Gelatin is no joke!

I have been battling cloudy beer for most of the year. The only thing that has really seemed to work for me is really extended cold crashing. Basically if I could let it go for 2 months it would clear.

Just used gelatin on a batch of BM's Cream of 3 Crops, oh man, that stuff is amazing. I could see straight through that carboy! Just was really impressed and wanted to share how well gelatin works if your having the same problems. I am...a believer!

How did you use it?

I used one teaspoon of gelatin and brought it to about 200 degrees with 2 cups of water to rehydrate it. It is evidently rather important not to boil the gelatin as it breaks down its ability to coagulate. Then as I was siphoning from the primary into secondary, I used a funnel and slowly poured in the gelatin solution as the beer siphoned over.

I left the gelatin in the secondary for about 5 days and could literally see the features of my hand from the other side. I believe you can achieve very good results after about 5 days however. Its really not alot of trouble to have a beer that is absolutely transluscent to serve to a crowd.

Gelatin is amazing! I cant believe I went 2+ years without using it

Do you cold crash in conjunction with the gelatin? And does gelatin work on chill haze?

I too just joined the gelatin bandwagon. However, I put it in the carboy then rack on top of it. 48 hours and my beer was crystal clear.

kinnasst said:

Do you cold crash in conjunction with the gelatin? And does gelatin work on chill haze?

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I had little success with gelatin at "room temps" I had much better success at lager temps.

kinnasst said:

Do you cold crash in conjunction with the gelatin? And does gelatin work on chill haze?

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I didn't need to cold crash--my basement is at 60 degrees right now and it was clear in 48 hours. It didn't help with chill haze but that went away after the keg was in the fridge for a week.

Are you just using regular unflavored gelatin that you can get at the grocery store?

Pictures...Or else it didn't happen...

zman said:

Are you just using regular unflavored gelatin that you can get at the grocery store?

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yup. Knox unflavored gelatin.

jvlpdillon said:

yup. Knox unflavored gelatin.

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Good to know...Thanks.

so just a Tsp of knox unflavored brought to nearly boiling temps in 16oz of water, cooled and tossed in when cold crashing? Is that all this is?

I will be trying this on my latest brews.

I bought gelatin finings from my LHBS but I have read that you can use the regular unflavored jello from the supermarket. Do a search for it and you will find some more info.

i forgot to add my gelatin before racking to secondary so i added it 2 days ago and gave a swirl. think it will work? so far it's not done anything. Anyone know if this will work? i don't much care if mine clears, but it sure would be nice.

Yeah it should work no problem man, that stuff just needs time to pull everything out of suspension. Give it a couple of days and you should be able to see a noticable difference. I crash cool mine to about 35 when I throw in the gelatin. Just pulled a pint after 2 days on the gas, and its crystal clear.

I might get the camera and take a shot, not feeling overly motivated though.

Don't a lot of people just add some gelatin to the keg and let it clear in the keg?

Is there any sediment doing this that would come out in the first few pints?

Gila Minum was talking about just throwing the gelatin in the keg. He said he gets a good bit of sediment on the first pint or so, but then its good to go. I just don't mind the effort of throwing my wort in a secondary to clear, keeps me from having even more nastiness at the bottom of the keg.

jmp138 said:

Gila Minum was talking about just throwing the gelatin in the keg. He said he gets a good bit of sediment on the first pint or so, but then its good to go. I just don't mind the effort of throwing my wort in a secondary to clear, keeps me from having even more nastiness at the bottom of the keg.

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I am with you but I usually have about 5.5 gallons when I transfer and the last few times, I have been just racking off the first 4-5 into the keg so the dip tube is no where near the trub at the bottom and since I crash cool for at least 3 days there is not much in suspension.

From that point, I rack to a bottling bucket and bottle 1-2 gallons.

If you use Gelatin and are bottling is there going to be enough yeast left to bottle condition/carbonate?

zman said:

If you use Gelatin and are bottling is there going to be enough yeast left to bottle condition/carbonate?

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An answer to this one would be great from one of you who has experience with this. Is there enough yeast left in suspension for the bottling folks?

I don't generally bottle and never have using gelatin, but from what I understand gelatin will generally remove nearly all of the suspended yeast. Therefore, I think it is advisable to add a quanitity of bottling yeast in order to ensure carbonation. As for an advisable pitching rate, I really have no idea. There are some threads if you use the search that discuss this in pretty reasonable detail.

barleynhops said:

An answer to this one would be great from one of you who has experience with this. Is there enough yeast left in suspension for the bottling folks?

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this was my question as well.

jmp138 said:

I don't generally bottle and never have using gelatin, but from what I understand gelatin will generally remove nearly all of the suspended yeast. Therefore, I think it is advisable to add a quanitity of bottling yeast in order to ensure carbonation. As for an advisable pitching rate, I really have no idea. There are some threads if you use the search that discuss this in pretty reasonable detail.

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For us bottlers, this is unfortunate. i for one must not have read enough before trying the gelatin. it was my understanding that there would be enough yeast in suspension to carbonate. If this is not the case, can someone please post a recommendation on how much yeast should or could be pitched?

I ask this with the thinking that in a regular beer batch, you should have enough yeast in there to munch on the priming sugar enough to carb and than settle to the bottom. is it logical to think that if all you add at bottling is priming sugar than you would not have bottle bombs any more than if you had the standard amount of yeast in suspension without using gelatin? Would a small slurry work?

help me out. i planned on bottling in another 2 weeks or so. all this info is going to good use in this makeshift 1 bedroom brewery.

I use gelatin and bottle.

So far every batch has carbed up just fine.

No bottling yeast have been added.

GoldMiner said:

I use gelatin and bottle.

So far every batch has carbed up just fine.

No bottling yeast have been added.

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see this fits the theory i was going with.

Can we get more people to back this up and get a few of the same answer?

GoldMiner said:

I use gelatin and bottle.

So far every batch has carbed up just fine.

No bottling yeast have been added.

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I know either Papazian or Palmer says to use gelatin AT kegging/bottling time.

I have a problem with that practice because I use the gelatin in the secondary and I can SEE the results in the carboy (looks like a lava lamp)...and I KNOW I don't want any of that in my bottles.

I will rack off to a bottling bucket.

Gelatin works best when the brew is cold.

jmp138 said:

Gila Minum was talking about just throwing the gelatin in the keg. He said he gets a good bit of sediment on the first pint or so, but then its good to go. I just don't mind the effort of throwing my wort in a secondary to clear, keeps me from having even more nastiness at the bottom of the keg.

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I cold crash and then use gelatin in the primary. I still don't see why folks use secondaries for everything. Cold crash and gelatin in the primary for a week, then rack the clear beer right into the keg. Works perfectly.

beltbuckle said:

I cold crash and then use gelatin in the primary. I still don't see why folks use secondaries for everything. Cold crash and gelatin in the primary for a week, then rack the clear beer right into the keg. Works perfectly.

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that is good to know, that is my plan exactly, well I am currently dry hopping, planning to drop in some gelatin in about 2-3 weeks. The beer is dry hopping at about 58F

how much gelatin did you use? like x grams per gallon

Arau said:

how much gelatin did you use? like x grams per gallon

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It usually comes in small packages. I think they're 1/4 oz. One of these will work fine for 5 gals.

Also, for people asking about bottling after gelatin, it works fine, BUT it can take a little longer to fully carbonate compared to a batch that hasn't had gelatin.

TastySalmon said:

It usually comes in small packages. I think they're 1/4 oz. One of these will work fine for 5 gals.

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One pouch lasts me 3 to 4 batches, I only use a 1/4 teaspoon per batch.

I add one of the small packets of knox unflavored gelatin to a cup of hot water to bloom, then heat to 170° I cool down to below 100 and add to the beer 2 days into crash cooling, wait another 24 hours and keg. My beer is amazingly clear and the bottom of the keg has very little sedement to clean when it is empty.

I buy the boxes of unflavored sachets, and use one per 5 gallon Keg. I use 1 tsp Irish moss for the last 15 minutes of the boil. I Rack to a secondary, primarily to clear the beer, then rack to a keg with the gelatin. Cool to 32F, then add 1 tsp of polyclar. Shake and force carbonate at the same time, then leave for 2 days.

This creates crystal clear beer.

You can bottle with it too - but you can't use the polyclar if you bottle. The polycar removes any chill haze.

If one decides to use gelatin and bottle one's brew, would it be most beneficial to use the gelatin in secondary, or add it with the priming sugar to the bottling bucket? Surely someone has done the latter and can speak on its results. I would specifically like to compact the yeast sediment in my bottles. The low flocculent yeast is quite annoying especially when pouring from larger format bottles multiple times.

If you allow the chill haze to form (ie. crash cool) before adding the gelatin, it will also remove the chill haze proteins.

gubby said:

If one decides to use gelatin and bottle one's brew, would it be most beneficial to use the gelatin in secondary, or add it with the priming sugar to the bottling bucket? Surely someone has done the latter and can speak on its results. I would specifically like to compact the yeast sediment in my bottles. The low flocculent yeast is quite annoying especially when pouring from larger format bottles multiple times.

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Don't bottle your gelatin! Rack to secondary and condition for however long you want, then add your gelatin and cold crash. Wait at least 24 hours and then siphon to bottling bucket.

TastySalmon said:

Don't bottle your gelatin! Rack to secondary and condition for however long you want, then add your gelatin and cold crash. Wait at least 24 hours and then siphon to bottling bucket.

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do you have a logical explanation why wouldn't one add gelatin to bottling bucket with priming sugar and bottle?

if it's doing the job in carboy, why wouldn't it do the same job inside a bottle. I would also like to compact the yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle. at the same time I'm afraid gelatine would cement all the yeast to the bottom of the carboy if I use it in secondary for a longer time..........

400d said:

do you have a logical explanation why wouldn't one add gelatin to bottling bucket with priming sugar and bottle?

if it's doing the job in carboy, why wouldn't it do the same job inside a bottle. I would also like to compact the yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle. at the same time I'm afraid gelatine would cement all the yeast to the bottom of the carboy if I use it in secondary for a longer time..........

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I think it is because you don't want the jello in your beer. If you add it to the secondary or even the primary and let it settle out for a couple of days at a low temp you will rack off the clear beer off the top and not take any of if. I have heard there is still enough yeast for carbonation, just give it more time.

I use it in the secondary and have no problems getting bottled beer to carb up, even combined with cold crashing.

Some of you mentioned letting the gelatin cool before you add it to the beer. wont diluting it into gallons of cold/or room temp beer do that?
if it is necessary to cool it first what temp is "cool" ?