Priming/gelatin

[moze229]

Hi everyone,

I've been brewing since 2004, but I've only done a total of 5 batches. LOL. I did 4 when I received a starter kit for Christmas back then. None were what I really called successful. Maybe one tasted good. The rest were blah.

So here I am again. I'm fermenting a brown ale now and should be complete in another 6-8 days. I'm using an extract like before, but I'm now paying very close attention to everything. Sanitation was perfect. (I may have skipped on some things 10 years ago when I was less disciplined).

I'd like to go from my primary direct to bottling to reduce the chance of contamination. I planned on adding the priming sugar just before bottling, then aging as normal for carbonation. I've been reading about gelatin clearing the beer, and I'd like to try it. One of the things that I wasn't happy about when brewing in the past was the cloudiness of the brew - I think it affects taste considerably.

How about adding the gelatin directly to the priming mix and adding them to the primary together? Will this work? Should I crash the beer in my extra fridge before doing this? I just do t want to mess anything up.

I want to make the results from this brew as successful as possible. I've always been interested in brewing, but if I can't get the beer to turn out the way that I want, it's just going to discourage/disinterest me again. I want clearer beer. From what I've been reading, it's totally possible to do without expensive equipment.

Thank you all for any pointers.

 

[Calder]

Do not add the priming sugar to the primary. On bottling day, boil the sugar in a little water, allow to cool for a while, pour into a bottling bucket and then rack your beer onto priming sugar. Bottle immediately.

I would not have the goal of making clear beer as the primary goal. Many of the things that make beers cloudy do not affect taste.

However, it seems you have the ability to cold crash. Chill the beer to near freezing (as cold as you can get it without freezing), and then add gelatin . The cold will bring out any chill haze, and the gelatin will help drop it.

Remember, some beers you want cloudy, such as wheat beers. Some are difficult to clear, such as highly hopped beers. Some don't matter, such as Stouts and Porters.

In my opinion, you would do better being concerned with pitching correct yeast amount, pitching temp, and fermentation temps than getting the perfect clear beer.

Good luck with your beer.

 

[moze229]

Do not add the priming sugar to the primary. On bottling day, boil the sugar in a little water, allow to cool for a while, pour into a bottling bucket and then rack your beer onto priming sugar. Bottle immediately.

Thank you. I will stick to my original plan then, and that is what I have always done in the past. While I know it's not the norm to bottle straight from the primary, I suppose just don't have the experience to know why not. LOL I'm likely focused a little too much on avoiding infection, although I know that this is an important step. The more times I move the beer around, the more likely I am to introduce something in there that I don't want.

However, it seems you have the ability to cold crash. Chill the beer to near freezing (as cold as you can get it without freezing), and then add gelatin . The cold will bring out any chill haze, and the gelatin will help drop it.

I will wait until the fermentation is complete, put the primary into my third fridge, wait until the correct temp, add the gelatin, wait for the haze/stuff to drop out, then bottle.

In my opinion, you would do better being concerned with pitching correct yeast amount, pitching temp, and fermentation temps than getting the perfect clear beer.

Correct, you are. The only reason that I was emphasizing clarity is because it's the only 'non-standard' step that I would be taking. Non-standard meaning not being one of the steps a beginner would usually take. The other three very important elements that you mention - I think I have those covered.

That's been extremely helpful. Thanks.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

The reason not to bottle from your primary is because it'll be very hard to bottle the batch with out disrupting all the yeast and trub (smultz) that's at the bottom of the fermenter. You don't want that stuff at the bottom of your beer bottles. Your best bet IMO is to crash and gelatin in the primary as suggested above, boil the priming sugar with water and put it into another bucket and syphon the beer into it. Be sure to set the syphon hose so it makes the beer/priming sugar mixture swirl around the bucket. This will naturally and automatically mix the beer and sugar together without adding any oxygen.

Clear beer is mostly about your ability to rack (syphon) the beer without disrupting and transferring the sediment (again IMO). Also, don't worry bro, nothing bad about wanting to have clear beer.

Good luck

 

[moze229]

I ended up crashing for 3 days before bottling, and what a difference that makes! I skipped the gelatin because I was happy enough with the cold crash alone. It's been quite some time since I've made a batch, but I've never had one come out this clear. Now the agony of waiting to drink them. I had a sample and it was pretty impressive to me. Thanks for the info.

 

[JimRausch]

Welcome back moze. I'm glad it turned out the way you were hoping it would!

 

[dkennedy]

It's taken me some time to accept that temperature is one of the greatest tools in the brewing arsenal, glad that your beer turned out tasty- nothing better than that feeling when a flat, barely chilled, sample tastes good!