gelatin use

Hi, new to homebrewing. Just started 1st batch pale ale clone. 8 days in primary and now week into secondary. Been reading on gelatin use to clear and was hoping to try as pretty murkey in secondary. Can I remove bung and airlock from secondary carbuoy in another week to add gel and re seal without any oxidation effects. Also have a concrete storm room at 50 deg, would that help with clearing after gelatin added. Mostly concerned about oxi issues.
Thanks for input.

 

You might introduce a bit of oxygen but if done carefully it shouldn't be a problem. You'll probably introduce more oxygen during your bottling procedure but the yeast should consume most of it during the carbonation phase of the fermentation. Just be as careful and gentle as possible.

As far as temperature, the cooler the better when it comes to gelatin and clearing in general. You can achieve pretty clear beer by cold conditioning even without the use of gelatin.

 

Should be fine. When you're ready to clear the beer, just take the bung out, gently add the gelatin, put the bung back in, and then let it sit for a couple days. Then bottle or keg as normal. If your careful about it you won't have to worry about oxidation.

Here's some light reading that may help you:

Using gelatin to clear beer

If you are able to, it may help to cold-crash the carboy for a couple days prior to adding gelatin and for a couple days affer, but it's not mandatory.

 

As for it being murky, maybe try leaving in primary for 2 weeks/1 week secondary. Or 3 weeks primary only. Shouldn't need gelatin as much that way.

The colder you can get the beer prior to adding the gelatin, the better it will work. It works really well in the mid to upper 30's, but can also strip out some of the hop aroma if you are dry hopping. I find just a few days works for most yeast strains, but stubborn flocc'rs like Kolsch can take 1-2 weeks to drop with gelatin.

 

Thanks for quick input, been reading threads, you tube, books and just get more confused. This process really does seem like "follow the basics and tweak to taste" Guess I could move to the 50 deg colder room and just watch and add the gel in a couple of weeks if still needed. meanwhile try to butcher a small fridge to fit a carbouy w/airlock.

 

If you have your secondary in a cold place you will notice it will clear quite a bit on its own. Pale ale I guess would be ok but be wary of using gelatin in very hop forward beer (IPA/DIPA) as it WILL strip some of the aroma out.

 

This is true. I noticed this pattern in my hop forward beers and have since ceased using gelatin on those styles.

One method I've contemplated for hop forward beers is to cold crash, gelatin, rack to keg, dry hop in keg at room temp, then carb/serve. That way I drop the yeast out and the only haze I should have to worry about would be from the dry hop. This would be a bit more time consuming though

 

Move the fermenter to the cold area, this will start the process of clearing the beer. It will also cause any chill haze to form(though don't know if 50 is cold enough, I crash/serve from keg at 38-42 depending on the beer). Adding the gelatin a day or two later will cause the chill haze to drop out as well. Remember, however, that if you are bottle conditioning, your yeast will start to reproduce again, and somewhat undo this whole process.

As for the gelatin stripping out hop aroma, I surely haven't experienced this, even in side by side taste/smell tests from the same recipe. I believe that most people that experience this are using WAY too much gelatin, or don't realize that hop aroma/flavor fades quickly, and perhaps the fault lies with the extra time allotted to allow the beer to clear, rather than the fining agent itself. Just my opinion based off my own personal experience, you'll find quite a variety of opinions on the internet, I suggest to try things out and see for yourself.

 

Anyone know what these smaller beverage chillers get to temp wise. Don't really want to buy a new fridge for beer. These chillers are good size for carboy and airlock since all the shelves can be removed just not sure whether they'd go cold enough. Wife's already mad that I keep worms in the fridge. Got the pitch black 50 degree storm room but sounds like colder the better for gelatin. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm pretty sure they will go down to the low 40s... Should work for you

 

Always try things for yourself as YMMV. I noticed this the most when we brewed a PtY clone for a beer festival last year. There were 4 separate dryhoppings (we dryhop in a keg) and after each one we were right where we needed to be but after the 4th dryhop there was a lot of hop haze so I used gelatin to clear and lost about 1/3 or more of the aroma. Luckily we had an extra week before the festival and did an additional 2 dryhoppings to regain what I lost and then left it alone. I learned my lesson from that... you WILL lose hop aroma with gelatin.

 

How much gelatin do you use? I've found that if you use a whole packet of Knox or a tablespoon, it'll strip some aroma but if you only use 1/4 teaspoon, it works just fine and no noticeable difference in hop aroma/flavor. I'm sure it varies recipe to recipe, but you can always factor this into the dry hopping and add a few extra ounces to counterbalance any gelatin stripping.

 

I use 1 tsp for 5 gallons. I typically don't bother with adding extra hops for it unless it's for an event where I want someone to saw WOW when they bring their glass to their nose for a sniff. But it is something to be aware of.

 

Ive always used the whole packet for 5 gal. Ill give it a try cutting it down down to 1/4 tsp next time and see how it affects the end result.

 

Thanks for the input today. Found a 5.5 cf wine chiller at Lowe's that can be set 33-50 deg AND if you take the shelves out, a carboy or 6.5 gal bucket w/airlock will slide right in with room to spare. Mini cold crash set up.
Gonna try to move over to chiller and see how clears up.

 

A part of this process that hasn't seemed to come up is collecting yeast slurry. I use slurry all of the time, but I would like to cold crash with gelatin. Will this affect my slurry?

Thanks,
John

 

I leave beer in primary, CC in fridge for 24 hrs. Add gelatin with a gentle swirl, leave in CC for 3 more days. Rack carefully, super-clear every time, except dry-hopped beers.