Buggered up!

[Liambeer]

Hi guys, 

I stuffed up! I have used gelatine as a fining the last few brews but not sure it makes a massive difference. It clears quicker than if not used but no better, but the last time I kegged it and forgot to hydrate the gelatine and just tipped it on top on the beer when in the keg. 
was all good until about 4/5 litres to go and I got a blockage in my tap. Pulled taps out and gave a clean(need to do more often, they were yuk) happened again, pulled dip tube and the poppet was choked with little gelatine balls. Cleared and tried again but keeps choking. 

ruined the rest of the brew. first failure in my kegerator! 
 

just thought I’d put it out there for all so they don’t make the same mistake. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, Liambeer said:

Hi guys, 

I stuffed up! I have used gelatine as a fining the last few brews but not sure it makes a massive difference. It clears quicker than if not used but no better, but the last time I kegged it and forgot to hydrate the gelatine and just tipped it on top on the beer when in the keg. 
was all good until about 4/5 litres to go and I got a blockage in my tap. Pulled taps out and gave a clean(need to do more often, they were yuk) happened again, pulled dip tube and the poppet was choked with little gelatine balls. Cleared and tried again but keeps choking. 

ruined the rest of the brew. first failure in my kegerator! 
 

just thought I’d put it out there for all so they don’t make the same mistake. 

Sorry to hear of your dilemma @Liambeer that's bad luck, I have never used it, so I don't really know how it works, I used Finings a couple of times but don't really bother anymore as clear beer is not my concern.

[ozdevil]

1 hour ago, Liambeer said:

Hi guys, 

I stuffed up! I have used gelatine as a fining the last few brews but not sure it makes a massive difference. It clears quicker than if not used but no better, but the last time I kegged it and forgot to hydrate the gelatine and just tipped it on top on the beer when in the keg. 
was all good until about 4/5 litres to go and I got a blockage in my tap. Pulled taps out and gave a clean(need to do more often, they were yuk) happened again, pulled dip tube and the poppet was choked with little gelatine balls. Cleared and tried again but keeps choking. 

ruined the rest of the brew. first failure in my kegerator! 
 

just thought I’d put it out there for all so they don’t make the same mistake. 

move away from gelatine.   start using Biofine    

here is a couple of videos   of The homebrew Network  
 

this one is more about the product biofine
 

 

[RDT2]

6 hours ago, Liambeer said:

Hi guys, 

I stuffed up! I have used gelatine as a fining the last few brews but not sure it makes a massive difference. It clears quicker than if not used but no better, but the last time I kegged it and forgot to hydrate the gelatine and just tipped it on top on the beer when in the keg. 
was all good until about 4/5 litres to go and I got a blockage in my tap. Pulled taps out and gave a clean(need to do more often, they were yuk) happened again, pulled dip tube and the poppet was choked with little gelatine balls. Cleared and tried again but keeps choking. 

ruined the rest of the brew. first failure in my kegerator! 
 

just thought I’d put it out there for all so they don’t make the same mistake. 

Sorry to hear your drama I have been using gelatine in the fermenter during the cold crash and then kegging. I have had no issues and also been dirty batching, doesn’t seem to effect yeast performance. I just sterilise a cup and add boiled water and mix about a teaspoon of gelatine and tip it into the fermenter giving it a very gentle stir. Don’t seem to get any crap/blockages in the keg. Beer pictured is a Pilsner. 

[Liambeer]

Good looking beer there!

will give away bothering to clear it up as it doesn’t taste any better.

4 hours ago, RDT2 said:

Sorry to hear your drama I have been using gelatine in the fermenter during the cold crash and then kegging. I have had no issues and also been dirty batching, doesn’t seem to effect yeast performance. I just sterilise a cup and add boiled water and mix about a teaspoon of gelatine and tip it into the fermenter giving it a very gentle stir. Don’t seem to get any crap/blockages in the keg. Beer pictured is a Pilsner. 

 

[Oldbloke]

6 hours ago, Liambeer said:

Good looking beer there!

will give away bothering to clear it up as it doesn’t taste any better.

 

Same here. I did try it years ago but decided my beer was pretty clear due to aging. And no apparent difference in taste.

[Spursman]

Cold crashing at 0.2° for 3 or 4 days prior to bottling settles out virtually all the crap and results in very clear brews and next to nothing in the bottom of the bottles. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Spursman
More info

[Classic Brewing Co]

44 minutes ago, Spursman said:

Cold crashing at 0.2° for 3 or 4 days prior to bottling settles out virtually all the crap and results in very clear brews and next to nothing in the bottom of the bottles. 

Agreed I don't always CC especially with Pales & IPA's - why bother they normally are hazy, I can't detect any taste difference either.

[Aussiekraut]

On 9/26/2022 at 10:05 AM, Liambeer said:

Hi guys, 

I stuffed up! I have used gelatine as a fining the last few brews but not sure it makes a massive difference. It clears quicker than if not used but no better, but the last time I kegged it and forgot to hydrate the gelatine and just tipped it on top on the beer when in the keg. 
was all good until about 4/5 litres to go and I got a blockage in my tap. Pulled taps out and gave a clean(need to do more often, they were yuk) happened again, pulled dip tube and the poppet was choked with little gelatine balls. Cleared and tried again but keeps choking. 

ruined the rest of the brew. first failure in my kegerator! 
 

just thought I’d put it out there for all so they don’t make the same mistake. 

Why did you keg fine? I just put the finings into the FV while cold crashing. But I don't use gelatine, I use Polyclar. The only time I used gelatine, I ended up with a beer that had a slightly "oily" texture and even seemed to pour slower than normal. It may have been something else but I never used gelatine since. 

Imho, the main difference is that a beer without finings takes longer to clear up. My Rye Lager has been cold crashed for 2 weeks and is in the keg for 3 now and it still has a bit of a haze to it. Lagers I use finings for are usually clearer after 2-3 weeks, including a week of CC. 

I don't use finings for dark beers or naturally cloudy beer like a Hefe Weizen but I usually do for everything else. I don't have a problem with cloudy beers but I find clearer beers more aesthetically pleasing. Especially Lagers. 

[Aussiekraut]

9 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Agreed I don't always CC especially with Pales & IPA's - why bother they normally are hazy, I can't detect any taste difference either.

I find cold crashing significantly reduces the sediment in bottles. That's the main reason I started CCing and I just stuck with it. It also helps with the logistics. I only do beer-related work on weekends, so when a beer is done on a Monday, it'll CC until Saturday as I won't do anything with it anyway until then. If that darn lotto win would happen and I could retire ahead of schedule, I'd possibly take a different approach but I'd also brew and as a result drink more  

But the beauty of brewing is that we can all make the beer we like. We brew mainly for ourselves and while I appreciate people liking my beers, I don't care too much if they don't. 

[Liambeer]

14 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Why did you keg fine? I just put the finings into the FV while cold crashing. But I don't use gelatine, I use Polyclar. The only time I used gelatine, I ended up with a beer that had a slightly "oily" texture and even seemed to pour slower than normal. It may have been something else but I never used gelatine since. 

Imho, the main difference is that a beer without finings takes longer to clear up. My Rye Lager has been cold crashed for 2 weeks and is in the keg for 3 now and it still has a bit of a haze to it. Lagers I use finings for are usually clearer after 2-3 weeks, including a week of CC. 

I don't use finings for dark beers or naturally cloudy beer like a Hefe Weizen but I usually do for everything else. I don't have a problem with cloudy beers but I find clearer beers more aesthetically pleasing. Especially Lagers. 

Not sure really. That’s what the guys at the lhbs advised. Worked well twice before but I had hydrated prior. I agree I could feel a syrup like feel, like it thickened the beer. 
 

I don’t cold crash or have temp control to brew. Either. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

40 minutes ago, Liambeer said:

That’s what the guys at the lhbs advised.

I have found over the years in your LHBS most advice you can take with a pinch of salt - of course there are exceptions but the way I see it most of the employees are likely to be homebrewers. Some would possess limited knowledge & others well experienced, so it comes down who you want to trust.

There are a couple of LHBS in Adelaide owned by the man behind the counter & one I visit regularly has been in the business for 35 years. These guys have been through it all& amassed a wealth of knowledge with Extract & AG Brewing & understand the Malts/Yeast/Hops etc so I am more inclined to take advice from people like that.

I understand places like Keg Land would have stringent training methods for their employees but is more than just a LBHS.

The other thing to remember is this forum apart from having experienced brewers willing to help also have the back up of Coopers DIY team who are on hand to answer any questions you might have.

[Tricky Micky]

This is just my experience with gelatine used as finings - I have not had a problem with it.  I've done a heap of extract lagers now and more recently FWK's and the lagers have been really clear. I've not had any issues with the gelatine whatsoever. I've stopped using it for my hazier pales and should I try darker beers later on I won't be using it for those either.

My method is quite simple when using the product - From memory @BlackSands BS, shared his process a while back. He can correct this if I've ballsed it up - but this works for me.

approx 250ml of cooled preboiled water in a sanitised small container.

1x Teaspoon gelatine sprinkled into the container of water.

Let the gelatine bloom in the water for about 15 minutes,

When the 15 minutes is up place the container in the microwave and heat on high for approximately 45 seconds or until gelatine crystals are completely dissolved.

Using a sterilised teaspoon stir the contents to make sure its completely dissolved.

Gently Add to fermenter when cool making sure it's distributed evenly into the wort.

 

That works for me but that's not to say it's the correct method or it will work for everyone.