Used knox gelatin to clear beer

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Kmcogar

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I had a beer that was more then cloudy. I've never had a beer so opaque. So I looked up ways to clear and found out knox gelatin works well. I threw some in my keg and poured a beer less then 48 hours later. The first one looked the same and tasted the same. The second one looked like a commercial brew. I recommend everyone to use it. The only way it changed my beer was the clarity, it still taste amazing. Here's the before and after.



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image-914942557.jpg
 
Looks Good! And, simple enough to do.
I've been adding Knox to my kegs for a while now. I see that it clears pretty well without changing anything else, just like you said.
I think it has become a regular step of my process. -Might as well have it ready when going to the keg...
 
...I recommend everyone to use it...

Unless of course you're a vegetarian or vegan. You know what that stuff is made of right?

I don't use it primarily because it smells bad, but also don't like what it's made of. I don't it's tasteless, but just can't bring myself to put it in my beer. I'd rather go the more natural route.
 
+1 to gel. It's awesome. Also very nice in stocks/sauces, FWIW


Unless of course you're a vegetarian or vegan. You know what that stuff is made of right?

I don't use it primarily because it smells bad, but also don't like what it's made of. I don't it's tasteless, but just can't bring myself to put it in my beer. I'd rather go the more natural route.

?? What's more natural than gelatin?
 
Did you add the gelatin after carbing? I would like to add some gelatin to a blonde I recently kegged but wasn't sure if it work work if the brew was carb'd. It's clearing up fine on its own but I just wanted to try it.

I had a beer that was more then cloudy. I've never had a beer so opaque. So I looked up ways to clear and found out knox gelatin works well. I threw some in my keg and poured a beer less then 48 hours later. The first one looked the same and tasted the same. The second one looked like a commercial brew. I recommend everyone to use it. The only way it changed my beer was the clarity, it still taste amazing. Here's the before and after.
 
You can add it after carbonating. I start carbing when I first put the keg into the fridge. After two days, I add gelatin. After three more, I dry hop. You might get some foaming if it's fully carbed, but just be ready to get the lid on quickly, and you'll be fine. I stir the gelatin in a bit, but other people insist it's not necessary, so you can probably just toss in the gelatin and put the lid on, then purge the oxygen. Let it sit in the fridge for a few days to a week, and you're all set. It really does make a huge difference in the beer.

And there isn't any nasty smell that I can detect. I'm not sure why a previous poster said that, unless s/he was talking about gelatin itself. And to be honest, I've never noticed that either. Now as for animal carcasses, they can give off a bit of an odor.
 
Sarge said:
Did you add the gelatin after carbing? I would like to add some gelatin to a blonde I recently kegged but wasn't sure if it work work if the brew was carb'd. It's clearing up fine on its own but I just wanted to try it.

I sure did. I actually drank half the keg before I picked up this little tip. So I had about 2 1/2 gallons in the keg (fully carbed) . I just released the pressure, dropped in a half pack of knox gelatin (as explained how), closed it up and set it back to 8psi. 2 days later my beer looked great.
 
collagen derived from the acidification of cow and pig skin vs. time

Ahh. I took that as suggesting there was a more natural product, as if gelatin itself were somehow unnatural. Incidentally, waiting for time to clear is exactly why I use gel in hoppy beers- so I don't have to wait and can drink them fresh.

Also question on vegetarian comment - I realize gel is an animal product, but would a vegan really not use it in their beer? I mean, it's 1 tsp and it drops out...not like accidentally eating a steak or something
 
Ahh. I took that as suggesting there was a more natural product, as if gelatin itself were somehow unnatural. Incidentally, waiting for time to clear is exactly why I use gel in hoppy beers- so I don't have to wait and can drink them fresh.

Also question on vegetarian comment - I realize gel is an animal product, but would a vegan really not use it in their beer? I mean, it's 1 tsp and it drops out...not like accidentally eating a steak or something

A joke, right?
 
Also question on vegetarian comment - I realize gel is an animal product, but would a vegan really not use it in their beer? I mean, it's 1 tsp and it drops out...not like accidentally eating a steak or something

Depends on how hardcore anti meat they are. Some won't use honey because it's animal slave labor or something.
I accidentally ate a steak just earlier this evening btw.
 
Kmcogar said:
I sure did. I actually drank half the keg before I picked up this little tip. So I had about 2 1/2 gallons in the keg (fully carbed) . I just released the pressure, dropped in a half pack of knox gelatin (as explained how), closed it up and set it back to 8psi. 2 days later my beer looked great.

You didn't dissolve the gelatin at all? Just tossed it in the keg?
 
yeah I love gelatin, works great in clarifying. i've been using it for my last 6-7 batches and i just kegged my first batch, a ZD clone and side by side they looked identical.

my process has been:
-cold crash carboy(I secondary all my beers) for 24-36 hours
-add 1 tsp of gelatin heated with 3/4 cup of water to 150
-add gelatin mixture to carboy, let sit for another 24
-then rack to bottling bucket or keg, with the keg i repeated the process and added another dose of gelatin to the keg

basically followed this:
http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/how-to-clear-your-beer-with-gelatin.html

Gelatin is also AWESOME for labeling. Add about half a packet to super hot water and brush onto labels, they will stay on the bottle until they are run under hot water again. I have had bottles sit in ice bathes for 5-6 days on vacation in a cooler and the labels never came off!
 
A joke, right?

Wasn't a joke, an honest question. I guess I was surprised a vegetarian would have an issue using gelatin because they aren't actually consuming it. Then again, I don't understand why someone would avoid consuming gelatin. So I guess I don't understand vegetarianism. Anyway, that's off topic. Sorry about that.
 
Wasn't a joke, an honest question. I guess I was surprised a vegetarian would have an issue using gelatin because they aren't actually consuming it. Then again, I don't understand why someone would avoid consuming gelatin. So I guess I don't understand vegetarianism. Anyway, that's off topic. Sorry about that.
:off:
I think the misunderstanding stems from the difference between "vegan" and "vegetarian", as some people use the terms interchangeably, in error. Vegans, as I understand it, use NO animal products - not just food, but ANY animal products. No leather, no fur, no insect-based food dyes, etc., whether it's in their food, clothes, or car. And I believe they also do not keep pets, although some might since the animal is not "harmed", but some may see them as being held in an unnatural state. Not being a vegan (or a vegetarian, for that matter) myself, I don't know all of the ins and outs of the vegan philosophy, and as with any system of moral values, I suspect there are differences in belief and adherence from person to person.

So as I understand it, a vegan might not drink a beer that used gelatin, even if all the gelatin was removed. A vegetarian might, because they would not be consuming an animal product. But even this depends on the reason one is a vegetarian - some are for health/dietary reasons, some for moral reasons, some both.
 
^^^ What he said. I disagree with the principles of vegans/vegetarians.

But it took me a long time to realized the that is not a binary type of deal. I was close to being slapped from a "vegetarian" girl in college when I asked why she didn't care about the souls of fish.
 
^^^ What he said. I disagree with the principles of vegans/vegetarians.

But it took me a long time to realized the that is not a binary type of deal. I was close to being slapped from a "vegetarian" girl in college when I asked why she didn't care about the souls of fish.

Ha! It's interesting to me that people are morally against eating meat of cows, pigs, chickens, etc. But will also eat fish. If you're going to avoid meat for moral reasons, you shouldn't eat anything that was living, period. But, some will do it for environmental reasons as well. It's super bad for the environment to have factory farms, ie the amount of methane produced and sent into the atmosphere. Also, fish farming in ponds is super bad because so many chemicals run off into the water and into streams. But, eat what you want to eat. I'm not a vegetarian, but I admire those who are and have the conscience to avoid meat. I try when I can.
But any vegan, if they knew it was used, would not drink a beer that gelatin was used in. I have issues with veganism and give people I know who are vegan lots of sh*t when I can. They can't even eat f*cking honey. Seriously. That's f*cked. Oh those poor little bees...gimme a break.

Inhumane slaughering of animals I get. But bees? It's not inhumane. Oh and a friend told me recently that she doesn't use anything made of wool or alpaca. She said that it was harmful to the sheep and alpacas. Uh, no. Taking a buzzer to an animal isn't harmful just like harvesting honey from bee hives isn't. Admire them for their conviction, but just plain disagree.
 
...some will do it for environmental reasons as well. It's super bad for the environment to have factory farms...I'm not a vegetarian, but I admire those who are and have the conscience to avoid meat. I try when I can.
As if factory farmed corn or soy is any better for the environment.

It's not the meat that's bad, it's the factory.

So how about, instead of avoiding meat, you just get meat that didn't come from a factory. Tons of places carry pastured grass fed beef these days. Then you don't have the health issues that come from being a vegetarian.
 
Capn_Bill said:
You didn't dissolve the gelatin at all? Just tossed it in the keg?

No no. I dissolved it. I let it sit in a half cup of water and let it sit for 30 minutes, then I nuked it in the microwave for 10 seconds about 3 or 4 times(and stirred) until the water looked clear . THEN, I dumped it in the cold carbonated brew
 
As if factory farmed corn or soy is any better for the environment.

It's not the meat that's bad, it's the factory.

So how about, instead of avoiding meat, you just get meat that didn't come from a factory. Tons of places carry pastured grass fed beef these days. Then you don't have the health issues that come from being a vegetarian.

Farming in general is hard on the environment. Factory farmed meat isn't as good, it really isn't. Yeah, it's bad on the environment, but so cruel to the animals too. That's 75% of it for me. Grass fed beef is about 6.99/lb at my co-op, which isn't quite twice as much as the regular 93/7 beef at the meat counter at the super market. Which isn't terrible.
I try to avoid soy in general. It has a lot of estrogen. Don't need to be getting man boobs.

And, vegetarians don't have health issues. Getting enough protein isn't hard without meat. It really isn't. Vegans have to worry about it more than vegetarians, and even then it's not a huge deal. A lot of vegetarians just tend to replace meat with carbohydrates instead of food they should be eating, like vegetables! I really wish I could eat more veggies. It's tough because I've always been kind of a meat and potatoes kind of person.
 
Why is it that meat eaters are offended when a person chooses to avoid meat?
 
tagz said:
Why is it that meat eaters are offended when a person chooses to avoid meat?
I don't have a problem with what people eat as long as they aren't preachy or a pain in the ass about it. But most vegetarians and vegans that people see are both preachy and a pain in the ass. (Otherwise you probably wouldn't notice)
 
I was close to being slapped from a "vegetarian" girl in college when I asked why she didn't care about the souls of fish.

I had a similar thing. Asked a girl why she was a vegetarian, she said she didn't like the idea of raising animals for the pure and sole purpose of slaughtering them for human consumption.

I suggested that instead, we just go get a rifle, head out to the woods, and bag ourselves a deer. Problem solved! Bambi burgers for everyone!

(She didn't like me much after that.)
 
Why is it that meat eaters are offended when a person chooses to avoid meat?

First, I'm sure you didn't mean that as the broad-swipe generalization that your posts reads like.

Like AgentHubcap said, it's not so much, for some of us, that we're offended. It's that some vegans/vegetarians express themselves in such a way as to appear to be instigating an argument. Of course, this is true of many people expressing their points of view. Add to that the difficult nature if communication via typed word with the greater context removed. Looking back to the original post that started the whole "vegetarian" OT subtext:
Originally Posted by beersk
Unless of course you're a vegetarian or vegan. You know what that stuff is made of right?

I don't use it primarily because it smells bad, but also don't like what it's made of. I don't it's tasteless, but just can't bring myself to put it in my beer. I'd rather go the more natural route.

Fighting words? Of course not! But looking to start an argument? Reads that way to me. Nothing wrong with pointing out it isn't kosher or vegetarian, but leave it at that.
Anyway, this thread has jumped the shark, and I'm unsubscribing. Brew on.
 
First, I'm sure you didn't mean that as the broad-swipe generalization that your posts reads like.

Like AgentHubcap said, it's not so much, for some of us, that we're offended. It's that some vegans/vegetarians express themselves in such a way as to appear to be instigating an argument. Of course, this is true of many people expressing their points of view. Add to that the difficult nature if communication via typed word with the greater context removed. Looking back to the original post that started the whole "vegetarian" OT subtext:


Fighting words? Of course not! But looking to start an argument? Reads that way to me. Nothing wrong with pointing out it isn't kosher or vegetarian, but leave it at that.
Anyway, this thread has jumped the shark, and I'm unsubscribing. Brew on.
Unsubscribe away. It seems you're looking for an argument in my post. Just pointing out that gelatin is gross, in my opinion.
Vegetarians aren't generally the ones that are confrontational. It's the vegans that are. Many meat eaters don't have a conscience about what they eat, which is why many vegans are so annoying and militant about it, I think.
 
Unsubscribe away. It seems you're looking for an argument in my post. Just pointing out that gelatin is gross, in my opinion.
Vegetarians aren't generally the ones that are confrontational. It's the vegans that are. Many meat eaters don't have a conscience about what they eat, which is why many vegans are so annoying and militant about it, I think.

One of my favorite jokes

Q: How do you find the vegan in a room full of people?

A: Don't worry, they'll tell you.

;) :fro:
 

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