Gelatin and carbonation

[Beginnier927]

Hello
This is my first time brewing at home and I've started with beer, I have a few questions.
When is the best time to use gelatin? Can I use it before bottling? The idea is I add gelatin to the beer and wait for a few days until it is clear, then I bottle the beer with sugar to carbonate, here, my concern is will there be enough yeast left in the cleared beer to fermented the added sugar and carbonate the beer?

And the other thing I think I can do is bottle the beer right after adding gelatin, in order for the gelatin to do it's job efficiently, I will have to refrigerate the bottles, so the yeast will be inactive and carbonation will not happen. Can I do this and not put the bottles in the refrigerator?

Does gelatin only collect proteins or it can collect the yeast too?

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard!
Even after gelatin, there will be enough yeast to carbonate. You can also let the beer stay in the fermenter without gelatin until it clears, and in the bottles.

 

[Beginnier927]

Welcome aboard!
Even after gelatin, there will be enough yeast to carbonate. You can also let the beer stay in the fermenter without gelatin until it clears, and in the bottles.

But it was take longer due to lower density of the yeast in the beer right? And what if I added gelatin and sugar to the bottle? Will it carbonate? Will it slow down carbonation?

 

[JohnSand]

I haven't used gelatin often. I think it would still carbonate in the bottle, and clear with the gelatin. The gelatin will leave residue on the bottom of the bottle, but there would be some anyway. If you try it, let us know how it works out.

 

[eliastheodosis]

I've done gelatin and I've done bottle conditioning but I haven't done both. I would assume that the bottle conditioning would still work with the gelatin since it's not going to knock all of your yeast out of solution right away or anything. There are a couple things that come to mind, though.

First, after adding the gelatin the active yeast that are performing the bottle conditioning would be in solution, right? That seems like it might negate some of the benefits here. If you have a very yeasty/cloudy beer before bottling then it could help clear it some before bottling but you might also consider waiting a little longer for the yeast to drop unless you have good reason not to wait.

Second, gelatin works much better when added to a cold beer. You'd want to chill the beer before dosing and then bottle it. Regardless of whether or not gelatin would get you the effects you want, can you chill the beer in the fermentor? If you cant and you add it warm then I'd say you might as well not add it at all. That's my experience with gelatin at least.

If you add the gelatin and it works then the yeast should still carb the beer in the bottle. However, I think you'd probably still have to wait for the beer to clear again after the yeast do their work to condition it.

I'm curious to hear from anyone that's actually done this. Definitely let us know if you try it out

 

[Jocky]

If you add gelatin in the fermenter you will still have plenty of yeast to bottle condition. I have done it. You end up with no visible yeast going into the bottles, you get a little haze during carbonation but then that drops out and you're left with a really fine layer of yeast stuck to the bottom of the bottle.

Just be careful when adding the gelatin to minimise the amount of time your fermenter is left open to avoid oxygen exposure. It also helps if the fermenter is chilled before you add gelatin, but don't worry if you can't.

 

[eliastheodosis]

Just be careful when adding the gelatin to minimise the amount of time your fermenter is left open to avoid oxygen exposure

Jocky, that was also a worry that I had but didn't mention in my post. In your opinion is there an advantage to gelatin fining in the fermentor that makes it worth risking the potential oxidation? You're already fighting oxidation when bottling anyway. Do the bottles clear way, way faster after carbonation or something? Otherwise, I am wondering if it would be worth the risk...

 

[Jocky]

It kind of depends how quickly you can open your fermenter, throw in the gelatin and close it up again. Also how big the opening is when you open it.

A carboy works well because the opening is quite small, and at the top. A bucket is harder, but if you crack it open quickly you’re fine.

Ultimately, a beer will drop clear eventually over time, faster if cold, so if you’re worried then don’t do it.