Gelatin + Cold crashing and bottle conditioning

[Ali01]

I'm planning to make my homebrew as clear as I can with what I have here in the kitchen, the idea is i put the carboy in the fridge, let it cool down, then add the gelatin through the Synge-tube set up I've put inside the blow off tube so that way I can pour the gelatin solution inside without exposure to o2
I have two questions here, first, will this method cause problems for natural carbonation? And second, my blow of tube is 1.5cm in diameter, and maybe 40 cm in length, should I be worried about that starsan water solution making it's way to the beer when it's in the fridge? I'm not sure how much air it'll suck

 

[redrocker652002]

I have never used any kind of gelatin in my beers and they have come out clear. I just cold crash in the keg while carbonating or put the bottes in the fridge after about a week of carbonating in the closet. I see a lot of folks doing it, but for me, I have had great success just using the cold and a bit of patience. But, I am in no way a pro, so just sharing what I have found to work for me.

 

[RM-MN]

Cold crashing and gelatin are the ways to speed up the clearing of the beer. Time in the bottles also works. You can do any of these techniques.

Whether your starsan will get sucked back from cold crashing will depend on how well sealed the fermenter is and the volume of "airspace". Unless you are making a very hoppy beer like a New England IPA, a little oxygen isn't going to ruin the beer. I'd take the air over the starsan.

 

[BrewsterAles]

What style of beer? Brulosophy had done blind experiments with beers with and without suck-back and found no qualitative difference. Gelatin works well… 1 tsp per 5 gallons mixed in 1/2 cup 160F filtered water. Just make sure you mix the fermenter well. I just added some yesterday to a beer in my conical while blowing 2 psi CO2 through dump valve to mix and also keep free of O2. Do you have a CO2 tank?

 

[Ali01]

What style of beer? Brulosophy had done blind experiments with beers with and without suck-back and found no qualitative difference. Gelatin works well… 1 tsp per 5 gallons mixed in 1/2 cup 160F filtered water. Just make sure you mix the fermenter well. I just added some yesterday to a beer in my conical while blowing 2 psi CO2 through dump valve to mix and also keep free of O2. Do you have a CO2 tank?

It's a pale ale but I want to make it clea
No I don't have a co2 tank, I do have some co2 filled rubber balloons, but my concern is they might make the beer taste rubbery

 

[SaintLupulin]

I brewed a pale ale on Nov 13. Fermented in bucket for 7 days and put in fridge for 2 days. Racked into glass demijohn and gave it about 7 days at 40F. Added gelatin solution and left for another 3 days. Racked into Keg yesterday and it is clear as a whistle.

 

[Climb]

@Ali01 - Have you brewed this yet? It sounds like you have not and that you are still in the planning stage. If so, I would suggest using a highly flocculent yeast and stay away from low flocculent yeasts. This should be mentioned in the manufacturers description of the yeast. As for your finning plans, I would recommend that you do not mix the gelatin with tap water. Either use beer from the fermenter, say a hydrometer sample or two, or boiled and then cooled water. The concern is that tap water will contain dissolved oxygen that will contribute to oxidizing your beer. I also have a hard time visualizing how your syringe setup is going to work with your blow off tube in an oxygen free way. Do you have another port on your fermenter that you can use to inject the gelatin mixture? My recommendations may seem a little over the top and difficult or impossible for you to implement, if so just drink quickly.

 

[Ali01]

@Ali01 - Have you brewed this yet? It sounds like you have not and that you are still in the planning stage. If so, I would suggest using a highly flocculent yeast and stay away from low flocculent yeasts. This should be mentioned in the manufacturers description of the yeast. As for your finning plans, I would recommend that you do not mix the gelatin with tap water. Either use beer from the fermenter, say a hydrometer sample or two, or boiled and then cooled water. The concern is that tap water will contain dissolved oxygen that will contribute to oxidizing your beer. I also have a hard time visualizing how your syringe setup is going to work with your blow off tube in an oxygen free way. Do you have another port on your fermenter that you can use to inject the gelatin mixture? My recommendations may seem a little over the top and difficult or impossible for you to implement, if so just drink quickly.

Yes it's been in the carboy for two weeks now
And yes I've used the highly fluctuant S-04. There's a rigit yeast cake at the bottom I still don't know how I can harvest since it's at the bottom of a carboy, I might sound a little too cheap here but that's what I'm planning to do since real beer yeast is expensive and super hard to access where I live, it's banned stuff, anyway, I will boil some RO water with a tiny tiny bit of metabisulfate putassium just to be safe, and that's the water I'll use to activate gelatin.

That setup is not a very efficient one but it's simple, there's an outer tube which is the blow off tube and then there's an inner tube which passes through the blow off tube and ends at end of the blow off tube at the top of the carboy, the other end of the inner tube is connected to a 10ml syringe. Which I want to add something to the beer, i block the inner tube with my fingers, then I fill the syringe with what's going to be added, I release the excess air in the syringe and then I'll add it to the beer

 

[redrocker652002]

If I remember correctly in my readings, to harvest the yeast, leave a little beer in the carboy, shake it around to get the yeast back in suspension and pour it into mason jars. Leave the jar lids a bit loose for gasses to purge. I think I remember it will be good for a few months if kept in the fridge. The pro's will chime in soon, but that is what I remember reading.

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] shake it around to get the yeast back in suspension and pour it into mason jars.

Swirling and tilting back and forth should do it, but it takes some patience as some of the yeast tends to stick to the bottom. You want to save it all. Mix well before you scoop or pour some out when reusing.

[...] Leave the jar lids a bit loose for gasses to purge.

There's little need to leave the lid on loose when you're putting it in the fridge, but you could. Once it has chilled, tighten the lid, you don't want contamination/infections in your the yeast, so handle it accordingly.

The only times I've had yeast continuing (or resuming) to ferment in the fridge (32-34°F / 0-2°C) was with Belgian strains. Those exhibited their voraciousness in all their glory with bulging lids! Or forming little yeast geysers when loosening the lid, causing half the yeast slurry to bubble out onto the countertop, nothing that could stop it.

 

[Ali01]

went home today
I figured I had ran out of gelatin and it was holiday here, no chance at getting gelatin
Took a sample, it tasted a little bit fruity but overall it was clean, there was a little hop flavor
I think that little fruitiness comes from the hops cause I used Columbus for bittering and Mt hood for flavor
It was quite drinkable so I decided to bottle it and try my luck for fining in the fridge
I will refrigerate the bottles in two weeks
Can I achieve clear beer with just cold crashing?

 

[IslandLizard]

Can I achieve clear beer with just cold crashing?

Of course, store in cold fridge for 2 weeks after the bottles are carbonated. If not clear then, they will get clearer with longer time, yet, very drinkable even with some haziness.

I assume you know how to pour a glass of sparkling clear beer from a bottle of bottle-conditioned beer, leaving all the trub behind.