Do you need to cold crash for Gelatin to work?

I'd like to clear up my beer a bit more. I've never had much luck with Irish Moss so I was going to try gelatin.

Can I just add it to my secondary that is up in my brew room? I don't cold crash because I don't have a beer fridge. Will the gelatin still clear up the beer?

My brew room is pretty cool already. About 63F.

I've had some success using gelatin without cold crashing.

How long did you leave it in the secondary?

TacoGuthrie said:

How long did you leave it in the secondary?

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It can stay in there indefinitely. I add gelatin to the keg, and its in there till it kicks with no ill effects.

At the time I was bottling. I racked to secondary, added gelatin, let it settle for a week, and bottled. A week was probably overkill, but I was in no hurry.

I was just asking because I racked to secondary two days ago and I won't be bottling for 10 more days.

It sounds like there is no harm done if it stays in there for that amount of time.

Just bottled after leaving the ale on gelatin for 2 weeks (racked onto it for good mixing), with no cold crash. Took about a week to mostly clear. Could read a newspaper through the full carboy after 2.

Had been pouring the gelatin in after racking, and it worked well, but I feel this worked better. Still, I got beautifully clear ales with no crashing.

That's good to know DmentD. I just poured some Gelatin on top of my beer that has been racked for a few days. Next time I'll rack on top and see if I can notice a difference.

A long time ago, a pro brewer friend told me that filtering was easier and faster than using a fining agent, so any time I want super clear beer, I run it through a plate filter before finishing it up. (Got that from Northern Brewer for not too many bucks)

I have used gelatin before without cold crashing, and it worked fine after a couple of weeks, so I would agree with DmentD that you don't really need to cold crash with gelatin.

I am sure this has been asked before. But those that are using gelatin are you bottling and if so how long does it take the beer to carb up. I have read alot of opinions about this just wanted to know your experience.

Korben said:

I am sure this has been asked before. But those that are using gelatin are you bottling and if so how long does it take the beer to carb up. I have read alot of opinions about this just wanted to know your experience.

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I used gelatin on the one batch that I have bottled so far, and 3 days after I bottled I started putting a bottle in the fridge every day, then opening the bottle the next day. By 7 days after bottling, I'd say it was happily carbonated, and it only got a tiny bit more carbonated by day 10. After that, it hasn't changed a bit. From what I read when I was getting ready to use the gelatin, the gelatin doesn't really affect carb time, as there is plenty of yeast left in suspension afterwards.