Gelatin for dry hopped beer in keg?

My first time dry hopping. I cold crashed and put gelatin in my Imperial IPA to clear as much yeast out before I dry hopped. I dry hopped with pellets in the secondary and filtered through panty hose but the brew is still cloudy. It tastes great and has a beautiful aroma, but I would like it to be clear. Can I add gelatin to the keg to clear the beer without losing the hop aroma/flavor, or should I just leave it alone?

Thanks,

Jeff

I would personally leave it alone. Adding gelatin will drop some of the hop aroma and flavor because the hop oil clings to whatever is in suspension (protein, yeast, etc).

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Maybe I'll add some right near the end of the keg to see what happens.

Yeah I think I ruined my wet hops APA by adding gelatin - most hop aroma and flavor seems to have dropped into the trub. Major bummer. Be careful with that stuff!

How much are you adding? I've loved my hoppy beers with 1/2 tsp gelatin. Crystal clear and still leaves plenty of hops.

I added half a pack of the commercial Knox(?) stuff in about a cup of water. I have some gelatin from Northern Brewer (Bakers?) as well but I couldn't find it that day.

TyTanium said:

How much are you adding? I've loved my hoppy beers with 1/2 tsp gelatin. Crystal clear and still leaves plenty of hops.

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I use 1/2 pack of Knox and haven't noticed any significant difference in my hoppy beers. This is my Stone Enjoy By clone...crystal clear and hoppy as hell.

I use gelatin after dry hopping in my latest IPA (recipe here) and it didn't strip any flavor or aroma at all. Well, let me put it another way, if it did strip some flavor/aroma there was still PLENTY left over. Maybe a bit of the bitterness but still plenty of IBU's there for a west coast IPA style. I used 5oz of dry hops for a 5 gallon batch and had in-your-face pine aroma with awesome citrus notes backing it up. My friends who are all hop-heads and IPA snobs loved it.

I like using gelatin based on the advice from Scott over at www.bertusbrewery.com. His methods and advice have never steered me wrong, especially when it comes to IPAs and I agree with him that presentation is an important aspect of your beer if you plan on serving it to others. Especially with the negative perception of homebrew (thanks Buffalo Wild Wings). Here is what he had to say about gelatin possibly stripping flavor:

Ya, I've found it does drop a little hop aroma. I've found two things though:

A. It gets rid of a hop aroma that I don't like. I feel like what's left is a much cleaner hop aroma.

B. I just add more dry hops, =) But seriously, I've had IPAs and DIPAs sore 43's and 44's in competitions. It doesn't strip out enough where it's a big deal to me. I doubt it strips out any more than filtering would.

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opiate82 said:

I like using gelatin based on the advice from Scott over at www.bertusbrewery.com. His methods and advice have never steered me wrong, especially when it comes to IPAs

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I'm well aware of Scott at bertusbrewery.com. That Enjoy By IPA in my post above is his recipe from his blog. If you like this beer or haven't had it and want to try it give this recipe a try...it's awesome.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2013/04/ipa-clone-series-stone-enjoy-by-ipa.html

My next batch is going to be his Stone RuinTen clone.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/08/ipa-clone-series-stone-runination-10th.html

Yes, the Enjoy By is on my short list of beers to brew, but I haven't yet because can actually get that locally. Right now I am brewing his Pliney The Elder clone because I think it is a travesty that I, as a huge IPA fan, have never had a PTE. Unfortunately they stopped distributing to WA so only way I get some is by traveling or by making my own. Hopefully I don't mess up the recipe and get a taste of what all the hype is about

opiate82 said:

Yes, the Enjoy By is on my short list of beers to brew, but I haven't yet because can actually get that locally. Right now I am brewing his Pliney The Elder clone because I think it is a travesty that I, as a huge IPA fan, have never had a PTE. Unfortunately they stopped distributing to WA so only way I get some is by traveling or by making my own. Hopefully I don't mess up the recipe and get a taste of what all the hype is about

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Even if you have the real thing you might not get what all the hype is about considering how highly people speak of it...like there's no other beer that's even close to as good as it. It is really good...especially considering it's a pioneer and helped launch the DIPA style...but the overwhelming hype surrounding that beer leads to alot of disappointment when people try it for the first time.