Gelatin

[beers]

Sorry to drag this up but is there any more evidence on whether ccing before bottling ales will leave enough yeast in suspension to ensure carbonation in the bottle?

[post="123720"][/post]​

I've only ever tried 'lagering' 1 ale, using s-04, for 5 days at 3-4deg c.. it didn't turn out well for me. maybe i left it too long, or was using the wrong type of yeast, or did something else wrong, but i didn't have any success at all
had to tip the lot down the drain after 2-3mnths of waiting for it to carbonate without success :angry:

 

[spambait]

Sorry to drag this up but is there any more evidence on whether ccing before bottling ales will leave enough yeast in suspension to ensure carbonation in the bottle?
More Questions.
1 -- How long does carbonation in the bottle take to complete?
2 -- Will ccing before bottling (If it works?) force a longer bottle carbonation time due to a low yeast count?
3 -- Is it worth considering adding gelatin to the bottling bucket after ccing (if it works, of course)?
(Sigh) seems that life is a lot easier when kegging?

:beer:

[post="123720"][/post]​

Just a quick message agreeing with jasonY's comment that cold conditioning will not destroy/remove your yeast. Heat will kill the yeast, while the cold (not freezing) will just make it go dormant. What you will find is that you will need to bring the temperature of your newly bottled beer back up to the yeast's ideal fermentation temperature in order to ensure that the carbonation takes place, and you'll probably find that it starts off a little slower than if you had left the beer at the same temperature throughout. Carbonation time will be governed by a combination of temperature, and the availability of nutrient (aka fermentables) available to the remaining yeast.

Personally, I would add the gelatin when transferring the brew to secondary. The usual method that I use is to boil up a small amount of water (say 1-2 cups), add the gelatine (1-2 tsp), cool the mix rapidly in a sink filled with ice-water to about 22-25 degrees, and put that into the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Then I rack the brew directly into that. This will minimise the amount of splashing while allowing all of the beer mix in with the gelatine without needing to stir things up (avoids the risk of oxidation).

Oh, and the number of yeast cells available for an effective carbonation will not be too greatly affected... at least I've never found it to be a problem... not that I've actually counted the little buggers but the brews I have bottled did not seem to suffer from a lack of yeast cells.

Cheers,

S.