How to use Gelatin Finings?

Bjlps · Apr 2, 2014

I followed Don O's video on Youtube exactly, except I added gelatin to my cold secondary, then racked to my keg after 3 days in my chest freezer. It just makes more sense to me to keep that mess out of the keg. And I don't see why you couldn't follow the same steps in your primary.

My nearly crystal clear IPA fermented with 1056. Looks nothing like anything I've ever fermented with that yeast. Gelatin can work wonders if you want your beer purdy!

Joebrewer1 · Mar 11, 2015

Biobrewer said: ↑

I often see the "DO NOT BOIL" warning thrown out by a lot of people in these types of forums. Gelatin CAN congeal when boiled, however, that's concentration dependent and occurs at lower temperatures than you'll be cooling it to before adding it to beer. Unless you're boiling your 1/2 tsp or gelatin in an incredibly small volume of water and cooling it to refrigerator temperatures, you're fine. The premise that your gelatin will not work properly if it is boiled is a myth, and I am completely at a loss for how it started, especially when the instructions for use right on the LD Carlson bottle indicate that you "soak 1 hour [to bloom and increase solubility], boil to dissolve".

Here's something I wrote a little while back on Reddit that explains gelatin on a scientific level, and why boiling doesn't affect performance:

"As a scientist who works in protein chemistry in the Bay Area, I can tell you outright that boiling the gelatin will not affect the performance. This is due in large part to two things:

1) Gelatin is simply hydrolyzed collagen, and is often produced by boiling source material rich in collagen in a mild acid to encourage hydrolysis. Boiling is an actual step that speeds up hydrolysis that many manufacturers use.

2) Collagen, and therefore gelatin, is a protein/peptide based material. So, while boiling (or even heating to 180 F) would affect the structure, the structure is not what results in the clearing effect seen with the use of gelatin as a fining agent.

The approximate amino acid composition of gelatin is: glycine 21%, proline 12%, hydroxyproline 12%, glutamic acid 10%, alanine 9%, arginine 8%, aspartic acid 6%, lysine 4%, serine 4%, leucine 3%, valine 2%, phenylalanine 2%, threonine 2%, isoleucine 1%, hydroxylysine 1%, methionine and histidine <1% and tyrosine <0.5%. The clearing effect of gelatin arises due to the fact that, at the pH of beer, the collagen is highly positively charged, allowing it to bind to negatively charged molecules in solution and on the cell surface. The positive charge arises NOT because of structure, but because:

the pH is slightly higher than the pKa of side chains (carboxylic acids) on aspartic acid and glutamic acid, making them negatively charged, but only slightly so, as the pH of beer is only slightly higher than the pKa of these acid sidechains.

the pH is significantly lower than the pKa of sidechains (primary and secondary amines) on proline, hydroxyproline, arginine, lysine, and hydroxylysine, making them very positively charged. The positive charge resulting from these residues is not only enough to offset the small amount of negative charge on the glutamic and aspartic acids, but it is sufficiently high enough to give a large positive charge to the overall gelatin molecules.

The remainder of the amino acids in the structure have primarily hydrophobic side chains, and do not result in contribution to charge.

So, if you have been boiling your gelatin, fear not! It should have no affect on the ability of gelatin to fine your beer. The pH of your beer and the temperature at which you fine are the two most important factors."

I typically soak for 1 hour at room temperature, boil for a couple of minutes, cool to room temp, add to keg/fermentor, rack beer into that container and place in the refrigerator. Works every time!
Click to expand...

Biobrewer, I'm a Culinary guy and I've used gelatin for some time know, I dissolve in cool water for an hour then boil for about 5 min. I've watched gelatin pull down and clear beer, night and day after two weeks

Brew_Betty · Mar 12, 2015

This is how you use Biofine: Insert 1-2 tablespoons post fermentation.

It clears yeast and prevents chill haze. It costs about $1 per 5 gallon batch. You can even serve it to your vegan friends with a clear conscience. I'm not a vegan, but would rather use this than put leftover cow parts in my beer via gelatin. It definitely works well.

DVoors · Mar 12, 2015

Does gelatin also remove chill haze, or does it just cause suspended yeast to precipitate and drop out? If so, is filtering the only way to remove chill haze?

Translucent1 · Apr 4, 2016

Hi, Biobrewer,
I've come to this page because of trying to make bone broth, and they said to never boil it. Now, I tried boiling some Great Lakes(?) gelatin that I had already, and it congealed very well afterwards. Maybe I used too much and refrigerated it too greatly, but it did work. These broth people are always saying not to boil it, but I can't understand why not.
Thank you,
Lisa Davidson

Biobrewer said: ↑

I often see the "DO NOT BOIL" warning thrown out by a lot of people in these types of forums. Gelatin CAN congeal when boiled, however, that's concentration dependent and occurs at lower temperatures than you'll be cooling it to before adding it to beer. Unless you're boiling your 1/2 tsp or gelatin in an incredibly small volume of water and cooling it to refrigerator temperatures, you're fine. The premise that your gelatin will not work properly if it is boiled is a myth, and I am completely at a loss for how it started, especially when the instructions for use right on the LD Carlson bottle indicate that you "soak 1 hour [to bloom and increase solubility], boil to dissolve".

Here's something I wrote a little while back on Reddit that explains gelatin on a scientific level, and why boiling doesn't affect performance:

"As a scientist who works in protein chemistry in the Bay Area, I can tell you outright that boiling the gelatin will not affect the performance. This is due in large part to two things:

1) Gelatin is simply hydrolyzed collagen, and is often produced by boiling source material rich in collagen in a mild acid to encourage hydrolysis. Boiling is an actual step that speeds up hydrolysis that many manufacturers use.

2) Collagen, and therefore gelatin, is a protein/peptide based material. So, while boiling (or even heating to 180 F) would affect the structure, the structure is not what results in the clearing effect seen with the use of gelatin as a fining agent.

The approximate amino acid composition of gelatin is: glycine 21%, proline 12%, hydroxyproline 12%, glutamic acid 10%, alanine 9%, arginine 8%, aspartic acid 6%, lysine 4%, serine 4%, leucine 3%, valine 2%, phenylalanine 2%, threonine 2%, isoleucine 1%, hydroxylysine 1%, methionine and histidine <1% and tyrosine <0.5%. The clearing effect of gelatin arises due to the fact that, at the pH of beer, the collagen is highly positively charged, allowing it to bind to negatively charged molecules in solution and on the cell surface. The positive charge arises NOT because of structure, but because:

the pH is slightly higher than the pKa of side chains (carboxylic acids) on aspartic acid and glutamic acid, making them negatively charged, but only slightly so, as the pH of beer is only slightly higher than the pKa of these acid sidechains.

the pH is significantly lower than the pKa of sidechains (primary and secondary amines) on proline, hydroxyproline, arginine, lysine, and hydroxylysine, making them very positively charged. The positive charge resulting from these residues is not only enough to offset the small amount of negative charge on the glutamic and aspartic acids, but it is sufficiently high enough to give a large positive charge to the overall gelatin molecules.

The remainder of the amino acids in the structure have primarily hydrophobic side chains, and do not result in contribution to charge.

So, if you have been boiling your gelatin, fear not! It should have no affect on the ability of gelatin to fine your beer. The pH of your beer and the temperature at which you fine are the two most important factors."

I typically soak for 1 hour at room temperature, boil for a couple of minutes, cool to room temp, add to keg/fermentor, rack beer into that container and place in the refrigerator. Works every time!
Click to expand...

How to use Gelatin Finings?

Bjlps Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2013 Massachusetts

Joebrewer1 Initiate (0) Mar 11, 2015

Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

DVoors Zealot (627) Jan 6, 2014 Indiana

Translucent1 Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2016

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