jhman712

Recipes 

HI, would anybody care to explain how to use gelatin for clearing my beer? I don't have the fridge space to cold crash, and I don't have a filter. any explanation would be appreciated.

also, if you know of any other alternatives for making beer more clear instead of gelatin, those suggestions will help too. (i'm brewing a basic amber beer, and its almost at the appropriate FG, so I'm almost ready to take action.)

passedpawn

Recipes 

1. boil 2 cups of water in microwave; let cool
2. open packet of Knox gelatin, sprinkle into water
3. sanitize a spoon
4. microwave 15 seconds, remove from mike, stir
5. if gelatin doesn't disolve into water, goto step #4
6. dump into fermentor
7. wait 1 wk.

If you get the liquid too hot once the gelatin is in there, you will end up with clear jello on the bottom of your container. You'll know if you've gone too far... it's pretty obvious.

If cold crashing, it clears much much faster. Without cold, it clears very slowly. I haven't done this without the cold for a while, but I remember watching a line of clarity dropping about 2 inches a day in my fermenter. With cold, everything drops in 2 days.

__________________
Now there's some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

jhman712

Recipes 

this is pretty much exactly the type of in depth help i was looking for. but just to make sure, lets say u mess it up and u get the clear jello at the bottom, does that mean the beer is ruined, or just that the gelatin technique didn't work?

stubbornman

Recipes 

What I do (when adding gelatin to the keg).

1. add 1 cup of water to pyrex measuring cup.
2. sprinkle 1/2 pack Knox gelatin evenly over the surface of the water (no clumps)
3. LET THE GELATIN "BLOOM" FOR 20 MINUTES (leave it covered with a paper towel)
4. Put in microwave for 2 minutes or until the water temp reaches 180F (will be clear)
5. Pour water into recently kegged beer at 40F
6. Wait 1 week while carbing.

YMMV

Scooby_Brew

Recipes 

Yeah that's the thing: the beer has to be cold for Gelatin to really work (like in the 40's-50's).

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passedpawn

Recipes 

You are not going to hurt your beer in any way with gelatin.

When I said you will make clear jello, it will turn to jello in about 10 seconds if the water is too hot. You will have clear jello in the bottom of your measuring cup, not in the beer. At least this is what I have seen every time I've screwed it up (and I've screwed it up many times; this is why I mike in 15 second increments and stir until the crystals dissolve). The water should feel warm and not really hot when it is at the right temp.

__________________
Now there's some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

jeffmeh

Recipes 

Just cool the water after boiling to 170F, then add the gelatin to bloom. No chance of getting jello at that temp.

Zalf

Recipes 

Gelatin has really helped clear my extract batches. Certainly knocked out the chill haze. I follow the "cooking" instructions listed above and add a week before bottling. No cold crashing or cooling.

Gremlyn

Recipes 

As a few have said, you need to be able to chill the beer in order to add gelatin. So if you can't crash cool, you can't use gelatin either.

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Got Trub?

Recipes 

It will work at room temperature - just not as well, nor as fast as passedpawn mentioned above.

Of course my room temp is in the low 60's right now...Feels like friggin April NOT July.

GT