Best way to fine w/ Gelatin without adding an extra transfer

[DCBC]

I've added gelatin to the primary once and it worked like a charm. It just took a little longer to settle things out versus cold crashing and transferring to a bright tank/keg for fining.

[BDawg]

DON'T PULL ANY SHORT CUTS! THIS IS FOR ALL THE MARBLES! USE THE BEST PROCESSES YOU KNOW HOW!

[Mylo]

I agree with BDawg... Filter it, if clarity means that much to you. I don't think that scottish 70 need to be "brilliant".

I have had great success with gelatin - but only for this pain in the ass London Yeast (that White Labs claims is a high flocculator, yeah right). When you do the gelatin trick, you have to be VERY careful to not let any of it get above 160 or so. That's when you get gel chunk floaties... I wouldn't risk it on a 2nd round entry.


Mylo

[denimglen]

I've added gelatin to the primary once and it worked like a charm. It just took a little longer to settle things out versus cold crashing and transferring to a bright tank/keg for fining.

I always added gelatin in the fermenter. Never had a problem except for one time I let the gelatin get too cold and it gelled before I added it - this beer had jelly floaties.

For most of my beers - 3 weeks primary, into fridge (at 8C), gelatin the next day, into keg two days later. Results in a VERY VERY light haze to a crystal clear beer.

[brewinhard]

Can't you just fine with gelatin in the primary along with a cold crash, then rack into a keg after a week or so? I would think that would probably get you the clearest beer out there with minimal transfers and oxygen pickup. Good luck with the second round!

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

Well, after all that it came to racking day, and here is what I decided to do: Not add gelatin. The beers were looking pretty clear and I just didn't want to throw in a monkey wrench on my second round entry. I think the reason I originally wanted to use gelatin was because the original beer was way, way better at 3 months than it was fresh. It just really smoothed out a lot with time. I figured maybe I could "speed" that smoothing process with gelatin. But looking at the time line I think it will have enough time to clear properly in the keg, and then it will probably have a week once it gets to the competition to settle down in the bottle even more.

So I still need to try using gelatin on a beer some time. I have read different things on the interwebs. I just have a box of Knox gelatin for cooking. That's OK right? I have read anywhere from 1/2 to 1 tsp per 5 gallons. What is the proper ratio? And can I add it straight to the beer at racking and then chill? That would be a lot easier and more sanitary than re-opening the keg after it is chilled down!

Thanks
Chupa

[BigBadBrad]

Hey Chupa,

Probably a wise decision to not use a new process on this beer.

The beer needs to be chilled before adding the gelatin so that the chill haze is formed for the gelatin to grab onto. I normally use 1/2 tsp per 5 gallons. I brew 10 gallon batches and here is my procedure. I cold crash in the primary then do a closed transfer to two kegs that I have shortened the dip tubes on. Chill in the chest freezer down to 32F. Boil 2 cups of water to sanitize, let it cool a little bit. Add 1 tsp. gelatin and mix until disolved. Open kegs and pour one cup of the solution into each keg. Purge the kegs with CO2 and swirl them around to mix in the gelatin. Back in the chest freezer for a few days then do a closed transfer into my serving kegs. Carbonate then drink crystal clear beer.

Good luck in the second round. I have three beers going, but I decided not to re-brew any of them.

Brad

[Thuglas]

Miss Wonton,

Congrats on the 2nd rounder! Any update on the process. I advanced a cyser and have gnarly haze problems on my re-brew. I already tried pectic enzyme with no luck (my thought was that the pasteurized apple juice killed the pectic enzymes so it formed pectic haze). Now i'm looking into fining it.

p.s. One of the other brewers here confirmed what was already said about gelatin in the keg...being that as long as the keg isn't moved it's fine, but if you want to move the keg around you're gonna need to rack it to another keg. And that what the one guy said about as long as its coming out bright it'll be fine to bottle (my best written sentence ever).

p.p.s. We need to catch up