How do you use gelatin finings?

I currently have 15 gallons :rockin: of a light ale that was all brewed together as one batch. I split the fifteen gallons into three 5 gallon batches in order to experiment with some different yeasts as well as some different primary vs secondary times and clarification techniques so I could compare the results. I want to add gelatin finings to one of the 5 gallon batches so I can compare to the other ten gallons which will not have had the gelatin finings added.

My beer was in the primary for 7 days and I just transferred it to a secondary (plastic bucket) about 4 days ago. My plan is 7 days in the primary and 14 in the secondary and then bottle.

At what point do I add the gelatin finings? Also, what process do I use to prepare and add the finings. How much gelatin & water do I need to prepare?

Gelatin works when the beer is already COLD, best done in bulk (carboy/keg)

1/4 cup per packet of gelatin, stir into 120 degree water let sit 10 minutes or so and dump into COLD beer.
Give it a little shake/swirl and wait 3-5 days for clear beer

I usually only use gelatin when I crash cool (for kegging). I use half a packet for 5 gallons. Dump the gelatin cyrstals in 2 cups of warm water for about 15 minutes (so it can "bloom"). Then heat mixture to almost boiling, then cool. Dump the concoction into my carboy of beer that's been chillin in the fridge.). Wait about 3 days and keg....easy as that. I've used gelatin when bottling (and crash cooling too), and it works...just takes longer to carb.

How much extra time is required to carbonate bottles after you have been fined your beer with gelatin?

It's varied.... but I'd say at least a couple more weeks.

Hammy's got it right. Warm water to dissolve then heat it up and cool.

But it should be pointed out...do not let the gelatin come to a boil
If it does, it breaks down the structure and will not work.

ghack said:

Hammy's got it right. Warm water to dissolve then heat it up and cool.

But it should be pointed out...do not let the gelatin come to a boil
If it does, it breaks down the structure and will not work.

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I think this is so true. I've been using gelatin for beers being served at parties and BBQs etc... The only time the gelatin trick failed on me was when I let it boil.....I wrote to knox and was told pretty much the same as ghack pointed out. Don't boil it.

So how much is 1/2 packet or 1/4 packet? I forgot the whirlfloc for a recent batch and I picked up an oz of gelatin at my LHBS for a buck because I didn't wanna bother with an extra stop.

The batch is ready to bottle and is sitting at 34F in my ferm fridge right now.

I've currently got two kegs with gelatin in them (added on 8/23) and I'm going out of town until 9/8. Does anyone know if there could be any problems if I keep letting them cold condition until then (it'd probably be almost 20 days by the time I am ready to rack them to serving kegs). I'd just guess that another week or two would be a good thing, but who knows?

The only problem with letting them cold condition that long is your beer will be even more clear.

weirdboy said:

The only problem with letting them cold condition that long is your beer will be even more clear.

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That sounds like a REAL problem...

I've never worried too much about clarity, but I have a really cloudy IPA right now. I used a fair bit of raw barley to give it some body (which worked great) and knew it would make it cloudy. Now I'd like to see if I can clear it up a bit. So I get the procedure. My question is where does the gelatin go? Does it fall out of suspension? If I add it when I keg, is my first pint going to be a jello shot of IPA? Or does it just disappear?

Thanks!

From my experience, I cut 1/2" off of the dip tube. This left a small gelatinous "mass" in the keg when it kicked. I tossed the first pint from the keg and all was well from there. I'm just wondering how much to use. I've heard that too much can reduce the body of the beer.

tundra05 said:

From my experience, I cut 1/2" off of the dip tube. This left a small gelatinous "mass" in the keg when it kicked. I tossed the first pint from the keg and all was well from there. I'm just wondering how much to use. I've heard that too much can reduce the body of the beer.

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That's exactly what I don't want to do. I'd rather have a tasty cloudy beer than a watery clear one. If I can't knock down the cloudiness and still keep the body, I'll just drink cloudy beer!

I use my lagerator to crash cool my beers after they are long done, and when they are somewhere between 32-40 I throw in a cup of dissolved knox (one packet) jello. Then I wait a day or two to rack off to a keg. I don't like the idea of gelatin in my keg for some reason. Has done a great job on beers I have forgotten to add irish moss to.

I've used it once and had a problem I haven't seen reported before -- after stirring it into the warm water, letting it rehydrate a while, and then dumping the pan into the carboy, I had a thick mat of gelatin stuck to the bottom of the pan. I have no idea if any even made it into the beer, and it's still cloudy as ever.

Despite the irritation of cleaning up the pan, I'm still going to try it again (since I don't know what went wrong, I'll just change everything. . . )

shek said:

That sounds like a REAL problem...

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It is if you're brewing a porter!

I have a question: does it make any sense to clear up the beer (cold crashing and gelatin) before natural carbonation in bottles? Wouldn't that totally remove the yeast from the beer and disable re-fermentation after priming?

Scooby_Brew said:

I have a question: does it make any sense to clear up the beer (cold crashing and gelatin) before natural carbonation in bottles? Wouldn't that totally remove the yeast from the beer and disable re-fermentation after priming?

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No, it might reduce the yeast mass by a factor of 10, maybe. There will still be hundreds of thousands or millions of cells per ml.

How many of you are using gelatin and irish moss? I've got my first AG batch racked in secondary and I threw in some moss with 15min left in the boil, i'm thinking of cold crashing with some gelatin as well.

Here's how I use them:

I bought some whirlfloc once, and now I leave the finings in the cupboard when I brew. That is all.

I have cold, uncarbonated beer in a keg. I added gelatin to it about 5 days ago. Am I safe to force carb it and drink from the same keg, or do I need to rack it to a new keg before I add the carbonation? I'm just thinking the gelatin might clog up the diptube.

steinsato said:

I have cold, uncarbonated beer in a keg. I added gelatin to it about 5 days ago. Am I safe to force carb it and drink from the same keg, or do I need to rack it to a new keg before I add the carbonation? I'm just thinking the gelatin might clog up the diptube.

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Nah. You are good to go.

The first couple of drafts with be cloudier than the next couple. Everytime you move the keg it will release more junk onto the clear spot the dip tube has made for itself.

What I tend to do is draw off the first two cloudy ones. Then move the keg a bit and then wait a day. I then draw one or two more. After that you are golden.

Go ahead and bump the keg with some gas while your at it. You want to fix the seal with some internal psi.

Doesn't it make more sense to cold crash the beer for a couple days (2-3), add the gelatin and let that sit in the cold for a few more days (3-5), THEN transfer it to the keg or bottle? Seems like you would get alot less 'goo' that way.

seems like alot of you guys are using gelatin for kegging, if i were to bottle using gelatin any downsides to it? Im not cold crashing my fermentors im new and just want to learn new ways to improve my brews. From what i have read i was thinkinng about adding gelatin to my secondary 4-5days before bottling would this help clear the beer up?

Yes. You can also add gelatin to the primary and skip the secondary. You choose, both will work.

I can't wait to clear my first batch with gelatin! I got a steal of a deal on a pound of the stuff from an oddball nutrition supplement site. It should last me a decade or so.

From the pictures I've seen on the interwebs, it looks like gelatin performs miracles!

I have to revive this one to get some opinions.

I've got 5 gals of a Summer Blonde + 5 Gals of an Imperial IPA ready to be botteled on Saturday. If I add gelatin to the room temp carboys tonight (Thursday), Crash cool both in a fridge for 36hrs then bottle Sat afternoon will I be good to go, or does the carboys need to sit longer for the gelatin to work? Also, after botteling the bottles will condition at 70 degrees for at least 2 weeks. Any visible issues with this plan?

Thanks HB Nation!

I have a batch of New England Apple Ale 4 days into primary and it came out really cloudy. I don't have the ability to cold crash yet and was wondering the best way to use gelatin at this point. From what I've read I was thinking today or tomarrow would be best. Idk though, so any advice would be great! (If it matters- Planning- 7-10 day Primary and a 1-2week secondary then into bottles.)

Anything helps! Thanx

Also- I forgot my Irish moss during the boil. Is there any way to supplement now or is it best to just leave it? Just a thought. Thanx


Primary- New England Apple Ale
Secondary- Empty
Bottled- Octoberfest Ale

So can you dump gelatin into your keg, then hook up with c02 after a few days?

No reason to not hook up the CO2 right away (as long as you're not shaking etc).

Just to clarify a bit, gelatin and isinglass are not substitutes for Irish Moss. Irish Moss is meant to remove proteins and does so through it's physical shape. Irish Moss works as it cools and actually does the bulk of it's work in the fermentor, not the kettle. The collagen finings; gelatin and isinglass, are meant to primarily remove yeast post fermentation by attracting the negatively charged yeast and encouraging flocculation. If you are going to fine, you should use both for maximum clarity.

How much gelatin do you use to water? I have a 1lb bag of gelatin.

Go check Don Osborne's YouTube channel. He recently did a video showing how to use gelatin

So I think this has been answered but if I have a keg of IPA that has been on the gas for three weeks and still cloudy, yet already fully carbed, can I just add the gelatin (following the hot water bloom procedure) to the keg, and wait a few days then pull a couple cloudy pints before the hopefully clear ones? In other words will it work ok on already carbed beer?

Also, is there any cause of cloudiness it won't solve? Chill haze?

bd2xu said:

So I think this has been answered but if I have a keg of IPA that has been on the gas for three weeks and still cloudy, yet already fully carbed, can I just add the gelatin (following the hot water bloom procedure) to the keg, and wait a few days then pull a couple cloudy pints before the hopefully clear ones? In other words will it work ok on already carbed beer?

Also, is there any cause of cloudiness it won't solve? Chill haze?

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I have found that if the gelatin is added to cold enough beer it will precipitate chill haze. Ie if the haze has formed it will remove it. And yes, it will work if the beer is already carbed.

Thanks going to try this. My IPA was a Lagunitas sucks clone attempt with barley, rye, oats and wheat. Thinking the wheat is making it cloudy or my lack of break separation, I dumped everything in primary. But racked to secondary after two weeks to dry hop for two weeks and its been in the keg three weeks and still very cloudy. Tastes good but not really close to Sucks.

I need to try this.

Pratzie said:

I need to try this.

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Is your on deck oatmeal stout the brewers best kit?

bd2xu said:

Is your on deck oatmeal stout the brewers best kit?

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No its a mini mash mix of two of the recipes I have on here. Im told the NB Partial is good though too, although I don't know anything about the brewers best one, sorry.