Clearing - Cold crashing v Gelatine v Other? + bulk priming

[clauddr]

Hey guys

I have a brown ale which is 1 week in in primary, bubbling has stopped but I haven't taken a FG reading as yet.

I've never attempted to clear a brew before so was hoping for any advice, tips, suggestions on the best way to go. Got a fridge and secondary FV where I could cold crash and I would also like to give gelatine a bash (increase my skill set). Alternatively, is there another option I haven't even considered?

Also, never tried bulk priming but now I have a secondary and siphon wanna give that a go too. For a brown ale @23l wort, would you say 140g in boiling water is sufficient...or too much? Can I just use table sugar or is dex better?

Sorry if some of these are billy basic q's, but gives y'all a chance to flex ur knowledge guns!

 

[Milk-lizard84]

I have used gelatine to clear my beers while cold crashing and it has worked a treat. There is a thread about using gelatine on here. Look in the all grain section. I think its there

 

[gsouth82]

I cold crash everything before kegging. I give it a week at 0.3C before transferring. I just cold crash in the primary, no need to transfer to a secondary unless your talking about over 4 or 5 weeks sitting on the yeast. You might want to consider a transfer to secondary then.

 

[Blind Dog]

[SIZE=medium]I use gelatine to clear mine. I boil water and then pour into 2 cups, cover both in sanitised foil, sit my thermometer in one and when it hits 70C add 2 tsp (10ml) gelatine to the other cup and stir with a sanitised fork. Then let it cool to about 30C (thermometer is still in the other cup) under the sanitised foil then tip gently into fermenter after spraying everything with sanitiser. Cooling seems to stop it clumping when I add it to the fermenter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Then I cold crash about a day later, although often only to 10C unless its a lager, kolsch or similar[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]I don’t use a secondary and think the downside of the possibility of introducing oxygen outweighs any potential advantage if the beer is only sitting on the yeast for a week or two after fermenting. YMMV[/SIZE]

 

[Blind Dog]

Oh and 1 week in primary may be a little short. Check the FG is where you expected it to be for at least a couple of days. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have ruined a number of good beers by being impatient.

 

[citizensnips]

Coldcrash + Gelatin + Bulk Priming will really lift your beers up a notch. And Blind Dog is right 2 weeks or so in primary will only improve your beer, don't be afraid to let it sit there.

 

[menoetes]

I use brewbrite in my boil (even for extract recipes), then after 2 - weeks fermentation I drop the beers temperature to about 2'c and rack to a secondary vessel with the dissolved gelatin already in it. Then another week in the fridge at 1'c and we are good to go bulk-prime and bottle.

I admit it is a lot of mucking about but I get crystal clear beers every time and the work is spread out over several days.

 

[seehuusen]

Yep, another gelatine convert.
I crash chill to 1c for a few days, then rack to secondary.
In it I add the gelatine as per above (although I'm not quite as accurate).
I let that sit for at least 3 or more days, then bulk prime + bottle.

As for amount of sugar, google it, there's a calculator which will assist you with amounts needed, dependent on which type of sugar you end up using.
The amount of co2 differs between beer types. Also the fermentation temp has a contributing factor.

 

[brzt6060]

I have tried gelatine finings on my first brew and cold crashing on my second. Since then I cold crash every brew unless I'm using a low floc yeast.

My beers seem to be very clear even just from cold crashing for a week at 0.2c. I have heard that finings can help reduce chill haze so I might start using it again in my lagers.

My suggestion is give all 4 options a go (nothing, cold crash only, cold crash and finings and finings only) then compare the difference. I was pretty surprised at just how well cold crashing worked.

 

[clauddr]

Cool, thanks for the input guys. I reckon I'll give em all a crack. Originally I was under the impression it was either/or with cold crashing and gelatine...doubling up makes sense, gun to a nice fight's my fav approach!
My fridge is a crappy old thing I found in the shed from the previous tenant and doesn't have the type of accuracy you're describing, what's a good temp range 1-5c?

Appreciate the advice gents...when I grow up I wanna be wise ol beer elder like you;-)

 

[brzt6060]

My fridge is a crappy old thing I found in the shed from the previous tenant and doesn't have the type of accuracy you're describing, what's a good temp range 1-5c?

1c - 5c is fine. The colder the cold crash the shorter it can be.
I normally leave mine for 5 to 7 days but that is more because of my work schedule then anything else.

 

[Crofty]

I found early on that cold-crashing did wonders as a first step and given I was adding anything additional reduced the chance I was going to screw up.

Later down the line I started using isenglass, still not entirely sure if it's actually adding anything

 

[TheWiggman]

Other option is polyclar. Everything I've read about it is it's very, very effective.

 

[dicko]

I have found Polyclar to be very good and even better if you can chill your beer to around 0 deg c add it and leave it at that temp for a further 24 hours.
Having said that Gelatin works well for settling yeast out.