Beer Forum

I racked new beer into a corny and force carbonated it as usual. I didn't add any finings, because of course I expected my beer to be crystal clear. Not as usual, it's got some decent chill haze. Is there a way anyone can think of to add gelatin or isinglass to a pressurized corny with finished beer?

The only thing that I could think of is to use a second sanitized, pressurized corny. Corny 2 would have the gelatin inside and be pressurized to say....5 psi. I could then push beer from corny 1 to corny 2 and let off some of the excess pressure using the valve as the beer fills corny 2. Just like running beer through a filter. But this sounds like a giant pain in the ass. Any other ideas? Normally I wouldn't care about a little chill haze, but this is an important batch.

"Tincture of Time" is a good fining agent if you can be patient. Otherwise you can let the pressure off (little gas will escape from the beer if it is cold), remove the lid, dump in the fining "solution", replace the lid, and repressurize (multiple times to purge air). Keep in mind that some fining agents (PVPP) serve as nucleation sites and will cause wild foaming in carbonated beer. Another thought is to let off the pressure and inject the finings through the liquid tube but you'd have to have something like a horse syringe (maybe one of those pumps used for brining meats) hooked up to proper tubing and keg adapter.

ajdelange wrote:Otherwise you can let the pressure off (little gas will escape from the beer if it is cold), remove the lid, dump in the fining "solution", replace the lid, and repressurize (multiple times to purge air).

While this is certainly the easiest way to do it, I'm mostly wary of letting off CO2 and thus denaturing the proteins that provide head retention/mouthfeel. But yes, the beer is cold, so little gas would come out of solution. Thoughts?

Thanks for the tip about the wild foaming, though. I've never added finings to finished beer.

If the beer tastes good just drink it. Any finings you add to the keg will be dispensed with the beer. Maybe the best solution for clearing the beer would be filtering though I can't speak on this topic. Like AJ said time will clear the beer. Good Luck!

I've added gelatin to carbonated kegs many times with no problems. Gelatin actually works better in cold beer. Just pull the pressure relief, unlid, pour in the gelatin (1/2 envelope Knox gelatin bloomed in 1 cup of cold water then brought to nearly a boil and cooled to room temp). Close the lid, re-pressurize and purge a couple of times. I swirl the keg to distribute the gelatin and then put back in the fridge. Give it a week or so cold to drop crystal clear. Your first couple of pints will contain most of the yeast and stuff the gelatin dropped out. Then it's clear ale-ing! (apologies to C.P.)

Don't serve to your vegan friends!

captain carrot wrote:n't serve to your vegan friends!

Considering where I live, that made me laugh out loud. This is beef country. Some people out here don't drink beer only because there's no meat in it. I should make them a cock ale.

I'll unlid the corny and add the gelatin directly. I have just enough time to get this batch clarified before I need it. Hopefully it won't affect the head retention.

you would really have to aggressively add that gelatin for it to effect your head retention....like adding it pressurized through a spray nozzle

HighCountry wrote:I'm mostly wary of letting off CO2 and thus denaturing the proteins that provide head retention/mouthfeel.

I'm not a biochemist so can you explain in layman's terms how degassing will denature protein? Thanks