What method of beer clearing do you use?

I have the ability to cold crash in a fridge or I could use gelatin. I would like to minimize rackings and I do have the ability to keg using cornys. I'm stuck trying to figure out the advantages to secondary vs cold crash vs gelatin.

I know it's going out of style, but I still secondary. Typically two weeks in primary, two in secondary, then into cornys. By the time it's carbed in the corny most anything left has settled to the bottom. The first glass picks up some of that. But after that it's as clear as I ever need it to be for the rest of the keg. I do BIAB all grain and use whirlflock in the boil.

I've been keeping my eye on other methods. I don't have the capability to cold crash very well yet. Finings seem to be a lot of bother for me. Maybe if I was going for awards or something. Since I'm kegging filtration is also an option, but so far I've not been able to answer why I would go to the trouble.

I just primary for at least three weeks.

I have only brewed one batch, cold-crashed it for three days before bottling. It is crystal clear.

This is at room-temperature, 1 week after bottling:





Sorry, couldn't get the camera to focus on the bottle, but you get the idea.

My humble, still noobish opinion: personally, I am a fan of limiting the addition of random stuff to the beer. SO, I'd prefer cold crashing and secondary over gelatin.

My practice so far: I used to do secondary, my last couple batches have been bottling from primary (no kegging yet). I have found I'm not a fan of the larger amount of sediment I'm getting in my bottles going straight from primary, I'm too greedy and can't keep the racking cane out of the trub (must not waste a drop!). BUT, I haven't had a chance to cold crash yet. I'm on the bleeding edge of getting my hands on a fridge that will be mine, ALL MINE, for brewing only. Not sure if I'll go keezer or chamber; but for starters it'll be storage of finished brew and a chance to try cold crashing the primary before bottling. I'm guessing this might help some, but still won's solve my problem of digging too deep with the cane. So, if I'm still not pleased, I'll just go back to using secondary.

I might just try a 3 week primary and straight to keg. I'm out of homebrew at the moment and would love to get some on tap! This is as good a time as any to give it a try.

I move the fermenter the day before i bottle...that's all.

So far my beer has been lovely clear

cold crash at 32 - 33 f for 3 days and keg

all the best

S_M

I seldom do a secondary, and usually only do it because I dont have a keg ready or dont feel like bottling. Not sure if beers that I did a secondary on were any clearer than ones I did not.

For beers I bottle I just bottle and allow time in the fridge to do the clearing once it is carbonated. A week to 10 days is usually enough time.

The beer I keg I use a 1/2 packet (3.5gm) of gelatin after a day or so in the keg. I carb with the set and forget method and thought the beer would naturally clear like the bottles but it does not seem to work that way for me. One of these days I plan to try adding the gelatin to the kegs as I fill it to see if that works so I dont have to repurge.

It depends on the beer. If I am making a beer that tends to pour cloudy without some help (e.g. a fruit beer), I will do a secondary with gelatin & then immediately cold crash.

Otherwise I will just keg it and carb it slowly, and let time & temperature take care of it. By the time I'm ready to start pouring a couple of weeks after kegging, it will be clear anyway.

Gelatin is amazing.

Primary 3 weeks, crash 2 days then cold storage 3 weeks. Seems to be all I need to do.

I sometimes use whirlfloc sometimes not.

I have been using clarityferm for the last few batches and I think it does a good job.

Primary only.

Cold crash for 3 days

I typically use gelatin in the keg right after I rack.

I use half a Whirlfloc tablet 15 minutes left in the boil. Then wait for primary to get down to a stable FG. Then give it another 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty, then prime & bottle.

IM in the BK. Cold crash for a week before bottling with gelatin added at 24 hours into the cold crash.
Results= wicked clear beer.

For most beers, Whirfloc in the boil and that's it. With that, even chill haze is minimal, and then I don't bottle until the beer is clear.

If I'm going for super brilliantly clear (ie just short of filtered), I'll chill the beer down to about 35-40 (ie below where I serve them), and then fine with gelatin (gelatin works best when it's already cold, ie in conjunction with cold crashing). Chill it down, drop out the yeast, and then the gelatin is actually pretty good at stripping out not only yeast, but chill haze too.

For my polypins, sometimes I'll use a little isinglass since it pulls the yeast out, and resettles to the bottom if it gets tossed about unlike gelatin. It has mixed success though, since the liquid isinglass available to homebrewers isn't the most reliable stuff.

This gives me the best results with ales:

0.5 whirlfloc tab/5 gal at 5 min
Primary for 10-12 days
Crash to 40F for 2 days
Add gelatin to empty keg and rack cold beer on top
Carb at serving pressure for 7 days
First pint is cloudy, but it's crystal clear after that
Good hot and cold breaks are important, too

Gelatin works best when you cold crash.

Here is a great write up about including the process and science behind it.

http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/2013/01/brewing-science-gelatin-clearing-beer.html#more

If its a lager, Ill throw in some gelatin to expedite the process during the lagering process. For my ales, I now just cold crash. I used to gelatin ales, but have found my beers are crystal in 2 weeks regardless, so I quit using gelatin. I also felt it stripped some hop aroma from my hoppy ales.

My process is to cold crash the primary for a few days, maybe even a week (usually do my beer stuff on the weekends), rack to keg, 24hr force carb, and by the time I drink it the next weekend (only drink on the weekends), its pretty clear. Obviously, subsequent weeks clear the beer even further.

Another method I sometimes use is to gelatin in the keg. I will just rack from a warm primary to a keg, cold crash the keg a few days to flocc out most sediment, add gelatin mixture, purge with co2, and continue cold crash (for lagers) or begin force carb in the kegerator (for ales). For ales, after a few days, the yeast cakes pretty well on the bottom, and while the first pour or two is hazy, its pretty clear after that.

Multiple ways to skin the feline

Whirlfloc last 10 min of boil

Cold crash the primary at 35*F for a week. Rack cold beer to keg or bottling bucket. The cold causes the yeast cake to be more firm, making it easier to avoid sucking any of it into the siphon. No secondary needed nor wanted.

I stopped using gelatin after a few batches. The cold crashing did such a good job clearing the beer that the gelatin wasn't really making that much of a difference. I sometimes get asked if I filter.

Great responses! I tossed my carbon of Nut Brown into the fridge and will watch it for the next few days. Since it's a dark beer I'm not going to gelatin it.

I just tasted a batch that I made where water chemistry was a big factor. Best batch I've made. But I still would like my beer to be more clear. I use Whirlfloc in the boil, but I usually only have my carbed beers in the fridge long enough to get them to temp for drinking. I guess I should chill them longer? Cheers.

VegasBrew1 said:

I just tasted a batch that I made where water chemistry was a big factor. Best batch I've made. But I still would like my beer to be more clear. I use Whirlfloc in the boil, but I usually only have my carbed beers in the fridge long enough to get them to temp for drinking. I guess I should chill them longer? Cheers.

Click to expand...

Yes. At least 24 hours. Give them yeasties time to settle.

I topped off the Irish red I'd used half a Whirlfloc tablet in yesterday with chilled spring water & got a serious cold break. So this one should be pretty clear anyway.

Kegging is cold crashing, just in the serving vessel. I use sanke kegs and the beer pours pretty clear with no special effort. I do use whirlflock in the brew kettle if I remember. I have used gelatin in the past, and still would in the future if I wanted the beer looking as good as possible asap as soon as possible.

I guess it comes down to the effort. In the long run if kegging, I don't find it to make any difference in the finished product. I have also heard that gelatin can work so well that some flavor compounds can be stripped or cleared un wantingly from the beer. I guess I get good results doing neither, and that's the easiest approach.