Gelatin Finnings: what happens to the gelatin?

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domdom

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I'm going to use gelatin to help clear up a kolsch i've got in my cooler. I've read over how to do it and seems pretty clear. a couple questions i do have:

how long do you leave it sit after adding?

what happens to the gelatin after it's done clearing up the beer? I'm going to bottle it since i can't keg and wanted to check if it all just falls to the bottom into one big clump or it stays suspended for a while. want to make sure i don't end up with chunky beer.
 
I guess I always assumed it settled to the bottom! I usually leave it for 1.5 to 2 days.

Correct.

the Gelatin will bins to the Protein in the beer (Protein generally causes haze) and will then drop to the bottom of the keg/fermenter, and compact accordingly.
 
Correct.

the Gelatin will bins to the Protein in the beer (Protein generally causes haze) and will then drop to the bottom of the keg/fermenter, and compact accordingly.

thanks for the info!

is it usually pretty compact or do i have to be careful when i siphon it to avoid chunks?
 
I don't use it often (really only on my Kolsch, Cal Common, or Altbier, of which I may brew one of the three every couple years), but in my experience it forms a very compact, very tight sediment. I wouldn't go intentionally trying to rouse it because if you DO rouse it up, it doesn't really resettle. But difficult to stir up with a racking cane for sure.
 
i put my bucket into a cooler full of ice tuesday, added the gelatin thursday, and bottled today (sunday). beer was about 50 degrees when bottled. the sample was really clear. there was no gelatin mass at the bottle like i was expecting but the yeast seemed more viscous and gooey than typical.

it'll be interested to see how well it carbs in the bottle. i don't think strip out all the yeast from what i read but i've heard it takes longer.
 
It shouldn't wind up in your bottles. If you gave it 24 hours or so at really cool temps, the gelatin and the stuff it grabs hold of, will have fallen out of suspenSion and you'll have clean beer in your bottles.
 
i don't think strip out all the yeast from what i read but i've heard it takes longer.

In my experience, both are correct. I don't keg anything, only cask or bottle, and have never had a problem naturally carbonating after fining with gelatin, but it does indeed take longer.
 
W/ Gelatin you might want to give it 4-5 to fully carb. I find most of mine are carbed 1-2 normally w/ gelatin 3-4, but you never know.
thanks for the input. how long do you wait between adding the gelatin and bottling? i'm curious if i need to time adding gelatin for only a few days before bottling or if i could add it and let it sit for a week or two and still have enough yeast.

i was curious how this would affect dry hopping. does it clear out the hop matter if added after the dry hop period? and would it cut the aroma/flavor of dry hopping?
 
I've honestly never gelatin-fined a dry-hopped beer, so I'm not sure. I could see it pulling out hop haze, but potentially pulling out oils too. I've heard some say that gelatin will reduce hop impression, so that would make sense, but I've seen others (such as Brulosophy) say there's no significant reduction of dry hop character (that could be objectively identified) from using gelatin.

The beers I hit with gelatin are all lagered, while I lager maybe 3-4 weeks, I'll hit with gelatin the last week and then bottle. I don't know if there's a harm to doing it sooner, but I don't think there's any benefit- it just sits at the bottom not doing anything. Several days is what I've noticed for it to fully settle out tightly, so I give it 5-7 days to be safe.
 
W/ Gelatin you might want to give it 4-5 to fully carb. I find most of mine are carbed 1-2 normally w/ gelatin 3-4, but you never know.

i find no difference in gelatin fining affecting the time to carbonation.

Dissolution of CO2 into liquid should not strongly depend on very low concentration of various additives, like gelatin.
 
i find no difference in gelatin fining affecting the time to carbonation.

Dissolution of CO2 into liquid should not strongly depend on very low concentration of various additives, like gelatin.

I attribute it to reduction of available yeast to produce the CO2, and not the actual dissolution time.
 
wanted to follow up on this. found it took about 3 times longer to carb than beers without gelatin added. i noted a little film build up at the top of the bottles (couldn't get a good picture of it to show) but beer was super clear. however, for the extended amount of time it took to clear, i wonder if just letting it settle out in the secondary fermenter for longer would have gotten the same results.
 
wanted to follow up on this. found it took about 3 times longer to carb than beers without gelatin added. i noted a little film build up at the top of the bottles (couldn't get a good picture of it to show) but beer was super clear. however, for the extended amount of time it took to clear, i wonder if just letting it settle out in the secondary fermenter for longer would have gotten the same results.

Interesting. your film in the top would suggest some for of re-fermentation most likely.

I've found that with extended ageing you can get clear beer, but its not really suitable for certain style (i.e Hoppy Ales)
The Longer aged stuff - Imperial stout / Belgian Strong Ales etc. can clear with time.
 

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