Gelatine finings and when to use

[Gandolf]

Can I have some advice from you experts please --- I have always racked my beer off into a second FV but I now have a nice new shiney conical which contains a brew fermented down to 1.010 after 7 days. I have read that a lot of you folks don't advise racking into a second FV and I was thinking of going down this route but would like some guidance please.

1/ Do I rack into bottles and barrel tomorrow when the brew will be about 1.008 (my target) or do I wait. Some threads have indicated 2 weeks for the yeast to clean up---not quite sure what that means. If I leave it to long won't the yeast keep munching away and take some body out of the final beer?

2/ I usually add gelatine to the second FV, so if no second FV what do I do about fining? Do I add it to the barrel --- seems reasonable ------ but then what about the bottles?

I have used 1 tablet of protofloc to the boil --- but when I barrelled a Tripple earlier in the year without gelatine only protofloc it did not clear at all, so not to keen to miss out that stage.

Thank you in anticipation.
G

[MashTim]

Have you got temp control, if so drop it to 8C or preferably colder for a few days and fine at the same time, if not, you could fine in the FV anyway it just might not drop out as fast, alternatively fine in the FV, drop into keg and bottles (although not the best for the bottles), or you could fine in the barrel and forget the bottles and just wait for them to clear naturally, any form of cooling will help (for bottles cooling only after priming and leaving in the warm to carbonate).

It's true you don't need to rack to secondary if you can keep it in the FV it will save work and infection risk, beer can happily sit on yeast @ 20C if necessary for weeks without detriment. With a conical you can remove yeast concerns by dropping the sludge out of it.

What yeast are you using, most yeast will attenuate to a point and then stop completely, some will keep going very slowly lowering your gravity, cooling will stop (or slow) fermentation, depending on how cold you can get it.

[RobWalker]

It doesn't really work at high temps, I recently switched to isinglass. You need to cool your beer down and add it when the beer's cool.

[Gandolf]

Thanks for the reply MashTim

The wort in my FV has a reasonable head on it and to fine with gelatine I would have to disturb this.

So would it be prudent for me to-------
Barrel -------fine in the barrel at fermenting temp with priming sugar (around 60F), leave in a warm room for 24 hrs then cool.

Bottles------I rack into the bottles with priming sugar and leave them in a warm room for 24 hrs then in the fridge where they will clear clear. No Gelatine?

My conical does not have the bottom tap to remove sludge but I am using yeast from a local brewers which does seem to start quick and drop out quick. As I am using a fermenting fridge to control the temp. start to finish is usually 5-7 days.

Regards
G

[markm1878]

I'm also interested in this. I got some gelatin from tesco and have set the fermentation freezer to 1c. I'll add the gelatin tomorrow morning and bottle on sunday night. Are there any obvious flaws to my plan? Thanks

[Midlife]

I use a conical fermenter, and for beer leave it two weeks, then keg or bottle. I use beer brite in the keg and my bottles clear ok without anything.... After conditioning I crash cool to 5c. Before I had a fridge I just used to leave on the garage floor for a week. Seems to work fine, and my beers are clear. Also added the protofloc in the boil, I've learned the lessons here and only add a very small amount.

For lager the same process, but I leave in the FV whilst lagering (3-4 weeks) and bottle at the end of the ambient rest period (diectyl rest). As mentioned earlier I also drop the trub out after fermenting.

Cheers

D

[Gandolf]

Thanks Midlife

I used a whole tablet of protofloc in the boil. You mention only using a small amount and had problems at first. What effect would I have if using too much and what do you class as a small amount?

Regards
G

[Midlife]

I put too much in (granules), followed instructions on the pot, but it is too much and had clumping/cauliflowers.

If you search this site on protofloc or clumping there is allot of good info and advice. I now use a conservative 1/4 teaspoon for 20l brews and problems gone away.

Rgds

D