How to use Irish Moss

Hey all, I'm going to be using irish moss for the first time this weekend - in cheesefood's caralem cream ale recipe. I'm just having a couple of questions:

1. Do I need to rehydrate it or do I just take the dry irish moss out of the bag and throw it in the boil at the recommended time?
2. Should I strain it out or just leave it in the fermenting bucket?

I believe you just throw it in during the last 15-20 minutes of the boil. I don't think it's worth straining out as it will fall to the bottom of the fermenter. At least this is what I've been told in the past.

easy enough. Thanks!

Last 20 minutes of the boil for me, never had a problem.

I listened to a pod cast about this. The podcats from Basic Brewing Radio so to add the IM to 1/2 cup of warm water for a few minutes and then add to your boil kettle with 15-20 minutes to go. You do NOT want to add more than the recommended amount for 5 gallons. It will be a waste of IM and possibly affect your beer in a negative way.

I heard of people adding it in the secondary, is it plausible to do that without it affecting your beer in a negative way?

I never heard adding to warm water, I just chuck it in with 20 minutes left. I'll give the warm water technique a shot this weekend.

I'm not sure adding to secondary will do much either way. From what I understand about Irish miss is it needs to be boiled for a few minutes to work as a kettle fining. If you are looking for a clarifying agent, gelatin works very well in secondary or kegs as a fining post fermentation.

Whirlfoc.....

How much Irish moss do you usually add to 5 gallon batch?

squirrelly said:

I'm not sure adding to secondary will do much either way. From what I understand about Irish miss is it needs to be boiled for a few minutes to work as a kettle fining. If you are looking for a clarifying agent, gelatin works very well in secondary or kegs as a fining post fermentation.

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To be the most effective Irish Moss needs to be added to the boil so it can undergo the chemical change to become electrically charged allowing it to attract the protein molecules and bond with them. These molecules then become "heavier or denser" and can then fall out easier in the solution. Without raising the temp of the IM it cannot easily go through the chemical change to interact with the protein molecules.

jtrux said:

How much Irish moss do you usually add to 5 gallon batch?

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Irish Moss 1 oz. : Northern Brewer

1 tsp per 5 gallons

Thanks, the Irish moss I got from my LHBS was packaged by Crosby and did not give instructions.