finings

[darren loves lager]

i have never used finings, and was wondering if someone could tell me what they are and what they do. I understand they help the wort to clear after fermentation, and in my experience they Aussie style beers i have brewed using dried blends of Malt, Dextrose and Dry Corn Syrup have always been perfectly clear, but the European style beers i have tried using Liquid Malt Extracts are cloudy. Should i be using finings in my pure malt beers? Should i be usuing finings in all my beers?

[Lachy]

I've never had any issue with lagers (or any all malt brews for that matter) bottling cloudy... how long do you leave them in primary for?

[Chris]

Also, some yeasts will be cloudier, some less so. It depends on the strain.

You'll almost always get less cloudy beer if you rack to another fermenter for 7 or so days before bottling. It's even better if you can drop the temperature at the same time. It save using finings, which IMO are generally unnecessary as far as yeastiness goes.