How long should it take gelatin to work?

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BrookdaleBrew

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From my understanding it should only take a few days in the firdge.

Well, I used it for the first time about 2 weeks ago because I wanted my Kolsch to be crystal clear. After 5 days in the firdge, it was definitely clearer than it had been, but not exactly what I was expecting. I went ahead and bottled thinking it may clear up a little more during the bottle conditioning phase.

Anyway, I checked one of my green bottles (as in color, obviously the beer is still young) this morning and it is still really cloudy. I'm just curious if this is normal or if it should have been crystal clear when I racked to my bottling bucket. I'm starting the think I did something wrong and the clearing I saw in the firdge was just from the cold crash.

I mixed a half a package of knox gelatin into 1 cup of 180 degree water, stirred like crazy, let it sit for a bit to "bloom" then poured it into my cold beer per the instructions I had read.

Did I screw this up or will my beer clear in the bottle? I know it'll be drinkable either way and given enough time it will eventually clear on it's own, but I just want to figure out what I did wrong with the gelatin so I don't repeat the same mistake twice.
 
Its probably chill haze. The only times ive used gelatin is for wine, and it took 24 hours.

But... basically if bottles are clear when warm, then you put in the fridge overnight and they cloud up, its chill haze.

The good news: Its cosmetic. Doesnt affect the taste at all.

Bad news: No way to fix it.
 
It was hazy when cold, but it's also cloudy in the bottle at room temp. I was under the impression that gelatin would eliminate chill haze as well though since it is supposed to drop out proteins. Is that not the case?

I was out of whirlfloc when I brewed this batch, so I wasn't able to use that, which is why I attempted to use gelatin. Whirlfloc has worked well for me in the past.
 
Yes and no, I'm not 100% sure if this is the case but I was under the impression that gelatin "will" remove chill haze, but only if you allow the haze to form, and then add the gelatin.

So you get it cold, let it haze up, add gelatin, and it should drop out the proteins. If you add it to cloudy beer, but not cloudy due to chill haze, then it wont work..

I'm confusing myself ;) you know what I mean though?
 
Hmmm, well it was definitely cold and hazy when I added the gelatin but it was cloudy out of the fermenter too (my beers usually are, then clear in the bottle/keg.) I was just under the impression that gelatin would make my beer clear in a matter of days. I guess I'll just be patient and see what happens.
 
Its probably chill haze. The only times ive used gelatin is for wine, and it took 24 hours.

Bad news: No way to fix it.

Not true.

I know most brewers don't have a dedicated beer fridge, so they might not have their bottles cold storing all the time. Most of my beers clear up after a week of cold storage. My pilsener malt beers take about two. Briess 2-row beers take much less. The haze will drop out in time. All of my homebrew is crystal clear right now.
 
Hmmm, well it was definitely cold and hazy when I added the gelatin but it was cloudy out of the fermenter too (my beers usually are, then clear in the bottle/keg.) I was just under the impression that gelatin would make my beer clear in a matter of days. I guess I'll just be patient and see what happens.

Gelatin is not very effective for chill haze. Try the cold storage thing. It will work I promise, patience! :mug:
 
Maybe that's my problem then. I only had it in the fridge for about 24 hours before adding the gelatin. I also just poured it right in, I didn't stir at all.
 
Gelatin is not very effective for chill haze. Try the cold storage thing. It will work I promise, patience! :mug:

Thanks for the info. I was planning on "lagering" these in the bottle for as long as I could anyway, so hopefully that'll take care of the chill haze. Unfortunately I don't have the room to store 2 cases of beer in the fridge for an extended period of time, so I'll have to do them in batches.
 
Thanks for the info. I was planning on "lagering" these in the bottle for as long as I could anyway, so hopefully that'll take care of the chill haze. Unfortunately I don't have the room to store 2 cases of beer in the fridge for an extended period of time, so I'll have to do them in batches.

That's what I used to do too. You can find a fridge for practically nothing on craigslist all the time. If you have the room. Your beer will stay fresh for longer as well.
 
Yeah, I've looked on craigslist quite a bit because I do need a decidated beer fridge. My biggest problem would be transporting it.
 
I chill the beer in the fermentor to the low 30's, then add 1 whole packet of properly prepared Knox gelatin. It is noticeably clearer in 24 hours but I leave it for 48-72 then rack to a keg.

GT
 
I chill the beer in the fermentor to the low 30's, then add 1 whole packet of properly prepared Knox gelatin. It is noticeably clearer in 24 hours but I leave it for 48-72 then rack to a keg.

GT

It was noticeably clearer, just not crystal clear, which is what I was thinking I would get based on some of the threads I read here.

humann_brewing said:
you are dehydrating it too right?

Yep, I'm rehydrating. I mixed half a package of gelatin in 1 cup of 180 degree water, stirred then let it sit for a while to "bloom" per the instructions I found in a thread here.
 
I just finished bottling some Kolsch from a keg. I gave it my standard 'rack onto gelatin-cold crash for 3 days' treatment to no avail. The beer was as cloudy as it was in the fermenter. I waited a few days-no change. I added another 1/2 pack of gelatin. It wasn't until 10 days on cold crash that the yeast finally dropped out and the beer cleared. That Kolsch yeast is amazing. White Labs says flocculation is medium, I say it's less than medium. I was cold crashing at 33F.
 
Good to know, I'm also using WLP029, so maybe I just needed to cold crash for a few more days.

At any rate, I'm sure it'll be clear by the time it's ready to drink. I figure a month in the bottle and then a month in the fridge should do it.
 
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