Gelatin AND filtering

[RickyBeers]

I always filter my home brew via closed transfer with two Corny kegs, 1 micron filter. Of course purge it of air and sanitize. I’m thinking about trying gelatin as well. Can I put gelatin in my serving keg at the bottom, purge the keg of air, seal it closed with co2, then hook up my filter and perform the closed transfer? I keep reading about injecting the gelatin through the PRV after transfer, I’d prefer to just put it in the keg before transfer.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Will your beer be cold when transferring to the keg that has the gelatin? If the beer isn't cold when transferring, gelatin will largely be a waste of your time. You might get some benefit but you won't get the full benefit. If your beer will be cold, you definitely could go that route. However, it takes a LOT of purging to remove O2 from a keg like that. I forgot the number but you have to fully purge it something like 10 or 15 times to remove the O2 from it. That's a lot of CO2 being wasted.

I'm one of those that inject it so I have to ask, why the hesitation to go that route?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Here's a good read for how much purging it takes to remove O2 from a keg using that method.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/keg-purging-with-active-fermentation.628658/post-8004741

 

[RickyBeers]

Here's a good read for how much purging it takes to remove O2 from a keg using that method.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/keg-purging-with-active-fermentation.628658/post-8004741

Haven’t read the forum you suggested yet but I certainly will. And that’s a good point. Didn’t think about the amount of O2 that would be in the serving keg anyway. But I plan to transfer from fermenting keg to serving keg because of the 1 micron filter anyway so regardless I would be using that second keg. I wanted to avoid injecting simply for the ease of putting gelatin in the keg I’m already transferring to, and I don’t want to deal with foam up. I would plan to cold crash my fermenter for 2 days before this process, at minimum.

Pressure fermented with spunding valve
Transfer to (hopefully) O2 purged corny with floating dip tube through a 1 micron filter, that also has the gelatin in it ready to go.

I’m guessing the next thought will be why use gelatin and filter? I’ve read you can do either or. I’m just hoping to have my beer crystal clear

 

[Rob2010SS]

So the thread that I sent you the link to, essentially states that doing it your way, you'd have to completely fill and completely purge the keg 15x to get to a low O2 condition inside the keg. That's a hell of a lot of CO2.

In regards to injecting, there's no foam up to worry about. I routinely do this and have never had a foam issue. You might be causing SOME foam in the keg but never anything that you need to worry about. You can get 2 100mL syringes on Amazon for under $10. Your call though...

What filter are you using? Gelatin isn't perfect and I've had cases where it didn't work. My next question would be can you get a tighter filter, say .5 micron, for the filter you're using? That may get you where you want to go without having to add the gelatin to the keg.

 

[RickyBeers]

So the thread that I sent you the link to, essentially states that doing it your way, you'd have to completely fill and completely purge the keg 15x to get to a low O2 condition inside the keg. That's a hell of a lot of CO2.

In regards to injecting, there's no foam up to worry about. I routinely do this and have never had a foam issue. You might be causing SOME foam in the keg but never anything that you need to worry about. You can get 2 100mL syringes on Amazon for under $10. Your call though...

What filter are you using? Gelatin isn't perfect and I've had cases where it didn't work. My next question would be can you get a tighter filter, say .5 micron, for the filter you're using? That may get you where you want to go without having to add the gelatin to the keg.

https://www.homebrewing.org/Beer-Filtration-System_p_4560.html
.5 micron idea is good as well. I’m not feeling like the 1 micron is enough. And yes I’m sorry I’ll read that post ASAP, been off and on the road all day so far. I’m a bit concerned with that, considering that means I have all sorts of oxygen in my beers and I had thought I was purging most of the O2 this whole time…

Do you inject through the PRV? Unscrew it and inject that way?

 

[Rob2010SS]

https://www.homebrewing.org/Beer-Filtration-System_p_4560.html
.5 micron idea is good as well. I’m not feeling like the 1 micron is enough. And yes I’m sorry I’ll read that post ASAP, been off and on the road all day so far. I’m a bit concerned with that, considering that means I have all sorts of oxygen in my beers and I had thought I was purging most of the O2 this whole time…

Do you inject through the PRV? Unscrew it and inject that way?

No worries on not reading it. It's a long, complicated read. Just tried to simplify a little bit.

If you can find a .5 micron, might be worth it, depending on price. Hard to beat the couple of bucks that a box of gelatin costs.

I inject through the gas post. I'll make the gelatin solution and get it in the syringe. I have a piece of silicone tubing that slips over the tip of the syringe and also on the barb of the gas quick disconnect. I have a separate gas quick disconnect so I just pull off the CO2, attached the syringe and the new gas quick disconnect all as one assembly. Inject the gelatin and pull it off and reconnect CO2. Super easy. You can do this with pressure in the keg. I've done it with 10 psi but just make sure to keep your thumb on the syringe plunger otherwise the keg could push that out.

 

[RickyBeers]

Well, I think I’ll try that with my next brew. At this point I’m wondering if my transfer to the serving keg is causing o2 issues. Your gelatin injection sounds very simple. Thank you for all the help.

I guess I’ll go the purist route and keep all in one keg, pressure fermented, natural carb, gelatin clear, and serve from that keg with floating dip tube

 

[Rob2010SS]

Good luck! It should be super easy. Run into questions or anything feel free to reach out