Gelatin finings - would it cause an issue if left in for a week?

[de_ronde]

I had planned on bottling a batch of NB's Patersbier yesterday. On Friday, I followed Biermuncher's method for use of gelatin finings detailed elsewhere on HBT.

The weekend did not go as planned. I didn't get to bottle. I have to leave on a flight early tomorrow morning for a business trip.

Am I OK to leave the beer in the Carboy with the gelatin, or should I rack to another carboy before leaving?

I will be back in a few days, and could probably bottle on Friday the 20th.

HELP!!!

 

[calpyro]

I crash chill and gelatin my beer for a week as a matter of practice. All I get is clean beer.

 

[Professor Frink]

No worries, it'll be fine in the carboy for a week with the gelatin.

 

[Coastarine]

I gelatin in the keg.

 

[de_ronde]

Thanks, HBT! Time to get some sleep!

 

[de_ronde]

I bottled this after I got back from my trip, and it was the clearest beer I have ever made!
Thanks!

 

[nutcase]

I gelatin in the keg.

rather than start a new thread- if you gelatin in the keg do you transfer to a new keg before serving or just let it settle to the bottom of the serving keg? would it then (if left in serving keg) junk up the dip tube and potentially clog it?

 

[killian]

is the beer already carbed in the keg?

 

[Coastarine]

rather than start a new thread- if you gelatin in the keg do you transfer to a new keg before serving or just let it settle to the bottom of the serving keg? would it then (if left in serving keg) junk up the dip tube and potentially clog it?

No, that was my point. I gelatin in the keg, as in the keg that my beer will be served from. I think some people get a slightly different mental image about what gelatin does in the beer; it doesn't make little jell-o jigglers of gunk, theres only about 3grams of gelatin in there. Whatever settles out just gets sucked up or stays stuck on the bottom, and then I get clear beer after that, and I've never had any gunk in a poppet valve. The way I see it, using the gelatin in the keg saves me beer that might otherwise be wasted by racking.

 

[conpewter]

No, that was my point. I gelatin in the keg, as in the keg that my beer will be served from. I think some people get a slightly different mental image about what gelatin does in the beer; it doesn't make little jell-o jigglers of gunk, theres only about 3grams of gelatin in there. Whatever settles out just gets sucked up or stays stuck on the bottom, and then I get clear beer after that, and I've never had any gunk in a poppet valve. The way I see it, using the gelatin in the keg saves me beer that might otherwise be wasted by racking.

Sweet I may try this on a few of my latest beers that have some chill haze (I think the malt I recently picked up might be of a higher protein content). Could you lay out a little better what your method is? How much gelatin do you actually use (I have a bottle from the LHBS)?

 

[ghack]

I prefer it in the carboy, But I've done the gelatin in the keg several times. You get some extra gunk in the first pour or two, and again if you've moved it around a lot, but that's about the only downside as far as I've seen.

 

[Coastarine]

A 5 gallon batch of beer really takes so little that I almost never do just one batch at a time. The ratio is 1.5g (or 1/2tsp) to 3g (1tsp) dissolved in 4oz water. 1.5g is good for most batches, 3g is good for getting rid of tannins or smoothing harsh bitterness. Here is my process:

Put the proper amount of cold (tap cold temp is fine) water in a saucepan, sprinkle the proper amount of gelatin on top. Let sit for 10 mins, stir, let sit for another 10 mins.
Heat to 170*F and let it stay there for 5 mins.
Cool as desired in cold water bath, I usually just give it a few minutes to make sure I don't burn myself.
Add a 4oz dose of this mixture to each 5gal batch. I just pour it into a sanitized measuring cup to dose it out.

 

[alphakry]

Older thread bump but given i'm about to leave my gelatin doing it's thing for 2 weeks, due to a vacation, I'll chime back in with the results of this longer window of fine time! Anyone see a concern with this extended time?

Also anyone that does this process, do you chill your 160 degree mixture before adding to the fermenter or are you pitching it in at those much higher temps vs the beer temp. I am concerned about that and figure chilling it to matching temps first is the way to go... Your thoughts?

 

[Pappers_]

I don't see any issues with leaving gelatin in the beer for two weeks or two months. It just falls to the bottom with the rest of the trub.

I don't chill my hot gelatin mixture before I add it to the beer, which is usually around 32 F. It seems to work fine like that. If you chilled the gelatin mixture too low I wonder if it would become too viscous to work?

 

[stosh]

Older thread bump but given i'm about to leave my gelatin doing it's thing for 2 weeks, due to a vacation, I'll chime back in with the results of this longer window of fine time! Anyone see a concern with this extended time?

Also anyone that does this process, do you chill your 160 degree mixture before adding to the fermenter or are you pitching it in at those much higher temps vs the beer temp. I am concerned about that and figure chilling it to matching temps first is the way to go... Your thoughts?

I fine in the keg and I've left mine longer than that before with no problems.

I don't chill after heating and have had no ill effects. It's such a small amount of liquid it wouldn't take long to get it cool if that eases your concern. After you're done heating etc just RDWHAHB and by that time it should be much cooler.

 

[brewbama]

I sometimes fine with gelatin in the keg. I heat the gelatin in a sanitized measuring cup using bursts in the microwave as normal.

Then I use a method I learned from the Low O2 brewers: I pour it in a sanitized 2L coke bottle. I squeak the air out and cap it with a carbonator cap. I put a cpl pounds of CO2 pressure to pop the bottle back into shape.

I attach a jumper, invert the bottle, attach the assembly to the keg, pull the PRV and the gelatin drains into the keg.

I ensure to remove the jumper before the bottle empties in an effort to reduce O2 infused CO2 into the keg.

In two daze the beer is clear. I serve from the same keg I fine in using a floating dip tube with no ill effect from the gelatin trubby-ness at the bottom.

Extra points for using low O2 water to make the gelatin.

 

[alphakry]

I fine in the keg and I've left mine longer than that before with no problems.

I don't chill after heating and have had no ill effects. It's such a small amount of liquid it wouldn't take long to get it cool if that eases your concern. After you're done heating etc just RDWHAHB and by that time it should be much cooler.

Thanks everyone, I feel better about it. I scale up to 1BBL so that's exactly why I worry as it ends up being about half a gallon of liquid with my gelatin. I feared it'd shock and kill too much yeast in that qty, on top of any other unknown negative effects