1st ag brew

[johnluc]

Hi all did my first ag brew last tues fullers london pride from dave lines book racked off yesterday into clean fv to add more hops and gelatine as per book,took reading and had 1012 start grav 0f 1050 drank sample and it tasted absolutely loverly, can it get any better.
anyway i have 2 questions for the experts.
1 it says to leave for 7 days for conditioning,will i see more fermentation activity,its doing nothing at the moment.
2 when i added the gelatine it just clumped up into 1 big lump is this normal.

(ps i have it in an old fridge with light bulb & room stat at constant 20 degrees.)
: johnluc

 

[robsan77]

I dont use gelatine but i think you are suppose to mix it up in some pre boiled water first.
You probably wont see any more points drop.
good work on the first ag :thumb: :

 

[keith1664]

No you won't see any more fermentation action, the yeasties are just tidying up after themselves at the moment. As for the gelatine I don't know, I've not used it myself.

 

[johnluc]

hi rob i did mix it up in hot water it just clumped when i added it to the brew
johnluc

 

[robsan77]

did you add it hot or let it cool first?

 

[johnluc]

added it as soon as it was mixed so i suppose it was quite warm

 

[robsan77]

Iam guessing that it didnt like the sudden temp change..... i dont use it tho so I am only hypothesizing. Hopefully someone with experience will come along soon

 

[johnluc]

thats what i thought too, anyone know will it disperse and do its job if not should i add a sachet of beer finnings or just leave alone

 

[Mark1964]

We use dave lines book also we generally dont bother putting the beer in to a secondary fv. The only time we did is when we dry hopped a pale ale. As for the gelatine if you dissolve it in pre boiled hot water over the cooker it does dissolve in time

 

[ian edwards]

Hi I'm living in France also and use the gelatine in sheet form. Iuse three sheets and soften them in a mug of cold water for a few minutes and then add them to about 300ml of wort heated in a saucepan to about 40°C . (Hook them out of the water with a fork andmix them in until the are completely disolved) I then swirl the wort and slowly add it while it is still swirling. Tip. After three or four days hold the fermenter by the rim and twist it left and right a couple of times and any yeast clinging to the side will sink to the bottom. It works for me. Hope it makes sense if not let me know. Ian

 

[Hawks]

I used powdered gelatine the same way you have - ie mix with water just off the boil and add it hot into the FV ( whilst stirring the wort mind, not sure if you did this ? ).

I've never seen it clump and never see anything untoward when I empty the FV.

I would leave it if I were you, chances are you don't need it anyway ( I only use it when using US-05 as I find it the best way to clear that yeast ), there is also a good chance it'll still do a job as it may not all have clumped, just some of it...

Hope that helps :wha:

 

[phettebs]

Everything I've read says the best way to use gel is to add it to warm water and stir until dissolved. I then microwave that for about a minute or until the liquid goes clear. Then dump it into cold (refrigerator temps) beer in either the FV or secondary.

That's the process I use and it works great. You just have to chill the beer first.