ADDING GELATIN AT WHAT TEMP?!!!

[HoundboundCo]

Hey so I just added gelatin mixture to a 5 gallon batch of beer. I added 1/2 tbsp to cold water and let it sit for an hour then topped off about 3 ounces of boiling water to let it mix. Same process I did last time with my Kölsch and it worked perfectly.

This time however. I dumped it into the keg of 36F beer while the gelatin mixture was still hot ( from adding boiling water )…..

Will this harm or damage my young beer by any chance? Obviously cooling down the mixture would be ideal but I think this is what I did last time and didn’t have any ill effects.

 

[VikeMan]

To keep this simple*, let's treat the gelatin solution as water, and say you had a total of 8 ounces. And let's say it was at 212F, which it certainly wasn't, but call it worst case for illustration purposes.

(212F x 8 oz) + (36F x 640 oz)
--------------------------------- = ~38F
(8 oz + 640 oz)

I'd say you didn't damage your beer. I rarely use gelatin, but when I do, it's at roughly 160F when I add it to the keg. I suspect your gelatin solution really was not too far from that temp, possibly even lower, based on your description.

*There's a longer, more complicated, way around that would get us to almost the same answer, that would involve the density of the gelatin solution, and its exact volume and temp.

 

[dbayub]

Worst case is you may have made jello, which may not clear your beer and may clog your beer lines if you do it in a keg. Heat the water & gelatin mixture to pasteurize it, not to boil it. 160 degrees for 30 seconds does it.

 

[VikeMan]

. Heat the water & gelatin mixture to pasteurize it, not to boil it. 160 degrees for 30 seconds does it.

He didn't boil it. He added a small amount of boiling water (instead of microwaves) to the already bloomed gelatin solution to heat it up.

 

[shetc]

RDWHAHB

 

[rtstrider]

Do this all the time with boiled gelatin. Works great and no harm no foul! Give it 48-72 hours to start working bare minimum. I usually go two weeks at least while going set and forget carbonation. Brews turn out crystal clear! The other thing I've noticed is the first couple of cloudy pours seem to taste a bit...Off per se lol Once you get past those it's smooth sailing!

 

[passedpawn]

Hey so I just added gelatin mixture to a 5 gallon batch of beer. I added 1/2 tbsp to cold water and let it sit for an hour then topped off about 3 ounces of boiling water to let it mix. Same process I did last time with my Kölsch and it worked perfectly.

This time however. I dumped it into the keg of 36F beer while the gelatin mixture was still hot ( from adding boiling water )…..

Will this harm or damage my young beer by any chance? Obviously cooling down the mixture would be ideal but I think this is what I did last time and didn’t have any ill effects.

Please, never all caps, and avoid all those exclamations etc. We are mostly all adults here and we don't scream like that, and you'll get responses without it.

What you did is fine. It's the way I do it. To be clear, I put the gelatin powder into water, let it sit for 5 minutes, stir a bit, then microwave until boiling. Then I dump into cold (33F) beer. Works great.