Author: Marshall Schott

For those of us who prefer our beer crystal clear and don’t mind dosing that which we will soon swill with nasty sounding animal stuffs, gelatin is a remarkably effective solution. In the time since completing the first gelatin xBmt, I’ve brewed nary a batch without this fantastic fining agent, and I’ve absolutely no regrets, my beers have been beautifully bright with all the hop character I expect. While the procedure I’ve settled on has worked really well, a chat I had with another brewer I trust immensely got me thinking if it is the only effective way or if perhaps certain tweaks would simplify, maybe even improve, the process. Of the few xBmt ideas that stemmed from this conversation, the one I was most curious about had to do with whether gelatin requires hydration prior to being added to the beer. A sure sign of my laziness since my current gelatin process requires all of 3 minutes, I was excited to see if my beer would achieve a similar level of clarity if the gelatin was sprinkled onto the chilled beer dry, as well as whether it would create a distinguishable difference.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the impact fining with gelatin added to the beer dry (not hydrated) compared to the same beer fined with hydrated gelatin.

| METHODS |

Having never fermented a beer with WY1450 Denny’s Favorite 50 yeast and hearing many good things about it, I bought a pack and thought it perfect for use in this xBmt, as my understanding is it isn’t known for clearing very quickly.

American Pale Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 11 gal 60 min 42.7 IBUs 5.6 SRM 1.052 1.011 5.4 % Actuals 1.052 1.01 5.5 % Fermentables Name Amount % Brewer's Malt, 2-Row, Premium (Great Western) 19 lbs 87.86 Munich 10L (Gambrinus) 1.625 lbs 7.51 Honey Malt (Gambrinus) 1 lbs 4.62 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Magnum 20 g 60 min First Wort Pellet 11.2 Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) 20 g 25 min Boil Pellet 13.1 Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) 20 g 15 min Boil Pellet 13.1 Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) 30 g 1 min Boil Pellet 13.1 Centennial 20 g 1 min Boil Pellet 9.9 Apollo 15 g 1 min Boil Pellet 18 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Denny's Favorite (1450) Wyeast Labs 75% 60°F - 70°F

I produced an appropriately sized starter to split between 2 carboys a couple days before brewing, overbuilding by just enough to save some for future use.

I gathered the required volume of water, adjusted the mineral profile, and milled my grain the evening prior to brew day.

Early the following morning, I awoke and got the flame going under my kettle full of strike water.

Thanks to my powerful burners and BeerSmith, I was mashed in and sitting at my target temp not even 20 minutes later.

I took a pH reading 10 minutes into the mash ensuring things were where I intended.

Following a 45 minute saccharification rest, I collected the first runnings, performed a quick batch sparge, then added the second runnings to the kettle and brought the wort to a boil, during which hops were added as stated in the recipe. With the boil complete, I quickly chilled the wort to 80˚F/27˚C (warm groundwater), split it between two 6 gallon PET carboys, then placed them in my temp controlled chamber to finish chilling. I returned a few hours later to discover both worts had stabilized at my target fermentation temperature of 66˚F/19˚C, the yeast starter was evenly split and pitched into each batch.

Fermentation happened.

A week post-pitch, both beers appeared to be finished, which 2 hydrometer measurements over 2 days confirmed. I crashed the beers for 12 hours before introducing the variable of interest, the beer was at 45˚F/7˚C.

Both batches received the same amount of gelatin, 1/2 tsp, only 1 was rehydrated in 1/4 cup of water then heated while the other was added directly to the beer without being hydrated. The following day, just over 30 hours later, it was time to get the beers kegged.

The trub on each appeared slightly different, the hydrated batch looking like what I’d come to expect with a thicker, more dense cake.

The filled kegs were placed in my keezer and hit with 45 psi of CO2 for about 18 hours, after which they were purged and set to my preferred serving pressure of 12 psi. Five days later, differences were clearly apparent.

Out of curiosity, I took another comparative picture 2 weeks later, once the data had already been collected.

Looked about the same as before. Would this difference in appearance effect tasters’ perceptions?

| RESULTS |

A total of 18 BJCP judges, experienced homebrewers, and craft beer drinkers evaluated these beers, of which 10 (p<0.05) would have been required to accurately detect the odd-beer-out in the triangle test to imply statistical significance. Each participant was blindly served 2 samples of the dry batch and 1 sample of the hydrated batch in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the one that was different. A mere 3 tasters (p=0.933) made the accurate choice, meaning 16 chose one of the other samples, indicating this panel of tasters was not reliably able to distinguish a beer fined with dry gelatin from the same beer fined with hydrated gelatin based on flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel.

For fun, following each tasting session, I poured the remaining sample beers into clear glasses and asked each participant to identify which one was different. Not surprisingly, every single person got it right, and most correctly identified the clearer beer as being the one fined with hydrated gelatin.

My Impressions: Given my drinking and beer evaluation history, in addition to my intimate engagement with this xBmt from start to finish, I thought I might stand a chance at distinguishing them. In multiple attempts, I’d guess 6 or more, I was right twice, and I’d be lying if I said those weren’t total guesses. To me, these beers tasted and smelled exactly the same, despite the obvious disparity in clarity. As for the beer, I’m not really sure what to think. Not that it was a dumper, I’m still working through both kegs, it just didn’t turn out how I expected, which I can only assume is a function of the yeast, as I’ve made similar recipes using WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast that didn’t have the earthiness and subtle spice character this beer did. Will I be using WY1450 again? Likely not for hoppy Pale Ale, though I look forward to trying it out in a Brown Ale at some point!

| DISCUSSION |

Assuming the dry gelatin had no real impact on the beer, truly just an assumption at this point, this xBmt might be viewed as a repeat of the first gelatin xBmt, which the results appear to corroborate– fining with gelatin does not seem to produce a distinguishable difference in beer character. Of course, that’s a terrifyingly bold claim, one I won’t be ready to make until we’ve performed more xBmts to flesh this shit out. Perhaps the most poignant thing one can glean from these results, something I’ve absolutely no qualms with, is that gelatin’s clarifying power kicks ass!

If you use or have used a different method for making your beer clear, whether with gelatin or something else, please share your experience in the comments section below.

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