Gelatin Issue I think.

[JVAL21]

I just finished the process for a Belgian strong Ale. I've never really cared about clarity before but as I've been growing in my knowledge of home brewing, I've been getting bolder in the things that I do. I've added gelatin to my keg before but this time I added it to my transfer bucket before bottling ( I added it at the same time I added the priming sugar). After a few weeks I go to try the beer out, and it has tons of tiny particles floating around. If I had to describe what it looks like I'd almost say it looks like trub when it settles to the bottom of the glass. If I can add pictures I will add them. I've narrowed it down to gelatin because that is the only thing I've done different. But my questions are 1. do you think gelatin is what is causing it? 2. Is there any way to get rid of it?
Other than that the beer tastes great. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

 

[Kealia]

HOW did you add the gelatin?
Meaning, explain what you did from the time you opened the gelatin package until you added it to the wort.
(Ex: I just cut open the gelatin package and dumped the powder in)

 

[griffi]

You wouldn't want to add gelatin to the bottling bucket. Whatever is going to fall out of the beer (yeast, proteins, etc.) is going to be trapped in your bottles under CO2 pressure. When you crack open a beer its going to be jumping around in your beer glass. You want to use gelatin when you're cold crashing and trying to fine the beer before you rack it to a keg or the bottling bucket.

Oh, your questions: 1.) yes 2.) no

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Yeah we need to know exactly how you added the gelatin. Did you research online how to properly add gelatin to clarify your beer?

 

[JVAL21]

HOW did you add the gelatin?
Meaning, explain what you did from the time you opened the gelatin package until you added it to the wort.
(Ex: I just cut open the gelatin package and dumped the powder in)

I opened the package, added 1 tsp of gelatin to 3/4 cup of water. I mixed it in as best as I could. Then I heated it in the microwave to about 150 degrees. After that I mixed the water some more as it became very clear. Then I cooled it to room temperature. After that I poured it into the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar.

 

[JVAL21]

Here is what it looks like floating around my beer.

 

[brewbama]

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/how-to-clear-your-beer-with-gelatin.html

 

[Kealia]

Hmm, so you racked to the bottling bucket and added the sugar and the gelatin. I'm not sure why this didn't work for you.
When I use gelatin I follow the instructions linked to above but I let it bloom in water for 30 minutes before heating it and I dump it in while it is still hot (into cold beer).
I did add it once at room temp to my keg while racking warm beer onto it and it worked just fine.
So...I'm struggling to figure out what happened here.

 

[DonGavlar]

I've never tried to add gelatin into the bottling bucket. When I used to bottle, I cold crashed then added gelatin and then after a day or two transferred to bottling bucket and bottled.

It looks as though perhaps the gelatin and sugar mixture may have clumped together and formed bits of jello which are now floating about your beer?

Either way, next time id probably try and add the gelatin a day or two before bottling. If you add at the time of bottling I'd assume all the crap that drops out with the gelatin is going to become re-suspended when you open the bottle. You'd really want to try and get all the crap out the beer before bottling.

If you can't do this then perhaps next time just add the sugar to the bucket, rack your beer and then once the sugar and beer are mixed, chuck in your gelatin. Perhaps this may stop the sugar and gelatin mixing so much.

 

[Yooper]

I opened the package, added 1 tsp of gelatin to 3/4 cup of water. I mixed it in as best as I could. Then I heated it in the microwave to about 150 degrees. After that I mixed the water some more as it became very clear. Then I cooled it to room temperature. After that I poured it into the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar.

Yeah, gelatin to the bottles isn't a great idea. When you want to fine beer, do it BEFORE bottling, like in the fermenter, then once it's bright you can rack to the bottling bucket and prime as usual.

You've got some JellO blobs being resuspended as the c02 bubbles come up in the bottle. In a keg, which isn't moved, the gelatin will settle out and the beer is served from a "clean" area of the bottom once the gelatin there is poured out through the tap. In a bottle, you want to bottle it after the fining with gelatin.

 

[JVAL21]

Thank you all for your feedback. You all were a big help.

 

[ESBrewer]

Yes it is probably gelatin. It binds to many compounds that can make it darker. You need to give more time for it to sediment (a day or more) and then rack the beer to bottling bucket avoiding the gelatin stuff.