How important is Irish Moss To a Recipe?

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You'll just have a bit more cloudiness in the beer than you would have had otherwise. Not a big deal at all as far as I'm concerned.
 
It doesn't even work that well IMO. Whirlfloc is much more efficient if clarity is important. Either way, you will want to age a Scottish ale, so it will be clear by the time you drink it any way. :)
 
It doesn't even work that well IMO. Whirlfloc is much more efficient if clarity is important.

I think the issue most people have with Irish Moss is that they don't rehydrate it before adding it to the wort. That is the nice thing about Whirlfloc, no rehydration required.
 
Thanks to all. I wasn't worried about cloudy, as I don't mind my beer not being crystal clear.....Maybe at some point I'll get into being picky about that. I just wanted to ensure that I wouldn't hurt the taste of the scottish ale as it's my first one.
 
No Problem! I'm at about the same point - I generally let my beers sit in the keg long enough for most of the sediment to drop anyway, so I don't bother to use a clarifying agent.

Good luck with the Scottish Ale!
 
I think the issue most people have with Irish Moss is that they don't rehydrate it before adding it to the wort. That is the nice thing about Whirlfloc, no rehydration required.

I've never....ever rehydrated irish moss. Having said that, you don't realize how much the moss does until you forget to add it to the wort. Recipes like BM's cream of three crops with irish moss come out of the brew pot crystal clear....forget it, comes out cloudy as hell.
 
Yeah, I forgot irish moss in my latest summer ale. So much for clear and crisp! Looks (and will taste) like grapefruit juice!
 
I'm actually pretty interested in this thread. I have never heard of whirlfloc and I have always blindly added Irish moss. I never forgot so I don't know if it does anything or not. I have never heard of rehydrating it either. Just toss some in. Anywhere between a quarter teaspoon and a tablespoon. I don't measure it because so many recipes vary and I don't know if it works or how much too add. Kind of funny now that I think of it.
 
Since I've started using it I've noticed a big difference.

Its even more apparent when you look at the yeast cake thats left behind.
 
I started using Irish Moss early on in my brewing but i cant say i feel like i get a very clear beer. Maybe i need to stop using it to see a difference though. i also think i never really tried very hard remove any of the break from my wort either so this may affect my clarity.

Still, right now I don't feel like irish moss is very effective.
 
I sometimes forget to add it. Sometimes the beer is kind of cloudy, and sometimes it's fine. I have also gotten in the habit of crash cooling my beer before bottling and that helps too.
 
Basic Brewing radio is doing one of their experiments on this topic. looking forward to hearing the results!

I've always just added it. (except in my hefe)
 
if a recipe calls for irish moss...go ahead and use whirfloc. Its cheap as dirt and work real good. Whats the point of using a recipe if you're not going to follow it?
 
I didn't use it on my last batch and it is the clearest to date. While cooling the wort looked similar to a clear pond. There is a bit of chill haze but I always have that, even when using Irish Moss. It's one of the limitations of my system though.
 
if a recipe calls for irish moss...go ahead and use whirfloc. Its cheap as dirt and work real good. Whats the point of using a recipe if you're not going to follow it?

Following a recipe is just for a base in my brewing style. I always alter here and there from any recipe and even kits........

Recipe is a guideline in my opinion nothing more.
 
I understand that....and do that on most of my beers. But, if you have specific beer you are copying, IMO is it always best to use the exact recipe
 
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