Hey guys just getting into kegging and want to start using gelatin to fine the beer. I dislike running a secondary for a few different reasons and want to just go from primary to keg.
I can add gelatin to keg right? If so Won’t you pick up sediment from bottom of keg or is that temporary? If I do that in your opinion what would other pros and cons be?
Also what brand of and where do most of you get your gelatin?
Cheers!!
Yes, add the gelitin to the keg. you will get about a half glass of crap with your first beer. The rest should be very clear. Then the last one will be mucked as usual. I have only used the stuff that NB sells but i think any pure gelitin should work.
I use Knox gelatin from the grocery store and use a half packet in a 5 gallon keg. I have found that the most important thing is to have the keg chilled before you add the gelatin, even though that’s a PITA.
Can I get some more information on this?
Do you just pour it in? Do you have to do something with it prior?
It’s best to chill the keg before you add the gelatin. You want to rehydrate the gelatin in hot water. The way I do it is use about a half cup or a cup of water with a tablespoon or so of gelatin. Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then heat it for another 30 seconds and stir it again. It should be dissolved and mixed in by that point. Then just add it to your keg. Don’t worry about cooling it. It takes a couple days for it to clear things up, but it works for sure.
What about sanitization?? Will the micro kill bugs? I would hate to ruin a perfectly good batch, if you know what I mean.
You are putting a product that you just boiled into the keg… I don’t think you have to worry about sanitation.
I do this and it works well. I actually add gel solution to a secondary and then when the beer is cold, kegged and flat, I add a gel solution again. Adding the solution to the keg when the beer is cold will help drag the chill haze (and the compounds that cause the chill haze) down to the bottom. I heat mine on the stove but the microwave is good too. You’ll know it’s working because (as mentioned), the first glass or two will be heavily sedimented… like really nasty. Then the rest of the keg should flow pretty clear. Obviously, there are things you can do ahead of time to help all of this… whirfloc in the boil, a good rolling boil, a quick chill, getting as little schputz in the primary as possible, allowing the beer to fully ferment so that the yeast settles to the bottom of the primary before you transfer and then the gel solution. I had an American Amber Ale (keg just blew last weekend) that looked filtered it was so clear. Cheers Beerheads!
Has anyone added the gelatin after carbonation? Just wondering if it would be a problem, for no particular reason…
:cheers:
Most threads I have read say not to boil the gelatin.
I guess boil the water first then add the gelatin after it cools right?
Ken whats your sanitization procedures for adding gelatin?
[quote=“jkerulusmc”]Most threads I have read say not to boil the gelatin.
I guess boil the water first then add the gelatin after it cools right?
Ken whats your sanitization procedures for adding gelatin?[/quote]
I mix about a cup of cold water and 1-2 tbsp of gelatin in a plastic bowl with a lid. The cool water is supposed to allow the gel granules to “bloom”. After about 10-15 mins, I pour that into a pot and heat it on the stove. I just heat it until the gel granules dissolve and it all looks like a clear, smooth liquid. Then I turn off the heat and put a lid on that pot and allow it to cool a little (it cools more if I’m adding it to a glass secondary and less if I’m dumping it into a keg). Never had a sanitation issue doing this and I wouldn’t expect one. Also, I have accidentally left it on the stove longer than I wanted and it started to boil… it was fine. If I add it to a secondary, I add the gel solution first and rack the beer on top so it mixes properly. I recently made a change in my beer bunker so I have some cold storage for beers in secondary which means that the beer I’m racking to kegs is already cold so I now add the gel solution to the clean & sanitized keg and rack the beer (cold and flat) onto the gel to mix it and then I start force carbing immediately. I haven’t added gel solution to a carbed keg and since the gel is trying to drag things down and bubbles want to rise, I’m not sure who would win that battle. Cheers Beerheads.
You are not supposed to let it go above 150. I’ve been doing boil for 8+ years but I’ve read recently that it degrades the proteins. I used to add priming sugar and gelatin and boiled before adding to the keg. Now I hold at 150 for 10 mins. That will kill most wild yeast and bacteria. Plus you are adding to fermented beer so it won’t be any riskier than adding dry hops.
I know a lot of guys cut an inch or so off their dip tube in the bottom of the keg so they can rack clarified beer into a new keg and leave the gelled protiens and crap behind.
I could see this working nicely and I think a lot of people who go straight from primary to keg do this because they’re never sure how much yeast and other sediment may make it to the keg. If you use gel solution and the diptube is full-length (not cut), you will usually pull a lot of crud out of the keg on the first glass or two. The cut diptube would be a big help if you routinely have a lot of sediment going into the keg.
Yeah, I don’t think you need to give up an inch though. Maybe a half.
Just added some Knox brand to my kegged 5 gallon batch of Belgain strong ale. I chilled it down to 33* prior to adding the gel.
Question on quanity though…I added a whole pacK, is that ok or did I over do it? Will that ruin the batch?
Oh I also followed Ken’s prep policy to prepare the gel.
Cheers!!
I use the whole pack of Knox per 5 gallon batch. No problem.
If I don’t drink the keg fast enough (> 2 months), I do notice some white precipitate at the bottom of my glass. I think that is the gelatin making an appearance. I haven’t come up with anything else as to what it could be.
one thing I did do to the keg is trimmed the dip tube 1" up from bottom to avoid picking up sludge.
