Gelatin clarifier

[itry]

Greetings ,

does any one use gelatin to clear their beer? i normally dont bother and drink a what ever comes out. I dropped the temp down using the new brew belt i built, then added the the gelatin. Very surprised how clear it came out. I added 1 tea spoon to 5 gallons.

 

[uDicko]

I have used once so far but wasn't overly happy with the results. Did you prep it in anyway before chucking it in?

 

[Mavroz]

Sure I read on here about someone using gelatin or gelatin sheets.

From what i remember they said the beer was crystal clear but as the sediment formed in the bottom of the bottles, when pouring from bottle into glass they had some kind of stringy textured sludge in the beer from whatever had formed in the bottle bottom.

Something along those lines.

Personally i used to use isinglass finings but haven't bothered in the last 5 or 6 brews I have made. I use protafloc in the final stages of the boil, filter before bottling so clearing after carbonation doesn't seem to be an issue for me at all.

If my bottled beer wasn't clear I doubt it would bother me or my drinkers at all, better a little cloudy than stringy slime tentacles in your pint.

 

[Hoppyland]

Yep, I use gelatine - but not as a matter of course. I'm on a long-term transition from bottling into kegging (Corny style). I never bothered with any sort of finings when I bottled. But, I find that 19l kegs can be difficult to get the beer clear. So, I'm presently using gelatine to help clear my beer before I keg it. What I'm aiming for is, say, 4 days in primary FV. Then maybe 5 days in secondary with dry-hop. Then perhaps 2 weeks in a plastic carboy to clear (with the gelatine added at the beginning). Then keg it, and leave between 1-2 months before drinking.
I suspect that the gelatine is not necessary - unless:
a. I want to cut this process short, or
b. I've used hop pellets - which I find very difficult in terms of the lasting haze they produce.

 

[Drunkula]

I use it now about half the time. It's an accelerant if anything and I'd find the beers clears in 2-3 days in the coal hole rather than a week or so. I do recommend it. I was scared of the old "It strips out flavourrr" stuff but any tests I've seen say nobody can tell.

 

[foxy]

Using Fermentis SO4 I don't use anything, but Crossmyloof English ale yeast is poor at flocculating so I use PVPP and cold crash for 24 - 48 hours clears up nicely, a couple of teaspoons in warm water and pour gently into wort.

I have used once so far but wasn't overly happy with the results. Did you prep it in anyway before chucking it in?

If using gelatin mix with warm water as on packet and whisk with a fork till clear before tipping into fermenter.

 

[foxbat]

I can definitely recommend the Kwik Clear two-part finings for kegging. It's gelatine + kieselsol. My lager looks like it's been filtered.

 

[Mavroz]

Divergan..... need to filter before bottling of kegging though.

 

[itry]

I poured it in when it was warm then left it for two days. The beer came out super clear. See photo.

 

[BeerCat]

Finings work better the colder you get the beer.

 

[itry]

@BeerCat not a problem. Have a look for the thread i made about the home built chiller system. You can build a cold crasher system if you dont have room for a fridge. Not to expenshive either.

 

[Druncan]

Gelatin is a yellowish, odorless, and nearly tasteless substance that is made by prolonged boiling of skin, cartilage, and bones from animals. It's made primarily from the stuff meat industries have left over — we're talking about pork skins, horns, and cattle bones.

Or, Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. Although originally made exclusively from sturgeon, especially beluga, in 1795 an invention by William Murdoch facilitated a cheap substitute using cod. The bladders, once removed from the fish, processed, and dried, are formed into various shapes for use.

Not in my brews thank you! However I have still not found the local source of Carrageen, seems to be a closely guarded secret,,, Time and low temperature works for me!

 

[itry]

@Druncan

if their was a selection of beer on the side , some with some with out you wouldn't be able to taste the difference

 

[-Bezza-]

Gelatin is a yellowish, odorless, and nearly tasteless substance that is made by prolonged boiling of skin, cartilage, and bones from animals. It's made primarily from the stuff meat industries have left over — we're talking about pork skins, horns, and cattle bones.

Or, Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. Although originally made exclusively from sturgeon, especially beluga, in 1795 an invention by William Murdoch facilitated a cheap substitute using cod. The bladders, once removed from the fish, processed, and dried, are formed into various shapes for use.

Not in my brews thank you! However I have still not found the local source of Carrageen, seems to be a closely guarded secret,,, Time and low temperature works for me!

Mangrove Jacks make a vegan fining - just over a quid for a sachet. It's made from fungal chitosan.

There's also Harris Starbrite which is also vegan.

Not that I'm accusing you of being vegan, just that these two options sound slightly less icky than gelatine and isinglass. That said, gelatine and isinglass are at least natural products - would rather those than anything chemically in my beers.

 

[Druncan]

@itry, you are possibly right, sfter all it's down to personal choice. I sell my brews and also have a growing amount of vegan beer drinking customers. For my sins I have also been meat free for many years. However I had worked in and around the meat processing industry and I still do butchery and eat shellfish/fish!!

I do have growing concerns about animal by-products and also 'unhealthy' crops - (pesticide/herbicide residues) I was a food safety officer in local govt in a previous life and still quite worried at the effects of globalised cheap poor quality food supplies with reducing controls. Maybe I'm just an increasinly cranky old *ugger as well:p:p
So I try to use a form of Reinheitsgebot, but local herbs and algae are ok in my book,,,, rant over:hat:

 

[itry]

@Druncan i appreciate the vegan thing . i normally drink cloudy beer that has no finings so its vegan friendly. its more an experiment to see how clear i could get it. Saying that my friend went vegan a couple of months ago.....i wonder how hes doing.

 

[Mavroz]

I stopped using finings a while back. The last time I used them (harris beer brite) was the one for a cider. I can definitely taste the finings / smell them in the drink.
I also stopped using them in my brews, to the extent that the only thing that goes in now is a whirlfloc tablet in the boil.
All my brews clear, it is just time, cooler temperatures and patience that are needed.
My last brew, I have tried to deliberately make a cloudy IPA by not filtering hop debris etc while transferring to the FV. Only filtered before bottling to remove debris and solids.
After a week, this is sadly, slowly clearing also. May have to swirl the beer in the bottle when pouring to agitate the sediment if I want the opaque look.

 

[-Bezza-]

This looks interesting: https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.u...eer-Filter-The-Home-Brew-Shop-UK.html#SID=200

 

[Mavroz]

This looks interesting: https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=filter&PN=Keg-Beer-Filter-The-Home-Brew-Shop-UK.html#SID=200

Yeah, sure looks interesting and cheap but the are out of stock and said it is relatively new to them.
Should work fine if pressurised between kegs but I don't fancy the option of trying to filter through 1 micron using gravity only....

 

[-Bezza-]

Yeah, sure looks interesting and cheap but the are out of stock and said it is relatively new to them.
Should work fine if pressurised between kegs but I don't fancy the option of trying to filter through 1 micron using gravity only....

I guess the idea would be to use a keg as a secondary fermenter for a couple of weeks then transfer to a clean keg, via the filter, ready for carbonation. Next time I'm in the shop I'll keep an eye out for it as would be nice to serve some crystal clear beer over the summer.