Beating a dead horse - gelatin

[Brewer3401]

Brewing for 12+ years, and for the last 11 have used gelatin.
I add gelatin to 65F beer, then crash to 35F
In 6 weeks or so, the beer is brilliant, ready to keg and force carbonate.

Reading now many add gelatin to COLD beer, and they say it works faster.

Anyone with real-life experience that uses gelatin care to comment on which way works better ?

My thought of adding the warm gelatin mixture to cold beer would have the gelatin clump up before it binds with proteins, yeast, etc.

Thanks

 

[hunter_le five]

I add my gelatin to cold beer. It does not clump up, and it clears beer just fine. Does it work better in cold beer than warm? I don't know. I've heard some people claim it only works in cold beer, and others say it works better warm. Sounds to me like maybe it doesn't matter.


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[smccarter]

I cold crash for a week, add the gelatin to the keg when I rack to it. Carbonate for a couple of days and drink absolutely clear beer.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]I add gelatin to 65F beer, then crash to 35F. In 6 weeks or so, the beer is brilliant, ready to keg and force carbonate.
[...]

You really should do a control batch treated exactly the same way but without the gelatin and see what happens.

I've never tried gelatin only because by the time my kegs have been cold-carbonating for three weeks they're read-through bright already.

Cold does wonderful things if you can get enough of it

Cheers!

 

[The_Bishop]

I cold crash for 24 hours, add gelatin to the near-freezing beer, and keep it cold for another 48 hours. Beer is extremely clear when I rack it to the keg. No gelatin clumps.

 

[govner1]

Any impact on your hop flavor/aroma from using gelatin?


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[Natdavis777]

I have done both, and this is the outcome:

When I first started using gelatin, my process was to ferment in primary , then transfer to a corny and dry hop in a bag. After the dry hop, if pull the bag out, and cold crash my beer for a few days, to get the remaining yeast and particulates to drop out. From there, I would microwave my water/gelatin mix until it ran clear, and put into the "cold" corny. Hit with some co2 to purge oxygen and back into the fridge for a few more days. After a few days in the fridge, is transfer to my serving kegs, and it was satisfying clear.

Recently, I tried the "warm" method of raking from the primary onto a gelatin mixture and and then cold crashing. After a week @35F, I pulled off a some pints (figured the first few would be cloudy from the material settling) and then get some clear beer... That was not the case. Put it back in the fridge and forgot about it. Check it a few weeks later, and it was pretty clear.

In conclusion, I am a fan of gelatin while cold. I like to cold crash for a few days to get what would naturally drop out fast to drop out. Anything else in suspension after the initial cold crash (proteins, hop material from dry hopping, etc) would get dropped out by the gelatin. A word of caution, if making a hoppy beer that you want some strong hop aroma, up your dry hop amount. Others may think different, or maybe it's me, but I feel I lose some aroma after I use gelatin.


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[Brewer3401]

Thanks to all for the responses.
Brewing on Monday, and will cold crash to 35F for 2 days, then add gelatin.
I also pull a sample in a 12" glass graduated cylinder to monitor how the clarification process is coming along.
If I do not dry hop, I do not rack to a brite tank after fermentation. All processes done in primary, then rack to keg.
No off flavors. Last beer I did 2+ months ago got a 42, so I don't see any problems with letting the beer sit on yeast since the temp is so low.

 

[nhwrecker]

How much gelatin are you guys adding, in how much water?

 

[Brewer3401]

How much gelatin are you guys adding, in how much water?

I use 1 gram per gallon of beer in about 350 ml. of water.
Boil water in Erlenmeyer flask with stir bar, let it cool down to 150 F, add gelatin and spin on magnetic stirrer for at least 30 minutes.
Add to 70 F beer, then crash to 35 F

Next brew, will crash beer to 35 F for 2 days, then add gelatin and see if it clears quicker. Could brew more often if I didn't have to wait 6 weeks for crystal clear beer.

 

[The_Bishop]

Use this process, it works:
Bertus Brewery Clearing Beer

 

[Brewer3401]

Use this process, it works:
Bertus Brewery Clearing Beer

Thanks. I read that before, but read it more slowly this time and do see where adding the gelatin mixture to super-cold beer works the best.
Thanks again for that link - excellent info, and it correlates with what I have been reading lately about adding to cold beer, not "warmish", then crashing.

 

[atoughram]

Has anyone tried Polyclar?

 

[Smellyglove]

Gelatin works better in cold beer because proteins clump together in cold beer (chill haze), thus being easier to get and the weight of the clumps makes it fall easier to the bottom. It's like trying to grasp a dough comparing to flour, easier to get hold of the dough.

 

[Brewer3401]

Gelatin works better in cold beer because proteins clump together in cold beer (chill haze), thus being easier to get and the weight of the clumps makes it fall easier to the bottom. It's like trying to grasp a dough comparing to flour, easier to get hold of the dough.

Good thought. I will be able to try in a little over 2 weeks. Will let you know.

 

[Brewer3401]

Unbelievable.
Crashed to 35 F for 4 days, added gelatin, and overnight looked clear with the exception of little dots of gelatin in the column.

After 2 days,

Been doing it "wrong" for 10+ years.
This is definitely the way to do it.
Instead of 6 weeks before kegging, looks like I can go 1 week and keg.
A whole month+ time saved.

One thought about gelatin to keg to clarify. Says to add gelatin, put on top of keg, then swish around, then purge.
Do the purge BEFORE swishing around to avoid oxidation.

Thanks to all for their input.

 

[Natdavis777]

Unbelievable.

Crashed to 35 F for 4 days, added gelatin, and overnight looked clear with the exception of little dots of gelatin in the column.



After 2 days,



Been doing it "wrong" for 10+ years.

This is definitely the way to do it.

Instead of 6 weeks before kegging, looks like I can go 1 week and keg.

A whole month+ time saved.



One thought about gelatin to keg to clarify. Says to add gelatin, put on top of keg, then swish around, then purge.

Do the purge BEFORE swishing around to avoid oxidation.



Thanks to all for their input.

Glad to hear it worked so well!

As for the swishing and purging, I've never done this. If you want to however, I would add the gelatin, put the lid on, hit it with co2 and purge, then swish around, that way the only gas inside the keg is co2



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[waltzbrewingco]

Advice for a beer that needs clarification but it's already in a secondary and is just waiting to be bottled?
Can you add gelatin to bottling bucket and let it clear up as its carbonating in the bottles? This is my 4th batch and I've never used gelatin but this winter ale has a good bit of particles in suspension

 

[Natdavis777]

Advice for a beer that needs clarification but it's already in a secondary and is just waiting to be bottled?
Can you add gelatin to bottling bucket and let it clear up as its carbonating in the bottles? This is my 4th batch and I've never used gelatin but this winter ale has a good bit of particles in suspension

You can use your secondary to clear the beer. I wouldn't recommend adding the gelatin to the bottling bucket.

Take your secondary vessel and and out intron the fridge, or garage, or somewhere that gets cold (lower than 50F). After a few days add your gelatin mixture and then you can rack to a bottling bucking a few days after the beer has had a chance to clear


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[Brewer3401]

You can use your secondary to clear the beer. I wouldn't recommend adding the gelatin to the bottling bucket.

Take your secondary vessel and and out intron the fridge, or garage, or somewhere that gets cold (lower than 50F). After a few days add your gelatin mixture and then you can rack to a bottling bucking a few days after the beer has had a chance to clear

Yep. I took a small sample and added priming sugar 1 week after gelatin, and brought it back to room temp. It did carbonate fine.

I'm thinking that if you don't want to dispense/drink from a keg of forced carbonated beer, just bottle condition. Bottling from a keg is not fun, even with a beer gun.

 

[NoPantsBrewing]

Has anyone tried Polyclar?

I've had great luck with polyclar. I cold crash my fermentation bucket and siphon it into the keg. After that I add rehydrated polyclar, close the keg, purge it with co2 and then do the shake method to get it about 80% carbonated. Then I'll set it in the kegerator at around 10 psi and let it finish off that way. Keg is carbonated about the same time the polyclar settles to the bottom.

I rehydrate polyclar by boiling a few oz of water, letting it cool til it hits 140f, then adding half a tablespoon of polyclar for 5 gallons and letting it dissolve and sit for 20-30 minutes.

So far no problems with color, flavor or aroma being stripped out. Just perfectly clear beer.

 

[FrozenOcean]

Can't believe this hasn't been said: awesome thread title.