Irish moss?

What is the best way to use Irish moss? I bought an ounce from my hbs and used one tsp at the beginning of the boil. But, when I added it to beersmith it said the recommended amount was 1/4 tsp at ten minutes. Will the way I did it make it not work?

I think if you boil it for too long it loses its ability to clear the wort.

So, in this case, the addition of irish moss probably isn't going to help you much. You didn't hurt anything, and your beer may still turn out pretty clear, but it won't be because of the irish moss.

For the future, add between 0.5 - 1.0 tsp of it to your wort 10 minutes before the end of the boil.

Can I add it to secondary to help it clear up?

No because it works by clearing break material during the boil only. There are some fining agents you can use for the secondary, like gelatin and isenglass(sp?), so I would recommend looking into those options.

If I were you, I would just RDWAHAHB though. Unclear beer has no effect on the flavor, and you don't want to risk contaminating your entire batch just to get slightly clearer beer.

Yeah, you're probably right. It's my first all-grain and I'm shooting for perfection. Though most of my bottles are dark brown and I mostly drink after dark. I don't generally think it's even a big deal. For some reason it was just bugging me tonight. Thanks for your knowledge brew dude.

No problem!

I completely understand your concern though. I recently just brewed my first all grain and I have been worried, off and on, about how it will turn out. Hopefully we'll both end up with good beer!

It's BM's Centennial Blonde. I'm sure it's going to be delicious. I'm pretty excited. I've been drinking hef for about a month now.

Centennial Blonde is my first AG as well. I'm bottling it this Wednesday, and I'll try my first one after I get back from vacation.

I'll be putting mine in secondary on Monday.

Cool man, let me know how it turns out!

Any fining agent is used in the last 15 minutes to coagulate soluable protines. This is what contributes to a clear beer. Do not worry, perfection does not usually happen during the first brewing session. Your beer should be fine though. Try to keep it the right temperature during the primary fermentation.

It's been hanging out right around 70. I pack bottles of ice around it. If I dropped the temp for a day or so before I rack it would that help it be more clear?

You actually want some yeast still active going to secondary, all your doing is getting it off the trub and many brewers here will say you don't even need to do that. The yeast still have a lot to do in the secondary to clean up after themselves.
I do a chill before I keg, it just helps to get the yeast to settle to the bottom and helps keep the bed together as I move the carboy around but even then the best answer is time.

Just keep the temp as close to 67F as you can and let it go 10 to 14 days in the primary, then bottle or keg. Most brewers do not secondary ales any more as they want the yeast to clean up.

you might want to try whirlfloc I have had a lot of luck with it. If you are going to stick with irish moss I have heard you should rehydrate it to get the most from it.

killian said:

you might want to try whirlfloc I have had a lot of luck with it. If you are going to stick with irish moss I have heard you should rehydrate it to get the most from it.

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+1 on the Whirlfloc! Once I started using it, I never went back to irish moss.

Oh yeah, check out this month's BYO for some good advice on clarifying agents.

There was an article on Finings in this month's BYO. When I get home I'll post an update.