I think there might be something to this gelatin thing...

[weirdboy]

My first attempt with gelatin I really screwed up the process, and the results were less than stellar. I decided to try it again on my latest strawberry blonde, now in its 3rd revision on the recipe.

The result, as you can see, is pretty good. This is with bottle conditioning, as I don't have the space or facilities to do kegging in our apartment.


This beer is after about 1 week primary, 1 month secondary with 4 pounds of frozen & halved strawberries in a paint strainer bag, then gelatin and cold crash for 3 days before bottling. It's been in the bottle about 10 days and since I have a homebrew club meeting tonight, I thought I'd chuck a few in the fridge this morning and see how ready they were to drink.

 

[jlpred55]

That is a fine looking brew!

How does it carbonate with the use of gelatin? Does it still carb up at the normal level?

 

[IrregularPulse]

gelatin won't affect carbing. You'll still have plenty of yeast in there.

 

[weirdboy]

I have not noticed any difference whatsoever in carbonation levels between gelatin vs. no gelatin.

I will be doing a side-by-side tasting & comparison tomorrow night between this batch and the previous version. I might scrounge around and see if I can find any bottles from the first gen recipe as well.

 

[jlpred55]

So where is a handy dandy link to the process? I usually crash cool, but I do have some beers that I can't get to clear very well, esp if I am using a low floccer on a lighter style.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Does gelatin effect head retention? That glass looks like it has a nice firm head.

 

[weirdboy]

I dunno. I'm definitely no expert but I imagine it causes some of the proteins to drop out of suspension, which I had thought would affect head retention but that shot is after 4-5 minutes in the glass, and the lacing was excellent.


I will try to get the recipe up my "recipes" link. I'm not really sure how to do that so I'm still working it out.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

Nice looking beer! Can you use gelatin if you don't cold crash? Is it still effective?

 

[HoppyDaze]

so can I just use gelatin when I rack to my keg, then to the fridge?

 

[charesty]

After reading a bunch of gelatine posts, I'm going to gelatinize my kolsch over the next two days. I'm planning to cold crash in an ice and water bath then add gelatine to try and remove chill haze I noticed on a previous cold crash.

The first cold crash I did dropped a lot of sediment out, but when it continued to be hazy, I figured it was chill haze. Now at 60F, the beer is clear but will have haze at cold temps. I didn't use any kettle finings so I'm trying now to counteract that with my second cold crash to about 40-45F then add warm gelatin at that temp.

We'll see.

 

[david_42]

so can I just use gelatin when I rack to my keg, then to the fridge?

No, use the gelatin before racking. Beer jello is not a treat.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Here is something from this BYO article:

Gelatin works by combining with tannic acid present in the beer. These combined particles adhere to yeast and proteins, then sink. Add gelatin to the beer before you rack to bottles or keg, and make sure the solution is mixed well. A product made from cow and horse hooves, gelatin works most effectively in beer that is 50° F or colder. The closer the beer is to freezing, the better the gelatin will work.

Although I have added it to an already cold keg and got no jello...just clearer beer. But I didn't use much.

 

[JKoravos]

I've been using gelatin lately with great success. I have the beer at about 35F when I add the gelatin and within 3-4 days the beer is crystal clear.

 

[weirdboy]

So on the other side of the gelatin coin, here's a shot of my willamette pale ale that I enjoyed this evening, which has no finings in it other than a 1/2 tab of whirlfloc in the boil.

This is after about a month, maybe three weeks, in the fridge cold conditioning. Although it may look a *little* hazy in the picture, that's either my poor iPhone photography skills, or condensation on the glass. It was absolutely crystal clear.

 

[JKoravos]

Ever since I stopped recirculating during the mash (my RIMS heater died) I've had problems with chill haze. I'm working on fixing that, but for now the gelatin works well.

I'm of the belief that if your process is good, you don't need any type of filtering or fining. Just a cold place to store the beer and a few weeks.