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Gelatin fining, THEN dry hop?

Northern Brewer General
#1

I have researched this pretty thoroughly as far as other posts from various sites, and can’t seem to find any clear answers.

Occasionally, I will add gelatin after my beer has cold crashed at 32 degrees if I want a crystal clear beer (sometimes I don’t care depending on the style). I have noticed that if I use gelatin in a particularly hoppy beer, it definitely does remove some of the hop flavor and aroma.

I am working on an IPA that I do want to be extra clear, so I just added the gelatin to the primary which was already crashed down to 32 degrees, and plan on dry hopping after I move the clear beer into the secondary to avoid losing aroma from the gelatin.

Anyone else have any experience with this??? And how did it turn out?

#2

Are you shooting yourself in the foot by adding a bunch of particulate after you spent time and effort to remove it?

#3

Not so much. I forgot to add my whirlfloc and got a pretty bad cold break, and she’s a hazy one even after the cold crash.

I’m thinking the protein haze that the gelatin is going to drop out will be much different than any particulate that will settle out from the hops.

Again, this OP question seems to be a catalyst for not getting an answer to the actual question for some reason. Arrrrrgh!!!

:cheers:

#4

Go with your plan… it has always worked perfectly for me.
In fact, it is precisely how I’ve been doing it for decades (except that I cold age it for 8 months before dry hopping it). The result is always deep amber/copper hued, star-bright clear, pungently but cleanly bitter, and very aromatic.
Just as it should be.
:cheers:

#5

[quote=“The Professor”]Go with your plan… it has always worked perfectly for me.
In fact, it is precisely how I’ve been doing it for decades (except that I cold age it for 8 months before dry hopping it). The result is always deep amber/copper hued, star-bright clear, pungently but cleanly bitter, and very aromatic.
Just as it should be.
:cheers: [/quote]

THANK YOU so much for providing an actual answer to my question!!!

I have never done this before, and was very curious about how mine will turn out. As I mentioned, I have researched it, and no one seems to give a simple “I’ve done this and it works, or I’ve done this and won’t do it again” answer.

Thanks again for sharing your experience with it sir!

:cheers:

#6

[quote=“panduji68”]I have researched this pretty thoroughly as far as other posts from various sites, and can’t seem to find any clear answers.

There is no clear answer.

Occasionally, I will add gelatin after my beer has cold crashed at 32 degrees if I want a crystal clear beer (sometimes I don’t care depending on the style). I have noticed that if I use gelatin in a particularly hoppy beer, it definitely does remove some of the hop flavor and aroma.

I am working on an IPA that I do want to be extra clear, so I just added the gelatin to the primary which was already crashed down to 32 degrees, and plan on dry hopping after I move the clear beer into the secondary to avoid losing aroma from the gelatin.

[color=#0000FF]If I am reading correctly, you have already added gelatin. So someone telling you not to would not do you any good. On this batch. :slight_smile:
[/color]

Anyone else have any experience with this??? And how did it turn out?[/quote]

Sorry, there are several ways to do thing. With each able to reach the outcome you may be looking for. Sometimes you need to try them for yourself. And sometimes you may not get the same result each time.

Your clearest beer is always the last one. :wink:

#7

[quote=“Nighthawk”]If I am reading correctly, you have already added gelatin. So someone telling you not to would not do you any good. On this batch. :slight_smile: Sorry, there are several ways to do thing. With each able to reach the outcome you may be looking for. Sometimes you need to try them for yourself. And sometimes you may not get the same result each time.

Your clearest beer is always the last one. :wink: [/quote]

I am obviously not afraid to try things for myself… For as you have correctly surmised, I have already added the gelatin prior to asking my question in the first place… LOL :lol:

I am going to start a new thread titled “Questions to ask that seldom get a straightforward answer.”, and will put this one at the top of the list.

Many people in many different brewing forums have asked the same question, and never get an actual answer. I believe I am the first to get one from The Professor (Thank You again sir).

This intrigues me, and is almost worth further study as to why it is so difficult to resist replying to a topic for which one has no answer. The question was very simple… “Anyone else have any experience with this??? And how did it turn out?”

The logical part of me dictates that someone would reply something like this: “Yes, I have done this before, and it worked out great… Or… Yes I have done this before, and it ruined my beer…” Something along those lines… LOL Good God Man!!!

:cheers:

#8

Good God man, you can’t make a decent clear beer with that procedure! You need to dry hop it and THEN add the gelatin. Adding gelatin to a beer and then dry hopping it negates the whole gelatin process. :roll:

ETA: do it the other way on your next beer and report back. Then you will have the definitive answer for us. :wink:

#9

Sorry you were so offended by a thought provoking question. I have never used gelatin, but understand how it works. As NH says, there is generally no one answer in home brewing that holds true for everyone on every batch.

#10

Sorry you were so offended by a thought provoking question. I have never used gelatin, but understand how it works. As NH says, there is generally no one answer in home brewing that holds true for everyone on every batch.[/quote]

I wasn’t offended at all sir, and I really do appreciate everyone’s input… I apologize if I came across as being offended. I was just confounded as to why a question as simple as does anyone put gelatin in their beer, and then dry hop it afterwards, seem to be so difficult to answer.

:cheers:

#11

[quote=“Nighthawk”]Good God man, you can’t make a decent clear beer with that procedure! You need to dry hop it and THEN add the gelatin. Adding gelatin to a beer and then dry hopping it negates the whole gelatin process. :roll:

ETA: do it the other way on your next beer and report back. Then you will have the definitive answer for us. :wink: [/quote]

I shall do so! 8)

#12

With British beers the finings and the dry hops are normally added at once. I think this makes the most sense in terms of the earlier observation about dry hopping causing some clouding, which it can.

I’d add that cold crashing at the end of dry hopping does great for clearing my beers, if you have the time.

As far as people resopnding to a post without necessarily having an answer, aka thinking out loud or whatever, this is a good thing because it might stimulate conversation and it keeps the post near the top of the board. When the place is busy a thread can dip out of sight pretty fast.

#13

[quote=“Nighthawk”]Good God man, you can’t make a decent clear beer with that procedure! You need to dry hop it and THEN add the gelatin. Adding gelatin to a beer and then dry hopping it negates the whole gelatin process. :roll:
[/quote]

Not sure if the eyeroll meant you were kidding but just in case you were serious, FWIW I can definitively say that after close to 25 years of doing gelatin then dry hop, that process has never negated the gelatin process at all.

As someone else pointed out, there is no one right way to do these things.
I tried it on a lark while chasing a clone of my favorite beer, and it worked amazingly well. The result was crystal clear, and the hop character seemed (to me anyway) much nicer.

Bottom line is to experiment. It’s part of the fun…and as a very wise man once said, “you’ll never know unless you check it out.”
:cheers:

#14

I have wondered if co-addition might not reduce the efficiency of dry-hopping since as the hops sink they get coverd with gelatin. I do find that dry-hopping does cause a little haziness, although this recent cold crash seemed to knock that way down.

#15

This whole thing started as a consequence of my forgetting to put whirlfloc in the boil. It came out really hazy because of a lousy cold break. Normally, I would just put gelatin in it and all would be well, but I am dry hopping this batch, and have definitely seen gelatin knock the flavor and aroma way down from the dry hop addition. So I figured, why not gelatin, and THEN dry hop with a cold crash afterwards.

I will report my findings!

:cheers:

#16

[quote=“panduji68”]I was just confounded as to why a question as simple as does anyone put gelatin in their beer, and then dry hop it afterwards, seem to be so difficult to answer.[/quote]Perhaps because you didn’t ask just this question but also included a lot of details in your OP about what you had done and your failure to find an answer elsewhere, which opens up the possible answers a bit.

Also, you gotta realize that many of us have been here for a long time and have answered the same questions over and over - “why is my beer under/over-carbed”, “what size kettle should I buy”, “give me your best recipe”, etc. - so asking something that’s actually interesting might generate a little more interest. :wink:

#17

[quote=“Shadetree”]Perhaps because you didn’t ask just this question but also included a lot of details in your OP about what you had done and your failure to find an answer elsewhere, which opens up the possible answers a bit.

Also, you gotta realize that many of us have been here for a long time and have answered the same questions over and over - “why is my beer under/over-carbed”, “what size kettle should I buy”, “give me your best recipe”, etc. - so asking something that’s actually interesting might generate a little more interest. :wink: [/quote]

Point taken sir… I used to be afraid to ask questions because I didn’t want to look like a dumbass, and forced myself to figure it out the hard way on my own. When I realized that I actually was indeed a dumbass, and started asking questions from people that knew what they were talking about, my brewing life became much easier. This forum is full of great people who keep helping new brewers by answering the same questions we all probably had at one time or another.

And still help the occasional semi-experienced brewer dumbass :cheers:

#18

I’m sitting here trying to figure out when to “gelatin-ize” my batch and I’m thinking…why the don’t you just cold crash with gelatin before dry hopping, rack to secondary to remove particulate grabbed by the gelatin, then dry hop… THEN USE GELATIN AGAIN?

If you used gelatin again after dry hop, wouldn’t you be removing the hop particulates that you just added?

Its like shooting yourself in the foot and then removing the bullet.

Its worth thinking about at least. :lol:

#19

Also, I meant to ask about procedure.

After gelatin has settled, do you “decant” off the clear beer and leave the gelatin in the bottom, say with a siphon?

Or do you use a spigot (if you have one) and discard the crap from the bottom of the fermentor, than rack the clear stuff.

Seems to me that using the spigot, it would stir up all the particulate and negate some effects of using gelatin?

#20

You’d be better racking off the settled gelatin, definitely.

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