Gelatin: Yes, it works

Post by **Beer-lord** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 9:06 am

Rebel_B wrote:
Pudge wrote:When the non-gelatin beer is given more time to drop clear, does it then have similar taste/aroma to that of a gelatin beer?
This is where the science leaves the stage & perception enters. More experimentation needed. I wonder if it may also drop out some of the yeast flavors....

The one time I used it on a Stone Levitation clone, I was not impressed and that's why I have not used it since....until now but I felt I shouldn't crap on the idea unless I gave it another shot. I'd rather cloudy, tasty beer than a clear, blah beer but I'm crossing my fingers.

Post by **Beer-lord** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:44 pm

Dead, no business day so I shut the place down at noon.

So I thought I'd see what the problem was with this corny full of gelatin. I took the valve off and saw a lot of hop-gelatin funk in it and then noticed that the beer line was clogged. Had to get my line brush and star san and clean it out. It was packed full of crap.
Now maybe this was because I had lots of hops in this beer and I tend to over pitch the yeast and I assume that this together caused this mess. So, I got it all back together and ran a glass thru. It's not clear yet but it's likely because I shook the keg moving it in and out the kegerator but I'll pull a bit more in 12 hours and again in another day and it should pour clear.

However, what I tasted was marvelous! Maybe gelatin would steal some flavor from a lightly hopped beer (for which I would not use it) but I plan to only try this again on moderate to high hopped beers.
More of my story as the beer empties.

Post by **Beer-lord** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 4:53 pm

Pulled another half glass of this beer......tastes great but is cloudy as hell. I know this beer needs 7-10 days on gas but I was hoping to see clearer beer by now.

ScrewyBrewer · Post by **ScrewyBrewer** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 8:41 am

Beer-lord wrote:Pulled another half glass of this beer......tastes great but is cloudy as hell. I know this beer needs 7-10 days on gas but I was hoping to see clearer beer by now.

I'm curious, maybe you mentioned it earlier but, did you allow the beer time to form a chill haze before adding the gelatin? It works the best after the chill haze particles ave already formed. Since nipping off a half inch from the end of the beer pick up tube I rarely if ever suck up anything but beer from the kegs. I only used gelatin twice to clear my beer but it seemed to work without causing any problems. I just mixed 1 teaspoon of unflavored Knox Gelatin in 1 cup of 150F water and poured it into the corny kegs. The beer had already been carbonating for nearly a week when I did this and it contained practically zero fermentor trub.

Post by **Beer-lord** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 9:51 am

No Vince, I added the gelatin just a few minutes after kegging it. I plan to pull another few of these today and will see how its working.
The only other time I used it, it did work to clear the beer but I felt it removed too much goodies from it. But this one is a highly dry hopped beer so maybe it takes more time.

Kealia · Post by **Kealia** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:25 pm

It should only take a day or two at the most. That's odd. I still need to post a pic of my IPA. I've pulled a few pints now and they are crystal clear. Although I'm not impressed with the aroma.

Post by **Beer-lord** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:35 pm

I'm going to wait a few more days then pull off a good bit. But, while it's working with a picnic tap,it clogged my perlick tap so I have to clean it out.
I can see that I won't be using gelatin again though I wouldn't let me change anyone's opinion. I don't care if my beer is cloudy as long as it tastes good though looking at a sterling clear brew is a feeling of accomplishment.

I poured the nearly last of my Hippity Hoppity and it doesn't get any clearer than that so time does work for me and I can't drink a keg fast anyway.

FedoraDave · Post by **FedoraDave** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:00 pm

I've been cold crashing my batches for the last three or so, and I have to say, they're remarkably clear now.

Not that I'm anti-gelatin, but I'm getting a much better result with just a three-day cold crash and very careful racking to the bottling bucket.

Brewer's choice.

Post by **Beer-lord** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:34 pm

Still not clear for me but definitely getting better. However, I've no doubt it's stolen some aroma and flavor so my tests are thru and I'm sticking with cold crashes from now on
As I've said, if it works for you and you like it, right on. For me, I'm good going back to where I was.

Kealia · Post by **Kealia** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:29 pm

I think I am, too. While this made my IPA super clear I do believe that the hops are not coming through the way that they should given the amount I used.
The good news is that it's still a good beer. And, the keg that I supplied for my family Christmas party last weekend is 99% gone. When I moved the kegerator back to it's original home last night I picked up the two kegs inside and I'll be lucky to get 1 more beer out of this keg before I get nothing but foam.

The bad news: likely no pictures because I forgot to grab one on my first couple of pours. And, I have nothing left to send out.

So, while I do like the clarity of this beer, I think adjustments need to be made for hop-forward beers and I don't want to do that. I'll be sticking with my cold-crashing as well as leave the gelatin for my Kolsch.

ScrewyBrewer · Post by **ScrewyBrewer** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:58 pm

Looks like I'll be making jello with the rest of the packets of Knox gelatin I bought too. I'm actually happy with the way my latest Imperial Common Beer turned out, without using gelatin.

Pudge · Post by **Pudge** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:07 pm

There you go. With or without... as long as you're happy with your beer.

Rebel_B · Post by **Rebel_B** » Sun Dec 13, 2015 1:00 am

Here is a picture of my Belgian IPA; product of a two yeast fermentation with plenty of dry hopped Citra hops. I like the Belgian character with the grapefruit like overtones from these NW hops.

: ImageUploadedByTapatalk1449986392.648773.jpg (222.91 KiB) Viewed 648 times

D_Rabbit · Post by **D_Rabbit** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 3:09 pm

I am sold on Gelatin. I was at my brew club meeting last night and one of the new guys to the club brought a Saison that was fantastic! It was fantastic in flavor and most obvious in clarity. I have never seen a home brew look as clear as this guys beer. He said it was only in the keg for a few weeks only. I am going to do it to my cream ale today and see how it turns out. I will keep this posted.

Kealia · Post by **Kealia** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 3:31 pm

Happy to answer any questions you have on it, Dan. There's no doubt that is produced beers with stellar quality for me - it just robbed them of some hop character in the process. I could offset that by adding more hops to account for it but I don't want to have to increase my cost on hops to achieve that clarity. I've been happy with the clarity on my beers in general, so I'll save gelatin for times when I make something like a Kolsch that doesn't have the same reliance on hops for it's character. I think a cream ale will do very nicely and you'll be amazed at how well and quickly it works.

I'm still not sure why Paul had issues.

Gelatin: Yes, it works

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