Fining Agents - How do you use them?

I'm thinking of trying Biofine Clear for the first time on a Pale Ale in a couple of weeks (it's in the primary now), and I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with this or similar finings. I want to dry-hop and I'm trying to figure out the logistics so one process does not adversely affect another process.

From what I've read thus far; it's supposed to be used with cold beer, and normally in a secondary vessel (carboy or keg) as it has to be thoroughly mixed with the beer for it to work correctly.

My plan is to crash the primary quickly down to 33 F or so and let it sit for 2 or 3 days, then rack to a secondary dosed with the Biofine Clear so it'll mix well, then keep the secondary at 33 F for another 2 or 3 days then rack to the keg where I'll dry-hop (nylon stocking with whole-leaf hops & marbles dropped into the keg).

Anyone use Biofine Clear yet and if so; what did you think? Any and all recommendations for fining techniques are welcome.

I use gelatin so it may not be exactly the same as biofine.

I often dry hop and what I do is dry hop first so that I'm doing that at fermentation temps. Then I will gel at either ferm temps or fridge temps but I always cold crash so it's simply a matter of time and how long the gelatin sits at ferm temps before it gets to fridge temp.

Dry hopping after gelling or fining may introduce more haze and undo what you did with the fining agent.

All good points; thanks!

So, dry-hop in the primary after the yeasties have done their chores, THEN crash-n-rack, yes?

Sounds like that would work well for my pale ale - I plan on a single modest dry-hop for my pale ale that's in the primary now, seems easy enough; but on deck I have a Black Double IPA that's gonna make a serious dent in my hop reserves including a double dry-hop where it'll get 2.75 ounces of pellets for 4 days, crash-n-fine, then 3 ounces of whole leaf hops in the keg for another one of those "continuous dry-hop" things.

Will 3 or 4 ounces of whole-leaf hops in my keg of fined beer really cause that much haze?

I usually transfer, dry hop, (gel), cold crash, keg, in that order. Gel is in brackets because I don't always do it. Mostly, yes, but not always.

Transferring for me is a space consideration and yeast usage. My fridge holds the standard sized carboys better than the larger ones and I like to use the larger ones for primary. I usually dry hop in secondary so that I can more easily re-use the yeast cake.

Your hops in the keg may cause haze, I honestly don't know. I only use sankeys and I can't dry hop in the keg.

When you gel; how do you get it mixed-in well enough to do its duty, or does it matter that much?

And regarding gellin' temperatures; I've read that adding finings such as gelatin or Biofine is best done in very cold beer as the proteins you're after will be naturally larger at lower temperatures. Any thoughts on this?

I use a sanitized long-handled spoon and I stir slowly.

I either rack on top of the gelatin or dump it in the top of the carboy and just swirl gently. There's still CO2 being produced so there's not a huge risk of oxidizing the beer.

Sure, cold is "best" but the job will still get done at ferm temps. I have one gelling now at ferm temps and a day later (I gelled yesterday) it's already noticeably clearer than it was yesterday. It will likely get the cold treatment on the weekend.