Gelatin in fermenter, then kegging.

Hello all,

So I brewed a Dubbel using WYeast's Belgian Ardennes. This yeast strand is an ass kicker. Still bubbling (though it has definitely slowed down) 3 weeks later.

The beer is going to be a competition beer, and I would like it to be as clear as possible. My co-brewer and I used gelatin in a cream ale we brewed, and it came out great. Aside from the fact that the beer was crystal clear, the beer tasted significantly better once it was cleared up with the gelatin, as it dropped out flavors that were being attributed by the yeast.

So here are my concerns. We threw the gelatin in the corny, but I was interested in clearing up the beer before it goes into the serving keg. So my process will be:

1) Drop temps in my fermentation chamber on the last day of fermentation to serving temps (32-40)
2) Add Gelatin
3) Let sit for 48 hours
4) Rack to corny, begin forced carbonation

Will this process suffice? As a side note, I was interested in adding Figs to my beer. I figured I could throw them as halves into a muslin bag, hook it to the lid, close the keg, and let it soak. I would sample it daily til I've reached the desired flavor. Is this a good idea as well?

Thanks.

Can't speak for the figs, but your gelatin procedure is dead on.

Definitely do gelatin in the fermenter. In the keg runs the risk of clogging, my brother and I each did so when adding to the keg. Better safe than sorry.

I'd add the gelatin a day before chilling and then 48 hours at serving temp. I think you'll get better results that way.

Excellent. I'm going to add the figs to the fermenter tonight for a week, then add gelatin, drop it to serving temp and rack it 2 days later.

What are some people's experience with adding fruit? I figured it'd be ok to add fruit to the keg while it carbed, but I decided to wait to get more feedback and instead will add it to the secondary.

SeanGC said:

Hello all,

So I brewed a Dubbel using WYeast's Belgian Ardennes. This yeast strand is an ass kicker. Still bubbling (though it has definitely slowed down) 3 weeks later.

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Airlock activity late in fermentation doesn't necessarily mean yeast is still finding sugars to ferment. It could mean that CO2 is coming out of suspension and the beer is slowly flattening. Checking gravities over a few days is the only way to know if the yeast is still "kicking ass."

duckredbeard said:

Airlock activity late in fermentation doesn't necessarily mean yeast is still finding sugars to ferment. It could mean that CO2 is coming out of suspension and the beer is slowly flattening. Checking gravities over a few days is the only way to know if the yeast is still "kicking ass."

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It is. I've thiefed the beer every other day within the last 5 days, and it's dropped a .001 - .002 pts each time.

How long do you think it would take 11 gals of beer to chill from 68 to 36? I dropped the temps about 2 hours ago. My ferm-chamber hit 36 in a short amount of time, but i don't want to add the gelatin until I know the 11 gals has hit those temps.

If I have a bag with fruit immersed in the fermenter, will that interfere with the gelatin? and how it drops out?

SeanGC said:

If I have a bag with fruit immersed in the fermenter, will that interfere with the gelatin? and how it drops out?

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Shouldn't, but you may want to add a little more gelatin to compensate for the extra particulates that will come from the fruit. Either way, I think you'll be fine, especially if you cold crash.

SeanGC said:

How long do you think it would take 11 gals of beer to chill from 68 to 36? I dropped the temps about 2 hours ago. My ferm-chamber hit 36 in a short amount of time, but i don't want to add the gelatin until I know the 11 gals has hit those temps.

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Generally 24 hrs should be sufficient.

If you use a piece of styrofoam on your temp probe and tape that to the side of the fermenter, you can get a better read on what's going on in your fermenter. Or go even further and put a thermowell on your fermenter...not sure that's really worth it.

Anyway, if you set it before you go to bed and then the next night by the time you go to bed it'll be really close, if not there.

SeanGC said:

How long do you think it would take 11 gals of beer to chill from 68 to 36? I dropped the temps about 2 hours ago. My ferm-chamber hit 36 in a short amount of time, but i don't want to add the gelatin until I know the 11 gals has hit those temps.

Click to expand...

This might be too late, but according to BierMuncher in post #307 of the "gelatin finings?" Thread (sorry, can't figure out how to link from my phone) gelatin must be added at fermentation temps for it to work properly. I have cold crashed and added it and crashed afterwords, I did notice a difference. Now I add the gelatin to the fermenter and turn the temp down to about 34 degrees.