How To - Gelatine

[Jye]

There have been a number of brewers getting great results with gelatine as a fining lately so here is a tutorial on how to prepare and add it.

Start with 200ml of room temp water. You can choose to boil this first and cool if you wish but Ive found this unnecessary since it will be pasteurised later on. But if you must then a tip is to use the micro wave to quickly boil and then chuck it in the freezer. Now add 2 level tea spoons of unflavoured gelatine and allow to stand for 10 min. This lets the gelatine bloom which is much like rehydrating dried yeast and will now look fluffy.



Give it a swirl to mix in the gelatine and gently heat on the stove/microwave to 75C. Heating the gelatine too hot or even boiling will denature it and it will loose the fining ability making it useless.



Hold the solution at 75C for 15 min to pasteurise then add to secondary/keg when rack to mix it well, you do not have to wait for it to cool before adding it to the beer. You should also only add it to beer that has been chilled. If added to the keg then give it a bit of a shake if youre unsure of it being mixing correctly and allow to sit cold for 3 days. The first pour from a keg will also be cloudy with yeast, just the same as if you had left a keg to sit for a number of weeks to clear.

Gelatine does not 'set' on the bottom of the keg, so if you move it after clearing it will once again become cloudy just like a keg without gelatine. Gelatine works by clumping together yeast and increasing the particle size which allows it to fall out of suspension faster.

Thats its start enjoying your clear beer.

 

[SJW]

This is my fav. subject. But I do it a bit more simple than that. I just boil the ketle then tip half a cup of the water into a glass then add the Gelatine, mix, and add to keg. Your spot on Jye and I reckon this is a great way of clearing beer in a keg and I love it!.

Steve

 

[blackbock]

I will be trying the gelatine in some Pilseners and the like this winter, as I have not been able to clear chill haze from these pale beers recently no matter what else I try... I find the darker beers are not so prone to this haze for whatever reason, could be a pH thing, don't know.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Nice work Jye,

Here is some more info for those interested which definately confirms your usage methods.
Great Lake Gelatin

Beer Fining

For normal clarification use 1 lb. of Great Lakes Brewers Gelatin for each 100 bbls. of beer. When excessive proteins are to be removed, 1 1/2 lbs. are recommended. For each pound of gelatin, add 6 quarts of cold water (55 - 60 F.) As soon as this is absorbed, add 26 quarts of hot water (185F.) and stir until dissolved - about 15 minutes. The solution should be added to the beer while it is being pumped into the aging tanks, by proportioning if possible, otherwise when the tank is about 2/3 full. The solution mixes best with the beer when the solution is about 130F. The web formed by the gelatin solution should settle out in within 5 to 7 days, depending upon the size and type of storage tank. A longer period is not detriment to the beer.

Gelatin in the dry form is best stored at 40 - 70 F. where the humidity is low. When thus stored, it will not lose its strength, but once in solution, the bloom will drop at the rate of about 25 points every 6 hours. For this reason the solution should be prepared just prior to adding the beer.

By using Great Lakes Brewers Gelatin, it has been found that yeast, proteins and other matters are more easily removed. By this clarification, most brewers are able to run 3 to 4 times as much beer through their filters before changing. This results in a saving in labor costs and other filtering materials greatly in excess of the cost of the gelatin.

 

[Screwtop]

Screwy's Method:

After fermentation has ceased the temp of the beer is dropped to around 3C for 2 days, depending on the yeast used most of the yeast will have dropped out in this time. The beer is then racked to a keg to which gelatine fining has been added, then force carbed and placed into the CCing fridge/freezer at around 3C. I don't drop the temp any lower as I serve around 6C and any protiens formed at 3C will be dropped out by the fining and not visible at my serving temp of 6C. The first half glass is usually murky and is thrown out, from there on the beer pours clear. There's pretty much the normal amount of crud left in the bottom of the keg below the dip tube after emptying.

TO PREPARE THE GELATINE FINING: In a microwave safe jug, I prefer glass, place one teaspoon of Gelatine in 100ml of water and mix a little, leave for 5 min to hydrate then stir again and put it into the microwave for 15 min at 10% power. Our LG Microwave holds the temp around 80C - 85C at this setting and so pasteurises but doesn't boil the mixture. No need to allow to cool, just add to the bottom of the keg before racking the beer to it from the fermenter. Shaking during force carbing is sufficient for mixing, I find the temp after racking is around 6C a good temp for force carbing the beer as it will be close to my serving temp.

I started out using 2 teaspoons in 200ml as advised by Jye but found 1 teaspoon works equally as well and there is less "foriegn gunk" in your beer, a personal preference. As described by Jye, when using gelatine fining the beer will become cloudy again if the keg is moved, the same as a keg without gelatine fining, but it does clear again much quicker than without gelatine fining as the clumped particles drop out of suspension more quickly.



Screwy
[/quote]

 

[Adamt]

Wiki!

 

[winkle]

Wiki!

+1
Top work chaps :icon_cheers:

 

[warrenlw63]

I just boil a few hundred mls of water to sanitise and let it cool for a while. Open a sachet of Davis gelatin dump it in and let it sit for 5 mins. Stir, turn the heat back on and just keep lightly stirring till it dissolves (no boil). Dump it in the keg (after the beer). Stir with the racking hose and leave it.

Easy peasy. Clearie beersy. :icon_chickcheers:

Usually star bright after the first pint and generally within 24 hours @ around 3 degrees.

Warren -

 

[Tony]

I will be trying the gelatine in some Pilseners and the like this winter, as I have not been able to clear chill haze from these pale beers recently no matter what else I try... I find the darker beers are not so prone to this haze for whatever reason, could be a pH thing, don't know.

Probably pH related.

Try 1% acidulated malt and a 20 min rest at 52 deg. Worked for me.

Will try the gelatine method on my blond ale and see how it goes.

cheers

 

[Jye]

There is now a wiki so feel free to add your 2c.

Here is a great PDF on how isinglass works which is similar the gelatine. Ive found page 3 to have a great description (with pics) on how it fines. The plot showing increase in particle size is also very interesting.

Link

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

This is my fav. subject. But I do it a bit more simple than that. I just boil the ketle then tip half a cup of the water into a glass then add the Gelatine, mix, and add to keg. Your spot on Jye and I reckon this is a great way of clearing beer in a keg and I love it!.

Steve

I have added it 24hrs prior to racking to secondary,plenty of gunk has fallen out.I have then dry hopped and CC'd for a week still more gunk has fallen out.By the time it is in the keg and carbed it is basically clear. Not really sure if there are any right or wrong ways. All I know is that I have had fantastic results. BTW I know of another AG brewer who does not use whirlfloc tabs just geletine and his results are to die for.

Cheers
BYB

 

[Batz]

OK Now I want a filter\gelatin experiment
I am willing as I'll be doing a double Alt this week.

Batz

 

[dataphage]

Slightly OT has anyone tried using Agar Agar as a fining agent (veggie gelatin derived from seaweed)?

 

[SJW]

I know I might get it in the neck from Mark for saying this but I bought some Isinglass the other day and did a side by side test with Gelatine. I put half a pack of gelatine (2 teaspoons) in a sanatised cup of hot boiled water from the kettle. Stired it for a few mins and dumped in the keg as I was racking from the primary. This beer was a CAP with 20% Flaked Maise. It was almost as bright as pub beer withing 48 hours, as good as you could ask for.
Then I put 10mls of Isinglass in the next keg and racked my other CAP made with 25% Flaked Rice, all to manufacturers specifications on the label. Maybe I did something wrong but I would go so far as to say that the Isinglass had almost no effect on clearing the beer. Certainily no more than the beer clearing itself over th first few days.
Bear in mind I use prety much SCREWYS methods for all of this. ie. Primary at 11 deg C, then 18 for 2 days then crash chill to 0 for 2 days then straight into the keg.
For me I wll keep using gelatine and from what have read here I might back it off to 1 teaspoon, but I don't notice any more crap in the first pour with gelatine than without as the first is always cloudy.

Steve

 

[lagers44]

I've been following this thread now for a while & noticed that most guys use the gelatine into the keg ( from primary ) but complain about "gunk" & cloudiness when moving kegs.
I've been using gelatine now for many many years but i use it into a secondary fermenter for about 1 week then when I keg the beer flows in very clear with no " Gunk " & all the sediment has already settled & been left behind. This ensures a clean keg except for some yeast remaining when the keg is finished. Moving kegs doesn't stir up much if any sediment.
It might be worth a try to use a secondary , besides I honestly believed most people did use a secondary anyway.

Lagers

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

I've been following this thread now for a while & noticed that most guys use the gelatine into the keg ( from primary ) but complain about "gunk" & cloudiness when moving kegs.

Thats exactly right, why anyone would want to gel there keg is beyond me, but everyone to their own.

I've been using gelatine now for many many years but i use it into a secondary fermenter for about 1 week then when I keg the beer flows in very clear with no " Gunk " & all the sediment has already settled & been left behind.

The only way to go IMHO. But I tend to use 1 teaspoon in about 100ml of warm water.

BYB

 

[joecast]

There is now a wiki so feel free to add your 2c.

Here is a great PDF on how isinglass works which is similar the gelatine. Ive found page 3 to have a great description (with pics) on how it fines. The plot showing increase in particle size is also very interesting.

Link

thanks jye. i thought the most interesting part of that article was about the storage and use of isinglass. to paraphrase, when in solution should be stored <20C and used within 8 weeks of preparation. may be why steve had bad results and why i now have little hope of getting good results of the 100ml i bought today (hbs with low turnover). i'll still give it a shot though and hopefully im wrong. cheers
joe

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

thanks jye. i thought the most interesting part of that article was about the storage and use of isinglass. to paraphrase, when in solution should be stored <20C and used within 8 weeks of preparation. may be why steve had bad results and why i now have little hope of getting good results of the 100ml i bought today (hbs with low turnover). i'll still give it a shot though and hopefully im wrong. cheers
joe

I have some good info on my site about isinglass . preparation and usage.Here It is a great product if used properly. It has even fixed PP's haze problems. I dont recommend buying it in the liquid form unless you know it been refrigerated and for how long.
GB

 

[matti]

Noice work with the pictures.
I have generally added finings into second fermenter 4 days prior to bottling and will continue to do this as I keg now.

Just gently poor it in trying to cover the entire surface.
This of course becomes a bit trickier of you use a cube for lagering.
matti

 

[joecast]

I dont recommend buying it in the liquid form unless you know it been refrigerated and for how long.
GB

doh! wish i knew that before. oh well, its in the beer now. will hopefully keg this weekend and drink after a week or so. thanks
joe