Gelatin in Primary vs Gelatin after Primary

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kakamone

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Hi,

I'm currently planning do brew a simple SMASH Czech Pilsner Lager.

The recipe:

12L spring water
2.5kg Pilsner Malt
50g Saaz Hops
11.5g Fermentis Saflager S-23
3g yeast nutrient consisting of DAP, and some other stuff

This will be fermenting at around 12-13C in my fermentation chamber.
Then after primary i will be cold crashing it to around 5C. (1-2 days)
After that bottling and carbonating (2 weeks), then laggering (6 weeks)

I want this beer to be as clear as possible, and for that i chose Gelatin.
My question is, is there a big difference in adding gelatin in primary fermantation vs after primary fermentation?
For me adding it to primary is just much simpler, and i want to stick with that method, but im afraid it wont clear as much as it should.
 
Adding gelatin after primary fermentation usually gives better clarity as most yeast and particles have already settled. However, if you prefer to add it in primary, it will still help with clarity, just not as much. If you want the clearest beer, adding it after fermentation and before cold crashing is ideal. But if simplicity is your goal, adding it early is fine too!
 
I want this beer to be as clear as possible, and for that i chose Gelatin.
My question is, is there a big difference in adding gelatin in primary fermantation vs after primary fermentation?
Gelatin should only be added after all fermentation has completed, and the yeast has settled out as much as it can.

Since Lager yeast is "powdery," it's very slow to settle out. The best the way to get Lager yeast to settle out is cold storage for a few weeks to a few months, hence the term "Lagering." Many brewers use a (spare) refrigerator or their kegerator or keezer for that Lagering period.

Packaging:
Once the beer has clarified, carefully transfer it off the settled yeast layer, to a (clean) serving keg or bottling vessel.

For that, siphon off the top, slowly lowering the siphon as the beer level recedes. When the siphon gets close to the bottom, tilt the vessel slowly to keep the siphoning well as deep as you can. As soon as you see yeast/trub being sucked up, stop the transfer. Using one of those flow inverter caps on the bottom of your siphon also helps prevent sucking up trub.

Mind, handle that fermenter or lagering vessel with the settled out yeast diligently, so not to mix the yeast back in, or you'll need to start all over again.
 
You need to understand what’s making the finings work (I prefer Biofine or Cellar Science).

The yeast has a charge opposite of the fining (I can’t remember which is positive and which is negative, doesn’t really matter). Opposites attract, so the fining attracts the yeast and the added weight of the two drops them both out of suspension.

Gelatin/silica finings will NOT clear:
-proteins that lead to chill haze
-hop material
-most other non-yeast particulate.

That’s what WhirlFloc is for.

Used both in the pale ale pictured. The pic is taken about 15’ from the TV.
 

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In my experience, filtering through a strainer when pouring into the fermenter and a longer period of cold storage gives much better results than gelatin. Of course, this applies to beers without dry hop addition.
 

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