How To - Gelatine

[Tricky Dicky]

Just came to the end of my third brew (rookie!) all extract English bitter. This was the first time I had used gelatin and overall got great results. However the last couple of pints from the keg were like dishwater, extremely cloudy and after I let the pint sit for 10mins, the bottom half of the beer became opaque. I hadn't moved the keg at all for over a week so I haven't disturbed it. My previous two brews didn't have this problem with the last two pints, does this normally happen when using gelatin?

 

[Rocker1986]

One of the reasons I don't use it in kegs, or at all. There are much better products available I think.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

One of the reasons I don't use it in kegs, or at all. There are much better products available I think.

Hmm I don't understand, the first two pints from a keg containing gelatin are regularly quoted as including ***** but why would there be crap in the last two pints as well? Some of the gelatin must float as well as sink?

 

[jackgym]

I don't really understand why anyone would want to use gelatin(e)? or another clearing agent.
My beer is in the fermenter for 14 days then bottled for a month which drops everything out quite well.
If you wanted it any clearer you'd have to be a Virgo, like me.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I don't really understand why anyone would want to use gelatin(e)? or another clearing agent.
My beer is in the fermenter for 14 days then bottled for a month which drops everything out quite well.
If you wanted it any clearer you'd have to be a Virgo, like me.

I only have a small set up, one keg and one fridge for homebrew use, waiting 6 weeks for the beer to clear is way beyond my levels of patience

 

[jackgym]

I only have a small set up, one keg and one fridge for homebrew use, waiting 6 weeks for the beer to clear is way beyond my levels of patience

Mate, you'll have to reform yourself Like I did or buy more equipment.
I only need to brew once a month as I only drink 1 PET a night.

 

[Rocker1986]

You will find the yeast drops out pretty good by itself in bottles, although I do use isinglass to speed it up because it's slower in a keg of course. However, I use it in the fermenter while it's cold crashing so I can leave it behind when it's kegged and I get hardly any sediment in them. Clear pours from the get go. The last pour when it blows dry sucks up a bit of yeast if I let it splutter too long but otherwise clear from start to finish.

Isinglass drops yeast just as effectively as gelatine, but rather than resulting in a jelly like sediment, it forms a very compact sediment.

Other haze could be chill haze. I use Polyclar to remove it, once again in the fermenter to leave it behind. I usually add it a couple of days after the isinglass. It works extremely well and to my taste doesn't negatively affect the flavour.

Alternatively you could use the biofine mentioned earlier which drops both yeast and chill haze causing things, and also doesn't result in a jelly sediment.

As for why some use these things, some of us like clear beer. It's no more wrong or right than not wanting it clear, just personal preference. The point is that there are much better products than gelatine to achieve it.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

I used to use gelatine, but haven't for at least 18 months.

Biofine in the keg for Kolsch, lagers and any ales that I want to clear and it does the job perfectly without the jelly.


I had a few occasions when I held the beer up to the light and could see bits of jelly in the beer.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

You will find the yeast drops out pretty good by itself in bottles, although I do use isinglass to speed it up because it's slower in a keg of course. However, I use it in the fermenter while it's cold crashing so I can leave it behind when it's kegged and I get hardly any sediment in them. Clear pours from the get go. The last pour when it blows dry sucks up a bit of yeast if I let it splutter too long but otherwise clear from start to finish.

Isinglass drops yeast just as effectively as gelatine, but rather than resulting in a jelly like sediment, it forms a very compact sediment.

Other haze could be chill haze. I use Polyclar to remove it, once again in the fermenter to leave it behind. I usually add it a couple of days after the isinglass. It works extremely well and to my taste doesn't negatively affect the flavour.

Alternatively you could use the biofine mentioned earlier which drops both yeast and chill haze causing things, and also doesn't result in a jelly sediment.

As for why some use these things, some of us like clear beer. It's no more wrong or right than not wanting it clear, just personal preference. The point is that there are much better products than gelatine to achieve it.

Just wondering why you get sediment at the start and finish of the keg?

 

[HaveFun]

I never used any kind of clearing agents or beer finings.
I pressure ferment, after a few days cold crash, I transfer the beer into a different keg for conditioning.
And harvest the yeast for my next brew does the beer finings or clearing agents affecting the yeast ?

Cheers
Stefan

 

[Rocker1986]

Just wondering why you get sediment at the start and finish of the keg?

Because it settles around the dip tube. At the beginning the first part of the pour clears the immediate area around the dip tube of sediment so you get a bit of **** at the start then it clears, and as long as the keg isn't disturbed, the sediment won't be either. At the end it's just because there's nothing left but sediment so it drags some up once the beer runs out.

No idea if finings affect yeast harvesting though, because I harvest from starters rather than the fermenter so I don't have to worry about it.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

You will find the yeast drops out pretty good by itself in bottles, although I do use isinglass to speed it up because it's slower in a keg of course. However, I use it in the fermenter while it's cold crashing so I can leave it behind when it's kegged and I get hardly any sediment in them. Clear pours from the get go. The last pour when it blows dry sucks up a bit of yeast if I let it splutter too long but otherwise clear from start to finish.

Isinglass drops yeast just as effectively as gelatine, but rather than resulting in a jelly like sediment, it forms a very compact sediment.

Other haze could be chill haze. I use Polyclar to remove it, once again in the fermenter to leave it behind. I usually add it a couple of days after the isinglass. It works extremely well and to my taste doesn't negatively affect the flavour.

Alternatively you could use the biofine mentioned earlier which drops both yeast and chill haze causing things, and also doesn't result in a jelly sediment.

As for why some use these things, some of us like clear beer. It's no more wrong or right than not wanting it clear, just personal preference. The point is that there are much better products than gelatine to achieve it.

Can you use gelatin whilst cold crashing?

 

[Rocker1986]

You can, but like I said there are far better products out there that will do the same job without the jelly **** sediment.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

You can, but like I said there are far better products out there that will do the same job without the jelly **** sediment.

So with insinglass how many pints of ***** do you end up losing due to the sediment in the keg?

 

[Garfield]

You could always shorten your pick up tube so it draws beer from just above the sediment

 

[Rocker1986]

So with insinglass how many pints of ***** do you end up losing due to the sediment in the keg?

None. That's my whole point. I also don't use it (or any other clearing agents) in the keg, I use it in the fermenter while the beer is cold crashing, it just settles out into the trub at the bottom and is left behind when the beer is transferred to the keg. I've never seen any need to shorten the dip tube, it's not necessary.

 

[Garfield]

None. That's my whole point. I also don't use it (or any other clearing agents) in the keg, I use it in the fermenter while the beer is cold crashing, it just settles out into the trub at the bottom and is left behind when the beer is transferred to the keg. I've never seen any need to shorten the dip tube, it's not necessary.

None of this is necessary. We could all drink beer that is not clarified. We could also drink Tooheys since home brewing is unnecessary. We could also refrain from stifling someone's contribution to this discussion before hearing them out - as that too is unnecessary.

Anyway... Some of my dip tubes are shortened as I sometimes bulk prime a keg and naturally carbonate under pressure using a spunding valve. If anyone is interested in that idea there is lots of great posts on this and other forums.

As for clarifying agents, I agree with your method 100%. On the occasions when I use finings, I add to the fermenter for cold settling before transfer to keg. It works a treat. Be aware, some finings work best if added at room temperature first and then cold settled.

I would endorse either process to anyone currently asking for assistance. If you would like to change your process to start clarifying in fermenters (not kegs) then I strongly recommend Rockers method. But if you'll stick with keg fining (with gelatine, isinglass, etc) then I can personally vouch for shortening your dip tube a small amount. You'll waste a pint at the end of the keg as the tube won't be able to pick it up. But it sounds like you're losing a couple of beers to cloudy scum anyway.

So which pill Mr Smith?

$0.02 c/o Garf

 

[Rocker1986]

I should have been clearer (pardon the pun), in that I don't see shortening dip tubes to be necessary when fining in the fermenter. I can see the value of it when using gelatine in a keg due to what it does to the sediment, but it may not be needed with other products like isinglass that result in a very compact sediment. Your own experience with it will determine whether or not you want to shorten the dip tube with those products.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

I've replaced some of the dip tubes on my kegs with floating ones from keg king (part of fermentasaurus, but you can get them individually). Just replace your diptube with a gas diptube and slot the silicon over it. with gelatin you have clear beer within a day, without pouring any trub.

8hrs after gelatin:
The keg is only partially carbed but there is 100g of dry hops in it and I only cold crashed for two days in the fermenter, the beer was almost murky last night (before gelatin).

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I put gelatin in the fv after cold crashing a couple of days and then kegged after another 2 days and got very clear results from the first pour. Much better results than putting gelatin into the keg.