I'm always pushing to see how quickly I can turn around beers and I find that a lot of the styles I brew can go from grain to glass in two weeks. Gelatin plays a significant role in my process.
So normally I transfer to keg at fermentation temperature, crash the keg to about 4°C / 39°F in my fermenting chamber, toss in my gelatin then throw it in my kegerator for force carbonation.
But last week I forgot to crash the beer and for some reason threw in my gelatin at fermentation temperature--19°C / 66°F for this beer. I went ahead and put the keg in my kegerator and it was down to serving temperature overnight. I was a little worried because I've seen experiments and comparisons showing that gelatin doesn't perform as well when added to warm beer. But this beer was crystal clear in a couple of days, same as when I add gelatin at 4°C / 39°F--probably because I cold crashed it right after adding gelatin. But this mistake was actually easier and quicker than my usual process.
So--going forward, I'm going to skip cold crashing in my fermenting chamber for a day before I add gelatin. I'll add gelatin to the keg right after I transfer it from the fermentor and then immediately put it the kegerator on gas. My process will be simpler--and I'll be drinking beer a day earlier too.
I know it's common for people to cold crash before adding gelatin so I just wanted to share in case anyone has a similar process and wants to simplify it just a little.
So normally I transfer to keg at fermentation temperature, crash the keg to about 4°C / 39°F in my fermenting chamber, toss in my gelatin then throw it in my kegerator for force carbonation.
But last week I forgot to crash the beer and for some reason threw in my gelatin at fermentation temperature--19°C / 66°F for this beer. I went ahead and put the keg in my kegerator and it was down to serving temperature overnight. I was a little worried because I've seen experiments and comparisons showing that gelatin doesn't perform as well when added to warm beer. But this beer was crystal clear in a couple of days, same as when I add gelatin at 4°C / 39°F--probably because I cold crashed it right after adding gelatin. But this mistake was actually easier and quicker than my usual process.
So--going forward, I'm going to skip cold crashing in my fermenting chamber for a day before I add gelatin. I'll add gelatin to the keg right after I transfer it from the fermentor and then immediately put it the kegerator on gas. My process will be simpler--and I'll be drinking beer a day earlier too.
I know it's common for people to cold crash before adding gelatin so I just wanted to share in case anyone has a similar process and wants to simplify it just a little.