Papain

[oppigards]

Hello,

Anyone who have any input about papain to use in stead of silica gel as a chill haze precursor in secondary? :)

[dick murton]

Hi Bjorn

Happy and prosperous new year

Typical use is between 1.5 and 2.5 mls / hl. It can be added on transfer from FV to MV, or on filtration, just prior to the filter. The biggest problem is that it may (and there is some dispute about this - according to who you talk to) reduce the foam retention over a period of time. Certainly, if the beer is unpasteurised then it is more likely to reduce foam retention than if pasteurised. Sterile filtration will not affect it of course.

Many people use it as well as silica gel nowadays, though it's use long predates silica gels. It tends to chop up the protein haze precursors such that they will not form a visible haze, whereas silica gel adsorbs the protein - more or less the same end result though.

Not sure how much use this is to you. Hopefully someone else has compared the costs and effectiveness of small scale production, not the monsters I work in

[oppigards]

Hi Dick and thanks for your answer!

The reason why I am asking is that we two years ago started to use silica gel, it was an hydrogel product and I thougt it worked out very well. I added about 70 grams / hl during DE filtration. When those bags was empty I bought 2 new bags from an other supplier and with no experience in this topic and no help from the supplier I ordered a xerogel product. This product made filtration much slower (we add about 30 grams / hl) and I think that the result is not that good and even as before. (We are also working upstreams in the brewhouse to do a better performance). I will soon try to add silica gel in lagering tank. I think that the contact time in De filtration is too short and it is hard to dose in the right amount. Should the silica gel be added directly during transfer from fermenter or should I wait until the beer has been cold down to - 1 deg cel?

And now I was reading from Murphys & Sons website about papain.

Happy new year!

Cheers,
Bjorn

[NZweazel]

Papain is non selective when it comes to proteins , ie it will break down all proteins ( this includes your proteins which aid head retention ) . Pasteurization will only inactivate it if you reach a temperature of above 75 degrees C , which will not be good for flavour profile or beer shelf life .
You could always try PVPP at maturation or filtration, or better still look at preventing those complexs forming in the mashing stage and removal during Boiling.
Good luck.