Boo hazy beer - Hooray Gelatin!

[HogieWan]

I used gelatin for the first time yesterday. I'm making a brew specifically for the wife (and to test FWH), and I want to make sure it's brite and beautiful (hmm, homebrewer's soap opera?).

I used 12 lbs of Marris Otter and 2 oz of Tettnang as FWH and fermented on the cool side with SafAle US-56. I was displeased with the haziness of the samples I was pulling from the conical, so I decided that gelatin was cheap and I could experiment further with this beer.

I didn't take a "before" picture, but I've attached the "after". I normally won't see in light or color coming through the sides of the conical, and I didn't on this beer before the gelatin. I added the fining yesterday afternoon and the pic from this morning shows a wonderful reddish brightness shining through.

[dparsons]

Gelatin saved a batch of my beer too. I was doing a mashout when my daughter called. My mashout went a little too far out and I ended up with some tanin in the beer (not lots but noticable). I added gelatin to the 2ndary twice and it decreased the astringent flavor. It is now a very tasty Porter that has gotten compliments.

[HogieWan]

i was just trying to make it pretty :D

[dparsons]

I'm sure it is pretty. I suppose my statement about saving a batch didn't match your situation. I was just glad about not having to dump mine and thought the gelatin solution needed mentioning.

[brazilhead]

So is this just supermarket flavorless gelatin? How much do you use for 5 gallons?

[dparsons]

Yes flavorless, sugarless and I used 1 packet (0.25 oz.).

[HogieWan]

I used one packet. I forgot my measurements, but I mixed in normal temp tap water and then added boiling water to make one cup of 150 degree water, let it sit for ~15 mins and poured it into the fermenter.

[PCaravan]

Yeah, my beer's never been perfectly clear until I started adding gelatin to the keg at kegging. Now, only the first 2 pints are cloudy. After that, it looks filtered. I've heard it makes the yeast sedimentation somewhat fluffy and as a result it's not prefered for use prior to going into bottles since it makes it two easy to stir up the yeast when pouring... so I've never use the stuff in the fermenter. Would like to know the experiences of those that have used it in the fermenter and how it relates to what comes out of the bottle.

[dparsons]

I hadn't noticed anything, but I pulled a bottle and gave it a test. The yeast stayed at the bottom of the bottle quite well, and it was a medium flocculation yeast. Perhaps even less of it came up, but its harder to tell with a Porter. This was a WLP 023 "Burton Ale" yeast.