New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Brewing => Technique => Topic started by: Chris Craig on July 31, 2013, 07:45:33 PM
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I just kegged some of my Rye beer tonight. I had it in the freezer cold-crashing for 3 days with gelatine. There was a noticeable layer of what looks to be yeast on top of the trub. This made a huge difference. I should have taken a picture beside the other carboy. It was noticeably clearer. This will be common practice for me from now on.
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Will be ready for the meeting on Saturday. Hopefully it's good!
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I'm a big fan of gelatin too. It's so simple to do and so worth it.
I've done a comparison between 2 kegs of ipa, and 2 kegs of pale ale. Other than the clarity difference, there was a very small difference in mouthfeel and hop flavor. The difference was so slight though that I wouldn't hesitate to use gelatin in any beer I make...other than really dark beers of course.
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How much do you use Joe?
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I have a cloudy pale ale I ant to cold crash before keging (first keg). What is the process for adding gelatin?
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Buy some unflavored Knox gelatin from the grocery store. Boil 1/2 cup of water and add it to 1/2 teaspoon of gelatine powder. Stir until it's dissolved. Add it to the already cold keg or carboy. No need to stir. Let it sit cold for a few days, then proceed as usual.
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Buy some unflavored Knox gelatin from the grocery store. Boil 1/2 cup of water and add it to 1/2 teaspoon of gelatine powder. Stir until it's dissolved. Add it to the already cold keg or carboy. No need to stir. Let it sit cold for a few days, then proceed as usual.
Like Chris said. I personally shake the crap out of my kegs when I force carb, so I do technically stir the gelatin in.
When I spund and the beer is already cold and carbed in the fermenter, I add gelatin to the keg before filling the keg. Once full, give the keg a little shake then let it sit a couple of days.
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So does it make a difference if you add the gelatin to cold or warm fermentor / keg?
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I've added gelatin to a warm keg of beer, then cold crashed it, and it didn't seem to clear things up much.
I'd suggest kegging, cold crashing, then gelatin, then carbonate.
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So you don't rack it off the gelatin? Just serve through it? How long between the gelatin and carbonate step? Or do you hook up the C02 at the same time you add the Gelatin? Sorry for the fifth degree I'm just trying to decide when I should try this. Generally when I keg it goes right into the fridge at 30psi for 2 days. Wondering if I should add gelatin after I keg or after the 2 days - I'd hate to add another step to the process by waiting to carbonate after adding gelatin, but if you think it makes a difference I might try it...
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Brew, you can do it any which way you like, and it'll work the same. As long as the beer is cold when you add gelatine and let it sit for at least 2 days, you'll be good. Of course, the advantage of doing this in the carboy instead of the keg is that you leave all the trub behind, and you can move the keg around without kicking up sediment.
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Brew, I guess the only thing that would change in your process is cold crashing the keg and adding the gelatin before hooking up the CO2.
All the gelatin and crud will sink to the very bottom and you rack it out just by pouring the first glass of beer from the keg. You've never seen crap come out of a keg like when you pour your first "gelatin" glass. It's thick and opaque, then turns bright and clear all of a sudden.
If I was to do this with multiple kegs at a time, lets say 4, I would add the gelatin, carbonate, then hook up a party tap to each keg and rack the gelatin out, then leave them for when I want to tap them....that way they are all clean and ready to go, no worries about agitating the gelatin at the bottom of a keg while in transit.
I think if you start doing this Brew, you'll quickly and easily make it just another part of kegging beer.
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Yup gotta try this. Normally its takes a week or two of pouring for my beer to get pretty clear and any moving the keg (say taking to the cottage) stirs it up pretty good.
I'd love to cold crash and gelatin my secondary, but carboys really hog fridge space and using kegs for secondaries means a less than full serving keg (I dunno, I just cant seem to get past not having a full keg in the fridge - why is that?)
I think I'll try it both ways, putting gelatin in freshly kegged uncarbonated beer (no added steps to my current process) and putting gelatin in after carbing / crashing is complete. Next batch maybe I'll try adding a 2 day gelatin step between kegging and carbing as well...
I have a keg now that's almost done its second day of carbing at 30psi. If I put gelatin in it now, how long do you think until it settles out? (how long would you wait to start pouring it?) - I have to move it to the cottage tonight...
Chris - do you think adding gelatin to un-cold-crashed batch will still work once its put in the fridge? Or does it just drop out without doing anything?
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I give it 2 days to settle. My understanding is you need the beer to be cold because that's when the chill haze forms. The gelatin attaches to those particles due to the opposite charge. Then they're heavy enough to sink quickly.
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Cool thanks for the info...
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2 days should do a good job, but I've had crystal clear beer after 1 week at 0c. I'm sure you'll find the proper balance Brew.
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Can you add the gelatin after starting carbonation?
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Yes. As long as the beer is already cold...the colder the better.
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I'm impressed as to how well the knox gelatin works. I set my carboy into the fridge for 24hrs then added the gelatin as per Chris's instruction, and super clear after only a couple days. Will be kegging it tonight! :drink:
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Yeah so I carb at home and take a keg to the cottage. After a trip in the back of the truck, a keg generally comes back up cloudy, even after cold crashing. I'm finding some gelatin in the keg before I put it in the fridge after the trip it settles down again after a few days. Very nice I'll be keeping gelatin up there now...
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I know this topic hasn't had a post in a while but I wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or not. Anyways, I have two questions regarding cold crashing as I haven't tried it before.
1) Is there a good way to cold crash while the beer is in the carboy? I mean aside from emptying my fridge in the kitchen (cue complaints from my wife) I am still bottling so I don't have a separate fridge yet for kegs :(
2) Which leads to my next question, because I'm still bottling is it worth it to cold crash? I've read some posts online about carbonation in bottle taking up to 2 months following cold crashing. I have a double IPA in the carboy that I'd rather enjoy sooner than later :drink:
Thanks
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I wouldn't bother if your still bottling. From what I've experienced the beer will clear in the bottle during conditioning just fine. I think cold crashing only really helps if your kegging because the idea behind cold crashing is to get rid of sediment like yeast before it goes into the keg. Personally I don't bother with cold crashing it doesn't seem to change the flavour much if at all it just makes it clearer faster. It will cold crash on it's own when the keg goes into the fridge anyways. My first few glasses are cloudy but like I say it doesn't bother me at all. :cheers:
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I agree with Roger. It's strictly for aesthetics, and I don't see how you could do it right now anyway. You need a fridge for it...or a freezer with a temperature controller.
That said, personally, I almost always do cold crash the beer. I have a pipeline, so I have the time anyway, and I appreciate a clear beer.
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Thanks @Roger (http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1911) and @Chris Craig (http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1174) that will save me some work. At least until I get into kegging.
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I saw a new device, looks like a small box(6"x6"x6") with a metal spear on the bottom that can be placed in a carboy that is designed for cold crashing without a fridge.
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This: http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?topic=3192.0
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That's it