Fining And Naturally Carbing Kegs

[Arghonaut]

Would like to attempt to clear the chill haze in my beers. At room temp they are usually clear, but quite cloudy at my pouring temp of 4 degrees. Have been reading up on the various finings available, i am not interested in filtering, so have been looking primarily at gelatine and brewbright.

My process at the moment is, after ferment is finished, chill to 4 degrees for a week, then into a keg primed with 80g of dex, leave for two weeks at room temp, then into the keezer.

I was reading about people fining in the keg with gelatin, but wondering when the best time to add it would be in this situation, before or after the natural carbing has happened? I also saw someone suggest that gelatine may not help too much with chill haze issues?

How does brewbright work, i understand it is added in the boil. Do you need to whirlpool and then rack, leaving the trub behind for this to work? At present i am doing mainly extract, and looking to avoid extra steps, i just do partial boils, chill briefly in the sink, then pour the lot straight into a fermenter filled with 4 deg water.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

FOr your situation i think you would be better off with Polyclar VT and getting the beer as clear as possible before kegging.

ON the day you plan to turn the temp of your fridge down thats when i would gelatine. Wait a couple of days for it to do its thing and the beer to chill completely.
Then add re hydrated polylcar and leave for at least another 3 days and then carefully rack into your keg.

There should still be enough yeast in the beer for secondary ferment in keg to take place. Obviously the first couple of glasses will be cloudy from this but after that should be pretty clear.

 

[Arghonaut]

ON the day you plan to turn the temp of your fridge down thats when i would gelatine. Wait a couple of days for it to do its thing and the beer to chill completely.
Then add re hydrated polylcar and leave for at least another 3 days and then carefully rack into your keg.

I actually chill in my keezer, would the act of lifting the fermenter out of the keezer for filling the keg be enough to stir up the polyclar? Do you need to syphon from the top, or would it still be ok to use the tap?

 

[Dave70]

These steps cleared my beers up nicely.

Rapid rolling boil.
Cool the wort quick as you can afterwards.
Crash chill at 1 to -1 deg for a week or so.

Not 'bright', but considering I neither filter nor gelatine - nothing against either method, just couldn't be arsed - I reckon it's OK.

Bo pills.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I actually chill in my keezer, would the act of lifting the fermenter out of the keezer for filling the keg be enough to stir up the polyclar? Do you need to syphon from the top, or would it still be ok to use the tap?

I'm finding that because my ferm freezer contains my fermenter nicely, that when I get it out, the yeast gets stirred up before kegging, so the gelatin is less effective than it would otherwise be. I shouldn't have this problem in the next couple of months, because ambient temp under my house is 16-17 degrees, rendering it perfect for everything.

But, I noted another post by Nick_JD - where he puts his fermenter up on the table/place he kegs from (once CC'd), gelatins and then leaves it out to settle down before kegging.

 

[manticle]

Stop serving all your beer at 4 degrees.

Otherwise gelatin for yeast haze, polyclar for chill haze and isinglass for a bit of both.

Extra lagering time without any finings also works - depends on your patience.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

I'm finding that because my ferm freezer contains my fermenter nicely, that when I get it out, the yeast gets stirred up before kegging, so the gelatin is less effective than it would otherwise be. I shouldn't have this problem in the next couple of months, because ambient temp under my house is 16-17 degrees, rendering it perfect for everything.

But, I noted another post by Nick_JD - where he puts his fermenter up on the table/place he kegs from (once CC'd), gelatins and then leaves it out to settle down before kegging.

Yeah same here when i used to use gelatine and PCVT i would move the fermenter to the table and leave it for a few hours to settle again.
If i was kegging the beer i always racked from the top.

I would bottle the rest from the tap, never had any problems with PCVT in the finished bottled beer(it could be there?) i always leave a good inch and pour carefully so no sediment gets in my glass or jug.

These days i only use Brewbrite in the boil and around 5 days at -1 after 12 - 14 days primary ferment - my actual fermentation is usually done after 4 - 5 days but extra time on the yeast is beneficial i have found for MY results which is clear enough for me in terms of appearance and clarity of flavour.

 

[Arghonaut]

So if i gelatin at the the start of the CC, polyclar a few days later (and leave for another few days) then leave for a few hours once moved out of the freezer for kegging. Is it still essential to rack from the top, or could you use the tap?

Would this also mean i need to wait longer then 2 weeks for the kegs to naturally carb?

 

[Nick JD]

So if i gelatin at the the start of the CC, polyclar a few days later (and leave for another few days) then leave for a few hours once moved out of the freezer for kegging. Is it still essential to rack from the top, or could you use the tap?

Would this also mean i need to wait longer then 2 weeks for the kegs to naturally carb?

For naturally carbing, the best method I've found is to fill the keg without any fining agents, prime it and leave it somewhere warm to secondary ferment.

Then chill it down when carbed up to serving temp - release the headspace pressure and add (2tsps of gelatine allowed to bloom for 10 minutes in cold water then brough up to 75C for a minute or two) finings. Close it up and put it back in the fridge.

Within 48 hours you'll be pouring super-bright, naturally-carbed beer. And because there was all that yeast in at the start, it's a quick carbing.

 

[Arghonaut]

For naturally carbing, the best method I've found is to fill the keg without any fining agents, prime it and leave it somewhere warm to secondary ferment.

Then chill it down when carbed up to serving temp - release the headspace pressure and add (2tsps of gelatine allowed to bloom for 10 minutes in cold water then brough up to 75C for a minute or two) finings. Close it up and put it back in the fridge.

Within 48 hours you'll be pouring super-bright, naturally-carbed beer. And because there was all that yeast in at the start, it's a quick carbing.

Sounds like the easiest option to start, will give it a go when i keg my currently fermenting beer. Tip out the first glass? Guessing it will be a gelatiny yeasty mess.

 

[Nick JD]

Sounds like the easiest option to start, will give it a go when i keg my currently fermenting beer. Tip out the first glass? Guessing it will be a gelatiny yeasty mess.

You'll get a few glasses that are cloudy at first. At the cold temps the sediment really turns to concrete with the gelatine.

 

[jc64]

For naturally carbing, the best method I've found is to fill the keg without any fining agents, prime it and leave it somewhere warm to secondary ferment.

Then chill it down when carbed up to serving temp - release the headspace pressure and add (2tsps of gelatine allowed to bloom for 10 minutes in cold water then brough up to 75C for a minute or two) finings. Close it up and put it back in the fridge.

Within 48 hours you'll be pouring super-bright, naturally-carbed beer. And because there was all that yeast in at the start, it's a quick carbing.

Bringing up a old thread but it's exactly what I was thinking about. My fridge is full of kegs so I'm going to natural carb. a keg or two whilst there is no room. Is the method described by Nick JD the way to go? I usually use gelatine just not when the beer is carbed. Cheers

 

[pcmfisher]

You say you are using extract. Does that mean using unbittered extract and boiling up fresh hops for bitterness, flavour etc?

Liquid, Dry, which brand? Also which yeast?

I am just wondering why you are getting chill haze in the first place.