to abide by it :Dbut, I have done it, made a strict Purity Law Lager, and even without finings it came out very clear, 6 weeks @ 33 degrees tends to drop out stuff

[davelew]

But he can add priming sugar to a keg to naturally carb and then dispense with CO₂ - right?

No priming sugar, only malt would be allowed (but I know that's what you meant).Some of the CO2 being used to dispense will get dissolved in the beer, so technically that would not be OK, but it's really a technicality.

[BrewerGeorge]

Where's Oldfart when you need him?

[MyaCullen]

Where's Oldfart when you need him?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

wow. i didnt even consider the keg priming part. Ive tried that in the past and had MAJOR yeast flavors...drove me nuts! I might try my hand at krausening the finished beer. Or I might cheat....SHHHHHH!

I'd cheat.

[Malzig]

My question, is whirlfloc against the Reinheitsgebot? Does this include Irish moss as well as other kettle finings? Which ones are allowed?

Whirlfock and Irish Moss are not allowed.Isinglass and PVPP are allowed, but only if the beer is filtered afterward to remove the finings.You don't need to use Acidulated Malt to change pH, however. You can add salts as long as the salts are dissolved in the water before the mash, not added to the mash. Most German breweries probably add some salts to their water and still claim Reinheitsgebot compliance.

[tag]

Or a spunding valve on the keg to keep some CO2 pressure.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Or a spunding valve on the keg to keep some CO2 pressure.

that could work.

[denny]

It's not a purity law, it's a tax law....

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

It's not a purity law, it's a tax law....

nnnnoooooooooooooo

[Malzig]

It's not even a law anymore, just a part of German culture.

[davelew]

Whirlfock and Irish Moss are not allowed.Isinglass and PVPP are allowed, but only if the beer is filtered afterward to remove the finings.You don't need to use Acidulated Malt to change pH, however. You can add salts as long as the salts are dissolved in the water before the mash, not added to the mash. Most German breweries probably add some salts to their water and still claim Reinheitsgebot compliance.

My interpretation is that, since the finings drop out of the beer, the final beer being served doesn't include the whirlflock/irish moss. Since the reinheitsgebot only controls the final beer, that means finings which are left behind in the fermenter are legal.

[Malzig]

My interpretation is that, since the finings drop out of the beer, the final beer being served doesn't include the whirlflock/irish moss. Since the reinheitsgebot only controls the final beer, that means finings which are left behind in the fermenter are legal.

But that doesn't seem to be the German interpretation. I assume that's because Irish Moss and Whirlflock contain compounds that go into solution and stay in the beer through filtration, despite the fact that some or most of them do drop out, while isinglass and PVPP are non-soluble and are completely removed by filtration.The modern German interpretation of the "law", despite it's original intent as a tax law, is to prevents the use of adjuncts and the presence of additives in the beer as a gesture to German brewing tradition. Of course, when it's convenient, they come up with tricky work-arounds like prohibiting brewing salt additions to the tun, but allowing them if the exact same additions are made to the water (and they go into solution) before it's added to the tun. Or, prohibiting carbonation of the beer from CO2 tank, unless you're smart enough, like Oldfart, to collect the CO2 during fermentation, put it into a tank, then carbonate the beer. Many operations stick closer to the intent, however, and use spunding valves or kraeusening for carbonation.