double checking on gelatine and kegging from conical

[Drix]

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My Helles Lager has been in a temp controlled conical at 54F for 3 weeks. The SG readings leveled off about a week ago at 1.023 starting at 1.050

I tried to cold crash in the conical but not able to get below 49F, so at this point, I guess there's no reason not to go straight to keg, put in cold fridge, carbonate, and wait.

This is my first electric brewery batch, so forgive the kegging newbie questions here...

1. Does it matter when I add the gelatin to the keg? Dump solution in first or after keg has been filled?

2. Do I fill the keg from the bottom with the lid off?

3. If I don't have enough beer to fully fill the 2nd keg, is there something to do to try and eliminate oxygen in the headspace before closing the keg?

4. Assume a good practice is to squirt a little StarSan solution on the keg top before sealing it up?

5. Do I carbonate and store at/around the same pressure I would serve this beer at - i.e. around 8 psi?


Thanks!

[kal]

Your beer isn't done fermenting. Don't do anything yet. You had a fermentation problem if it stopped at 1.023. (not properly aerated, too cold, inconsistent temps, underpitching, etc - there are many possible reasons).

A 1.050 to 1.023 drop is only a 3.5% ABV beer and it'll be overly sweet.

Kal

[kal]

Your beer isn't done fermenting. Don't do anything yet. You had a fermentation problem if it stopped at 1.023. (not properly aerated, too cold, inconsistent temps, underpitching, etc - there are many possible reasons).

A 1.050 to 1.023 drop is only a 3.5% ABV beer and it'll be overly sweet.

Kal

[Drix]

That was really my first question...I pitched white labs lager yeast and did a yeast starter using mr malty calcs. Agree many areas that could have stalled and not sure we can debug that here. Nothing obvious, but my gut says I didn't aerate enough before I pitched the yeast. What can be done at this point? Pitch more yeast?

[kal]

You can always pitch more, but without knowing what the root of the problem is, it may not help.

Kal

[kal]

You can always pitch more, but without knowing what the root of the problem is, it may not help.

Kal

[foomench]

As for your kegging questions: I fill the keg with Starsan solution, dip the lid in the solution, position the lid and seal it with some pressure, shake it a bunch, turn it over, and let some solution out the air fitting. Then I force the Starsan out through the beer fitting with CO2, so now my keg is sanitized and filled with CO2. I depressurize and open the lid and try not to disturb it so the CO2 remains in the keg (it is heavier than air), and then fill with tube at the bottom of the keg. (Maybe some day I'll configure my Fermentator to transfer under pressure, as this would open some options, but I don't yet do this.) After the keg is full, I replace the lid and seal with CO2 pressure. I release the pressure and fill again three times. This has effectively diluted any oxygen that might have snuck in during the transfer process. When the headspace is small it probably isn't a big deal, but if you aren't filling the keg to the top, it probably is more helpful.

[Drix]

I might start another thread on the yeast attenuation debug since 2 very different topics. Last reply answered a lot on the original kegging questions. To close out original post questions:

1. If moving beer from conical directly to keg, when is best time to add the gelatin?

2. Do I carbonate and store at same co2 pressure that I plan to dispense? -OR- I see references to "volumes" of co2 - does that mean for a 5 gallon keg, I would carbonate at 5*2.5 = 12.5 psi. If I wanted to carbonate at 2.5 volumes?

[captacl]

Drix,

For my first batch I added the gelatin to the conical at about the 14 day Mark. I then crash chiller down to 35 degrees over a 24 he period and then let it sit there for 3 days. I dumped the trub out and then transferred to the keg. This process worked very well for the blonde all. After the first couple pints it is so clear I could almost read through the glass filled with the beer.

Your logic for carbonation is incorrect. The amount of CO2 beer will absorb 's depends on both temperature and pressure. The lower the temperature the less pressure required to reach a given carbonation. There are charts to help you with this and most brewing software will help you with this as well. For example, to achieve a carbonation of 2.5 volumes with the beer at 38 degrees you would need to set your regulator for 11.2psi.

Hope this helps

[foomench]

I don't use gelatin, so I can't comment on that. But +1 to what captacl said on carbonating. And ideally you want the carbonating pressure to be the serving pressure, otherwise the carbonation level will gradually change as you dispense.