Im brewing a clone of fresh squeezed ipa. I want to ad gelatin finings to my beer but not sure when to add. I was just going to do a 3-4 week primary dry hopping the last 7 days, then bottling. When do i add the gelatin? 3-4 days before bottling? or at bottling? Will it effect dry hopping? Do i need to gently stir ti mix it in being careful to not introduce anymore oxygen? Or should i do a secondary?
when to add gelatin? Im bottling
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LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't use gelatin in an IPA since it will likely bind with some of the hop flavor/aroma. A good cold crash for a few days would do the job, as nobody really expects IPAs to be crystal clear. Dry hopping with leaf hops is also a good way to have a clearer IPA in the end. That said, it's your beer so it's your call.
If I were in your shoes and wanted to fine with gelatin, here's what I would do...
1) About 4-5 days after the dry hop, cold crash to mid-30°s and let it chill for at least 24 hours.
2) Add gelatin (no need to stir, it will bloom out on its own) and let it do its thing for a few days.
3) Carefully transfer to bottling bucket and bottle as usual.
Also, there's no need for a transfer to secondary to pull this off.
If I were in your shoes and wanted to fine with gelatin, here's what I would do...
1) About 4-5 days after the dry hop, cold crash to mid-30°s and let it chill for at least 24 hours.
2) Add gelatin (no need to stir, it will bloom out on its own) and let it do its thing for a few days.
3) Carefully transfer to bottling bucket and bottle as usual.
Also, there's no need for a transfer to secondary to pull this off.
In my experience a cold crash and gelatin leads to very long carbonation times, plus when it does finally carb it will go cloudy again and need to be cleared.
Without cold crashing the gelatin won't do much as it works on chill haze proteins my electrostatic attraction and the chill haze colliod needs form for it to work. i.e cold.
if clarity is really important to you, I would add gelatin at bottling, carb at room temp for 3 weeks. Invert then fridge for 72 hours to get a clear beer (you can then fridge as you go rather than have to fit the fermenter in the fridge. Also adding the gelatin a bottling safe guards against oxidation.
Without cold crashing the gelatin won't do much as it works on chill haze proteins my electrostatic attraction and the chill haze colliod needs form for it to work. i.e cold.
if clarity is really important to you, I would add gelatin at bottling, carb at room temp for 3 weeks. Invert then fridge for 72 hours to get a clear beer (you can then fridge as you go rather than have to fit the fermenter in the fridge. Also adding the gelatin a bottling safe guards against oxidation.
If you haven't brewed it yet. You will need to use that in the last 10-15 min of the boil.
Irish Moss helps. But it goes in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the boil. I don't think you can use it after fermentation. I also doesn't do much for chill haze.
