Hap, I have some general comments on the render time.
1) If your gel is from the Volume materials that will add time. In general, volume materials always take more time no matter what object they are applied to.
2) Soft shadows adds a LOT of time regardless of the gel or not.
3) Volume visible light can add time, but it is insignificant in comparison to the first two things I've mentioned.
4) The object material, glass, can have both transparency and reflectivity as materials attributes. These add time.

So how do you decide?

Maybe, by what costs the most...I'd try first by turning off the soft shadows and then seeing what your render time goes to.

You can also try this: Tony Seymour's Soft Lighting Tutorial
The tutorial linked above was written for Bryce 4 before anyone knew if Bryce would survive past MetaCreations implosion. IMHO, it still applies to version 5.

Plus you might enjoy his gallery.