using gelatin

[walker111]

Hi all.
Going to try gelatin in the kegs for the first time. Bought a few boxes of Knox unflavored in the packets. Directions state ... one packet of gelatin will set 2 cups of water.
A bit confusing. How are some of you using this in amounts/volumes, etc?
Thanks

 

[jekeane]

either 1/2 tsp gelatin in 1/4 cup water or 1tsp in 1/2 cup eater microwave to 150ish swirl the mixture till its dissolved. Both dosage rates have worked fine for me. the 1 tsp seems to work a little faster. Having it in the keg or inline while filling helps mix it in. A lot of people will boil their water and then bring it down to 150 ish. I just used bottle water and dont boil anything.


How you add it is up to you.

Lots of people do it in a cold crashed fermenter then wait a few days and rack to keg.

You can dump it in your keg before racking,

You can make an injector out of a soda bottle and carbonation cap an inject it into your beer.

I do it inline between my fermenter and the keg by filling a sightglass before hooking up.

 

[walker111]

Thanks for that. I am boiling some water as I type and will try the second method you describe. I have a beer ( cent. Blonde) sitting in fermonster for 18 days now and want to keg it. I kegged the same beer last friday as I do double batches and it was not super clear ( this one was us-5 and the one I will keg today/tomorrow is 1007 german ale.
I know they clear well in my keezer but some take a lot more time. I brewed a double batch of IPA 12 days ago and posted where I forgot my whirfloc and it looked like caramel!!!!! it is clearing.

Now I need to decide if I want to add the gelatin solution to the fermonster and leave for a few days sitting at 13-14 C or transfer to keg on top of the solution.
I will ask.... I can't see the gelatin ruining taste or anything????

 

[Fidelity101]

Can someone explain why the gelatin needs to be mixed with water before it goes into the keg to clear the beer?

I ask because I recently made a nice IPA and I just put 1tsp of the powder in the keg before pressure transferring from the secondary. I'm wondering if that's why my beer is pouring slowly as the last time I tried this same approach, the beer was very clear in a few days but I had a nice gelatin nugget at the bottom when the keg was finished.

Just curious if adding water to the gelatin helps prevent the keg tap from clogging up or if that's a separate issue.

 

[NewJersey]

either 1/2 tsp gelatin in 1/4 cup water or 1tsp in 1/2 cup eater microwave to 150ish swirl the mixture till its dissolved. Both dosage rates have worked fine for me. the 1 tsp seems to work a little faster. Having it in the keg or inline while filling helps mix it in. A lot of people will boil their water and then bring it down to 150 ish. I just used bottle water and dont boil anything.


How you add it is up to you.

Lots of people do it in a cold crashed fermenter then wait a few days and rack to keg.

You can dump it in your keg before racking,

You can make an injector out of a soda bottle and carbonation cap an inject it into your beer.

I do it inline between my fermenter and the keg by filling a sightglass before hooking up.

Brilliant.
I use a bouncer inline filter and it would be really easy to put the gelatin in there right before kegging.
Thanks!

 

[jekeane]

pretty much what I do or ill fill a sight glass if not using the bouncer

Be careful of heat with the bouncer 150 ish should be fine but if you boil you need to let it cool before putting it in for sure or it will melt.

Brilliant.
I use a bouncer inline filter and it would be really easy to put the gelatin in there right before kegging.
Thanks!

 

[LokiM4]

Can someone explain why the gelatin needs to be mixed with water before it goes into the keg to clear the beer?

I ask because I recently made a nice IPA and I just put 1tsp of the powder in the keg before pressure transferring from the secondary. I'm wondering if that's why my beer is pouring slowly as the last time I tried this same approach, the beer was very clear in a few days but I had a nice gelatin nugget at the bottom when the keg was finished.

Just curious if adding water to the gelatin helps prevent the keg tap from clogging up or if that's a separate issue.

Pre dissolving it does that yes, and also make sure it mixes with the kegged beer easier and more completely-otherwise your just trusting it will dissolve in that amount of liquid over time-it may or it may not, and if it doesn’t it isn’t having the clearing effect you added it for and it may clog up the works in the process.

 

[passedpawn]

Can someone explain why the gelatin needs to be mixed with water before it goes into the keg to clear the beer?

I ask because I recently made a nice IPA and I just put 1tsp of the powder in the keg before pressure transferring from the secondary. I'm wondering if that's why my beer is pouring slowly as the last time I tried this same approach, the beer was very clear in a few days but I had a nice gelatin nugget at the bottom when the keg was finished.

Just curious if adding water to the gelatin helps prevent the keg tap from clogging up or if that's a separate issue.

Gelatin needs to be melted first. It melts at about 100F. So, add to water and microwave for a bit (ok to boil), stir until clear. Then add to fermentor or keg (I like to add to fermentor so I get a clean transfer to keg).

If you just add to keg without heating, you'll have a blob of jello to deal with.

I'd suggest adding to a cup of water, waiting 5 min for it to absorb the water, stir them microwave.

 

[Dland]

I've used disolved knox a couple of times on lagers when I forgot the whirlfloc tabs, and it does clear it some,, but not as effectively for my process as adding carrigen product during the boil for a good cold break. If I forgot to add clairfier during boil now, I'd leave it be, it still tastes great even if a little cloudy. Adding gelatain just for looks later is too much trouble, possible infecton and oxyegenation later on in process. My opinion only. ;}

But then again, I'm brewing for taste, not contest

 

[passedpawn]

I've used disolved knox a couple of times on lagers when I forgot the whirlfloc tabs, and it does clear it some,, but not as effectively for my process as adding carrigen product during the boil for a good cold break. If I forgot to add clairfier during boil now, I'd leave it be, it still tastes great even if a little cloudy. Adding gelatain just for looks later is too much trouble, possible infecton and oxyegenation later on in process. My opinion only. ;}

But then again, I'm brewing for taste, not contest

If you're making light beers, especially pilsners (which I do often), the yeast has a profound affect on taste and mouthfeel. Gelatin is not just for looks.

 

[Dland]

I too make mostly lagers and lighter beers, but then again they are usually cold conditioned for a good amount of time, hence little yeast perhaps. But it is still a little cloudier without the clarifier, but pretty sure yeast is fully flocked after four weeks at 30F.

I still think whirfloc is more effective and easier to use than geletain.

 

[Vale71]

If you're making light beers, especially pilsners (which I do often), the yeast has a profound affect on taste and mouthfeel. Gelatin is not just for looks.

No it doesn't. You can't taste yeast as such as the cell is self-contained and your taste buds cannot interact with a whole cell. It's also obviously impossible to chew on a 10 micron cell so all you can do is swallow them whole. You can only taste yeast after it has autolyzed and fining agents will not help you at that point, unfortunately.

As for mouth feel you'll also be removing protein clumps (which on average are larger than a yeast cell) which can have a sensory impact on the lining of your mouth, giving you an impression of increased mouthfeel. The same thing would happen if you were to filter the beer. It doesn't have to be sterile filtration, a polish filtration would already have a significant impact on mouthfeel.

 

[passedpawn]

No it doesn't. You can't taste yeast as such as the cell is self-contained and your taste buds cannot interact with a whole cell. It's also obviously impossible to chew on a 10 micron cell so all you can do is swallow them whole. You can only taste yeast after it has autolyzed and fining agents will not help you at that point, unfortunately.

As for mouth feel you'll also be removing protein clumps (which on average are larger than a yeast cell) which can have a sensory impact on the lining of your mouth, giving you an impression of increased mouthfeel. The same thing would happen if you were to filter the beer. It doesn't have to be sterile filtration, a polish filtration would already have a significant impact on mouthfeel.

Hmmm, that is logical. Well, something changes in my beer a week or two after kegging. I can watch it become clearer over that period, and at the same time I can detect a change in the flavor and mouthfeel. In fact, I was observing this just last night in a vienna lager that I hadn't touched in a week. Perhaps it's the protein clumps settling.

Regardless of the suspended material causing the difference, I'll stand by my assertion that a clear beer tastes different than one that is noticeably cloudy.

 

[Vale71]

Your beer is maturing all while it is clearing and you can't separate the two phenomena with your taste buds, so... To see what yeast really tastes like take a bite of a baker's yeast cube (the fresh kind, not the dry) possibly when it's past its expiration date. The yeast will have experienced massive autolysis and the taste will be quite strong. If you can taste that in your beer than you are definitely doing something very wrong...
Of course suspended solids will settle by themselves with time and it will eventually have the same effect as filtration or fining, it will only take more time.

 

[Dland]

Actually taking the time to lager lagers does really pay off in clarity, crispness and mouth feel.

Fineings or clarifiers such as whirlfloc or geletain help drop some cold suspended proteins, it seems to me, even when yeast has fully flocculated and settled after a four week cold crash.

I love it when I can hold a glass of one of my clear lagers in the waning light, and see it sparkle.

That is why I use boil fineings, geleatin is cool too, but in my process it is not worth the effort to add gelatin for the extra sparkle if I forgot the boil tabs or Irish moss.