Racking off!

[daveyk]

I'm in the process of 'doing a brew' whereby the instructions tell me to wait for the fermentation to die down after the first 4-5 days, then rack the beer off into another FV. In this process Gelatine finings are also added.

I was just wondering what the purpose of this stage is.... I'm assuming to reduce the amount of sediment in the bottles / finished beer but are there any other effects? After this step, I'm told to leave the brew for a further 7 days before bottling.

Dave.

[Parva]

What brew is this? Many people go to secondary and some even 'fine' the beer but it's rare to see a kit recommend this. I'm doing all-grain brews these days so can't speak with authority on this but I am getting crystal clear beers without going to secondary or adding finings. Whilst you may possibly get a clearer beer by doing what the instructions suggest there's also a fair chance that you'll bugger the beer up with oxidation / infection.

[daveyk]

Sorry Parva,

This is an EXTRACT brew and should therefore have been in the other section. (but I guess this could be considered as a general question).

The brew i'm completing is form david Lines Book and is for Newcastle Amber. I've also had great results from kits from a clear beer point of view so was tempted just to leave it for fermenting in the original FV..... do you think that i should add the gelatine to the FV or just not bother?

My OG reading was 1030 which I felt was a little low but there was loads of malt and sugar in the receipe so I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

Dave.

[daveyk]

Just checked the gravity of this brew... in the first 5 days it has dropped from 1034 to 1007! Seems a little low but there's little I can do about it now...

I'm guessing this must be nearly done now.... think I will just hang on, make sure this is finished, bottle and condition.....

[SiHoltye]

Sounds OK. Wait 7 days, and/or 2 stable gravity readings, and bottle. You could leave it 2 weeks or so in the primary while yeast slowly drops out a bit more, and there should still be enough for bottle carbing. What yeast did you use?

[Ditch]

Back in the day, I too remember being urged to add 'Gelatine' to a brew. Finding Gelatine was quite the adventure!

All said and done? " Aaah; Bisto! ".

Naah. I drunk the stuff, thirty odd years ago, and I'm still at it now. Never SF'd in my life. Used Gelatine 'Finings' just the once. Waste of time, in my experience. I personally feel that most of todays 'Kits' ~ Muntons and their subsidiary shit excepted ~ have worked around the 'Comes As Standard' problems.

Dear Dave's been gone decades now, bless him. He'd write a whole, new book today

[daveyk]

Sounds OK. Wait 7 days, and/or 2 stable gravity readings, and bottle. You could leave it 2 weeks or so in the primary while yeast slowly drops out a bit more, and there should still be enough for bottle carbing. What yeast did you use?

Ta for the advice..... it is still dropping... 1005 today.

The yeast used was Safale S-04.

Was the advice to wait 7 further days? or 7 days in total.... it's had 6 now I think.

Dave.

[Parva]

I tend to leave all of my brews in the FV for around 10 days but I know of many that have left them for 3 weeks or more with no problems. The trick is to resist opening the lid and looking, if you can leave it alone you can safely leave it 10-14 days, have a pretty bright beer and still have enough yeast in suspension to carbonate in the bottle.