When to add gelatin

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Qcbrew

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Ok so I was wondering about how exactly to use gelatin. I know most people say to add it to cold beer. However in my case, I transfer directly from primary to keg and then let it condition/carb in the keg. I could obviously cold crash the beer for 24h in the keg, add the gelatin and then pressurize/carb.

However, I was wondering if I could simply add the gelatin to the keg as it's filling up (so at room temp) and let it cold crash with the beer afterwards. Do you think that will affect the efficiency of the gelatin? This would basically save me 24h of waiting time.

Thanks
 
problem with adding it to the keg is it causes the finings to drop out, and then your first few pulls from the keg they go up the out spout.

now I do add them to the keg, and after a cold crash I filter from one keg to another, My filter is set up with out fittings on either end, that way I am not aerating the beer as it transfers from one keg to another, the major benefit is crystal clear beer in keg 2.

Setting up the filter was an minor expense when compared to everything in general in this hobby, I use a 1 micron filter, rinse it when finished and freeze it till the next brew, I can get 6 or 7 filtering out of it and never have I had a contamination issue as I rinse it in starsan when I thaw it out.
 
My steps are as follows:
1. Transfer to Keg
2. Hook up to gas for burst carbonating
3. Day 2 or 3 add gelatin

Nothing wrong with adding gelatin to a keg that's carbonating. If you're burst Carbonating then wait until you turn your gas down. This gives the beer time to form your chill haze which is what you want to get rid of anyway.

Once the Gelatin is added give it a day or two to clear. Once I keg I'm enjoying clear, carbonated beer by day 7 or 8.
 
I cold crash in the primary. When kegging, I add the gelatin and force carbonate. The first pint I throw away. The next few pints are drinkable but hazy.
 
Ok so I was wondering about how exactly to use gelatin. I know most people say to add it to cold beer. However in my case, I transfer directly from primary to keg and then let it condition/carb in the keg. I could obviously cold crash the beer for 24h in the keg, add the gelatin and then pressurize/carb.

However, I was wondering if I could simply add the gelatin to the keg as it's filling up (so at room temp) and let it cold crash with the beer afterwards. Do you think that will affect the efficiency of the gelatin? This would basically save me 24h of waiting time.

Thanks
Add gelatin to Keg, but I always do it before carbonating the beer. I always evacuate the oxygen from the keg, pump beer from fermentor to keg, Add gelatin, for a five gallon corny, 1 cup water boiled and cooled to 150 deg. F. 1 Tbsp. gelatin knorr unflavored. Cap keg shake well for 1 minute, sit in Keezer for two days. Clip on the Co2 and pump out crud, usually about 1 quart gets all the crud out of mine. Then I carbonate. Doing with carbonated beer, I have found I have a lot of settling left after the initial gelling. Not sure if this is due to the carbonation in the beer suspending the proteins or what. Just my process, seems to work pretty well.
 
Add gelatin to Keg, but I always do it before carbonating the beer. I always evacuate the oxygen from the keg, pump beer from fermentor to keg, Add gelatin, for a five gallon corny, 1 cup water boiled and cooled to 150 deg. F. 1 Tbsp. gelatin knorr unflavored. Cap keg shake well for 1 minute, sit in Keezer for two days. Clip on the Co2 and pump out crud, usually about 1 quart gets all the crud out of mine. Then I carbonate. Doing with carbonated beer, I have found I have a lot of settling left after the initial gelling. Not sure if this is due to the carbonation in the beer suspending the proteins or what. Just my process, seems to work pretty well.

Do you chill the beer first?
 
Add gelatin to Keg, but I always do it before carbonating the beer. I always evacuate the oxygen from the keg, pump beer from fermentor to keg, Add gelatin, for a five gallon corny, 1 cup water boiled and cooled to 150 deg. F. 1 Tbsp. gelatin knorr unflavored. Cap keg shake well for 1 minute, sit in Keezer for two days. Clip on the Co2 and pump out crud, usually about 1 quart gets all the crud out of mine. Then I carbonate. Doing with carbonated beer, I have found I have a lot of settling left after the initial gelling. Not sure if this is due to the carbonation in the beer suspending the proteins or what. Just my process, seems to work pretty well.

Do you chill the beer first?

I'm going to say no he doesn't chill the beer first.
 
I followed the procedure outlined on the brulosophy website. Get the beer to 50 degrees or below, add gelatin, then bring it all the way down to just above freezing for 24 hours, then package it. I suppose you could do that in the primary, secondary, or the keg, but they did it in the primary. We'll see how well it works out.
 
I used to do it in the primary but lately I've been doing in in the keg out of fears of cold crash oxidation. It works fine, but what irks me is that I always feel like I've got to dump a little bit before pulling a pint.

The first couple are cloudy, and that's fine. But I have to do that if I move my keg, too. So if I'm filling a growler, filling bottles for a comp, or moving things around as I put another keg in my fridge, I pour a dump a bit. It leaves me a state of paranoia and seems wasteful.

As I reread this, I think I sound like a lunatic and need to RDWHAHB, but I plan to go back to cold crashing in the primary so I get the least sediment possible in the keg.
 
When I want the clearest beer, such a lager or cream ale I do this:

1. I keg and let it chill overnight in my keezer.
2. Add the gelatin.
3. Let it carbonate at my serving pressure which takes approximately 2 weeks.
4. At 2 weeks I pour a few ounces of slurry/yeast/proteins, but then very clear beer pours out:

Cream Ale Fined.jpg
 
When I want the clearest beer, such a lager or cream ale I do this:

1. I keg and let it chill overnight in my keezer.
2. Add the gelatin.
3. Let it carbonate at my serving pressure which takes approximately 2 weeks.
4. At 2 weeks I pour a few ounces of slurry/yeast/proteins, but then very clear beer pours out:

I guess that pint counts as clear :mug:

Do you shake or stir the beer in the keg after adding the gelatin? How does it get thoroughly mixed in?
 
You want chill haze before you add gelatin in my opinion and experience for best results. I don't stir just pour the solution in the fermenter or keg. Gelatin is pretty close to "a trick of the trade" in my experience - it affects beer that significantly.
 
When I want the clearest beer, such a lager or cream ale I do this:

1. I keg and let it chill overnight in my keezer.
2. Add the gelatin.
3. Let it carbonate at my serving pressure which takes approximately 2 weeks.
4. At 2 weeks I pour a few ounces of slurry/yeast/proteins, but then very clear beer pours out:


That's a pretty beer.
 
I guess that pint counts as clear :mug:

Do you shake or stir the beer in the keg after adding the gelatin? How does it get thoroughly mixed in?

I just open the keg lid and dump the hot gelatin in, re-seal the lid, and purge a few times.
It's really very easy to do ����.

Happy brewing!
 
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