Gelatine, does it work?

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Gelatin, does it work?

  • yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • no

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • yes, but not worth it.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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    0

Eagleburger

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Curious what other brewers opinions.

Seems like I get same clarity with or without gelatin. Time is what clears the beer.

Another thing I have noticed, warming the beer clears it lickety-split. Comments?
 
Eagleburger said:
Curious what other brewers opinions.

Seems like I get same clarity with or without gelatin. Time is what clears the beer.

Another thing I have noticed, warming the beer clears it lickety-split. Comments?
Yes time is an important factor and if you are patient then gelatine may not be necessary, but gelatine will do it quicker and in every comp I enter they comment on the beers clarity (and often the lack of head retention of late). If your beers clears at it warms then it is chill haze and caused by tannin, not yeast.
 
You'll get the same clarity if you give it time. But if you want to clear your beer quickly, gelatin and cold conditioning will help.

The thing is, some yeasts take a freaking eternity to drop, but high flocculating yeasts drop quickly and give you clearer beer sooner. So some times it might not be necessary.
 
Black n Tan said:
Yes time is an important factor and if you are patient then gelatine may not be necessary, but gelatine will do it quicker and in every comp I enter they comment on the beers clarity (and often the lack of head retention of late). If your beers clears at it warms then it is chill haze and caused by tannin, not yeast.
Not chill haze. Brew has yet to be chilled. I noticed it when doing diacetyl testing
 
There are many factors that causes haze / cloudiness. Gelatine does work and clears beers faster than what they may without gelatine on some aspects of haze.

Some hazes form at colder temperatures, as mentioned. These aren't cleared by gelatine. There are ways to clear and reduce these too, and there are lots of articles on the forum here if you search. But Gelatine is a simple and effective way to clear many beers. Great place to start.

Other products that can be used, but must be used in the right way and in the right circumstances will clear most other hazes especially when combined with filtering. Although filtering alone is no guarantee to a bright beer either depending on how the beer is treated and at what temperature. Polyclar, Isinglass, Brewbrite.

To answer your poll. Yes Gelatine, it works on some aspects of haze. No hesitation to use it.

On the other hand I like cloudy beers, but I do understand the judging aspect for a beer that must be bright. Yeast choice can play a big part here too, look for yeasts that suit the style with a high flocculation. Some drop remarkably clear all by themselves.

Cheers Steve
 
I find gelatine works best (on yeast haze) when the beer is cold.

If you are yet to chill the beer at all, this could be a factor.

My standard practice is to chill the beer to 0C, and then add the gelatine. I let it sit for a day or two (or a week) and usually keg bright beer from there. Even the first pour is clear.

I know you've discounted chill haze, but if warming the beer makes it clear, that's what you've got. It's just that polyphenols are coming out of solution (and showing as a haze) at the higher temp. Chilling and adding a fining like polyclar can help remove this.
 
Gelatin alone has been mildly successful for me.

I've found that cold crashing to ~0 then adding gelatin and leaving 2 days followed by adding ~50ml colloidal silica dioxide (yanks and others call it kieselsol) is the holy grail of no-filter clarity. The two are opposite charge, so the gelatin bonds with yeast and some proteins over the 2 days and then the kieselsol latches on to it all and together they fall out of suspension. The process starts instantly and is quite interesting to watch when you first pour in the kieselsol.

After 2 to 3 days I get absolutely brilliant clarity with this method.

gallery_21568_1245_341749.jpg
 
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