First brew, Lager, irish moss and clarity?

[Peaty Jones]

Hi,

Today is my first brewday ever and im doing lager from Viking pilsner malt. I was hoping that the post could send my irish moss in time for this day but it didnt. Am I makeing a mistake by doing the brew without it? Im hoping that a 7-11wks of lagering (not yet fully decided the length of lagering time) Will handle the clarification itself but what do you guys think?

 

[eliastheodosis]

Hi,

Today is my first brewday ever and im doing lager from Viking pilsner malt. I was hoping that the post could send my irish moss in time for this day but it didnt. Am I makeing a mistake by doing the brew without it? Im hoping that a 7-11wks of lagering (not yet fully decided the length of lagering time) Will handle the clarification itself but what do you guys think?

It's nice to have but not needed. I've forgotten it before and nothing bad happened. The Irish moss is for helping to precipitate out solids and clear the wort during the boil. At worst your wort going into the fermentor might not be as clear, or you might not be able to get as much beer from the kettle to the fermentor if it gets really cloudy toward the bottom. Either way, your beer will be fine. Any sediment transferred over will settle and clear after fermentation slows. There are studies looking to see if clear wort in the fermentor makes a better beer and the differences are not huge. It won't ruin the beer

I would say RDWHAHB but it's your first brew! So I'll just say good luck and welcome to the party. Starting right out with a lager. My kind of brewer

 

[Peaty Jones]

It's nice to have but not needed. I've forgotten it before and nothing bad happened. The Irish moss is for helping to precipitate out solids and clear the wort during the boil. At worst your wort going into the fermentor might not be as clear, or you might not be able to get as much beer from the kettle to the fermentor if it gets really cloudy toward the bottom. Either way, your beer will be fine. Any sediment transferred over will settle and clear after fermentation slows. There are studies looking to see if clear wort in the fermentor makes a better beer and the differences are not huge. It won't ruin the beer

I would say RDWHAHB but it's your first brew! So I'll just say good luck and welcome to the party. Starting right out with a lager. My kind of brewer t

Ok thanks for CLARIFYING this . The thing is I dont like or haven't yet tasted a good Ale. Their usually too hoppy for my taste. Not afraid to dive In to the deep end. If it comes out as a disaster then no harm done. Its only wasted time .

 

[fluketamer]

nothing will happen . i first tried irish moss 20 plus years ago and was kind of grossed out by it. so i never used it again. a year or so ago i started adding whirfloc tabs and liked the trub reslts in the kettle so i always do now. a few montsh ago i startd using gelatin in the keg and now wont go without it.

through out all this time finnings or not i always made beer.

its just easier now for me to make a nice clear clean tasting finished product using whirlfoc and gelatin but its certainly not needed.

likewise i dont think the addition of moss will cahnge your beer other than perhaps the time it will take to clear in the package.

this is IMO. it is by no means a statement of fact, this is only what i have experienced and i think i have seen other homebrewers on this site say the same.

as stated in the above post studies show that it may make no difference in final clarity or paradoxically results in clearer beer?


my 2 cents

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Going forward, I highly recommend whirlfloc over irish moss. Used moss for 30+ years until a few months ago and the difference in cast wort clarity is pretty mind-blowing.

Festbier, with irish moss. (It did eventually clear quite beautifully after lagering) -

Ordinary bitter wort, with whirlfloc. Just 1/2 a tablet at 5 minutes.

 

[Peaty Jones]

Thanks for all the replies! If im not happy on behalf of clarity I propably use gelatin. I allready purchased irish moss so i think i will give it a try next time and put whirlfloc on wishlist when ordering next ingredients. I did two batches of wort with the same recipe. I made a rookie mistake when i compensated the SG. I checked it when I started boiling and bumped from 1047 to 1051 which was my goal. Right after that I realized I made a mistake ofcourse the 1h boiling Will make the concentration higher.. At the end of the boil I tried to compensate it back with boiled water but the SG ended up 1054. The second batch was succesful and I made it to 1051.
I used two different yeasts one for each batch. Saflager S-23 and saflager w34-70. Reason for this is that I want to experience how yeasts affect to the end result. I had made starters earlier. I revived them with sample of new wort and agitated them In wort whipper. Cell count should be around 427billion cells.

Other than the difference of the OG those batches should be quite identical. I have them fermenting In my freezer with 12°C Set temperature. Rapt pills show the SG 1047 on both buckets for some reason? Could it be foam and the starting fermentation? I checked OG with refractometer so I would think its quite accurate. Or maybe I messed up the calibration of those rapt pills. Well.. Theyre In the bucket and the end result is what it is.

 

[flipster]

Ok thanks for CLARIFYING this . The thing is I dont like or haven't yet tasted a good Ale. Their usually too hoppy for my taste. Not afraid to dive In to the deep end. If it comes out as a disaster then no harm done. Its only wasted time .

Naaah, skip the irish moss thing and state that you brewed a Zwickel on purpose... that beer has to be crystal clear beer is just an invention by the marketing departments anyway.

Have you thought about creating your own tasty ale? Aim for a 1:2 ratio original wort : IBU and you might enjoy it.

 

[Peaty Jones]

Naaah, skip the irish moss thing and state that you brewed a Zwickel on purpose... that beer has to be crystal clear beer is just an invention by the marketing departments anyway.

Have you thought about creating your own tasty ale? Aim for a 1:2 ratio original wort : IBU and you might enjoy it.

Maybe some day I will. It would be easier for me to get a touch of a good tasting commercial Ale for a point of reference.

 

[Peaty Jones]

Thanks for all the replies! If im not happy on behalf of clarity I propably use gelatin. I allready purchased irish moss so i think i will give it a try next time and put whirlfloc on wishlist when ordering next ingredients. I did two batches of wort with the same recipe. I made a rookie mistake when i compensated the SG. I checked it when I started boiling and bumped from 1047 to 1051 which was my goal. Right after that I realized I made a mistake ofcourse the 1h boiling Will make the concentration higher.. At the end of the boil I tried to compensate it back with boiled water but the SG ended up 1054. The second batch was succesful and I made it to 1051.
I used two different yeasts one for each batch. Saflager S-23 and saflager w34-70. Reason for this is that I want to experience how yeasts affect to the end result. I had made starters earlier. I revived them with sample of new wort and agitated them In wort whipper. Cell count should be around 427billion cells.

Other than the difference of the OG those batches should be quite identical. I have them fermenting In my freezer with 12°C Set temperature. Rapt pills show the SG 1047 on both buckets for some reason? Could it be foam and the starting fermentation? I checked OG with refractometer so I would think its quite accurate. Or maybe I messed up the calibration of those rapt pills. Well.. Theyre In the bucket and the end result is what it is.

Im starting to think its the refractometer what is off. Have to check and possibly calibrate it.

According the rapt pills it seems OG is 1.046 quite the same In both buckets. So the target FG should be 1.008 for 5% ABV.

So diacetyl rest starting at 1.015 (80% attenuation) and I read that 2-3°C temperature raise should be enough so 15°C it is.

When at 1.008 start cold Crashing so I lower the temperature to minimum with my fridgerator (maybe +4°C) and keep it In there for 48h

After that I move both beers to kegs oxygen free and start lagering In +1°C In the freezer for 6-11wks. At the last 2wks of lagering I add around 14 psi Co2 pressure for carbonation.