Whirlfloc for Clarity

[WNCBrewman]

Palmer mentions in his How To Brew book in the appendix C that he does not recommend the use of Whirlfloc in extract brews. Yet, the more I read on here, it seems people are having great success with Whirlfloc in their extract brews. Does he mean "pure" extract, without steeping specialty grains or all in general? Why does he recommend not to with extract beers?

 

[J187]

Palmer mentions in his How To Brew book in the appendix C that he does not recommend the use of Whirlfloc in extract brews. Yet, the more I read on here, it seems people are having great success with Whirlfloc in their extract brews. Does he mean "pure" extract, without steeping specialty grains or all in general? Why does he recommend not to with extract beers?

Geez I'm not sure. I use whirfloc in my beers and that includes some extract brews that had little more than specialty grains steeped. Never had a problem that I know of.

Palmer also says in that book never to add the grain to the water in AG brewing, always add water to the grain - and pretty much no one does it like that. Things do evolve. That said, I'm interested to see if there is a good reason he recommends against it.

 

[BxBrewer]

Im a 100% extract brewer. The kits i use from Morebeer include a Whirlfloc tab in them. Ive always used it and i help a lot. Not sure why not to ???

 

[MonsterBrew]

Interesting. My guess would be that whatever process extract plants use to 'dry' or 'concentrate' the malt already removes most of the precipitous proteins, so that the purpose of the whirflock would be void. But I cannot say for sure.

 

[BigFloyd]

I've used it (and still do) in both extract and AG batches. Great stuff either way, especially if you give the wort a chance to settle 15-20 min after chilling.

 

[davesrose]

Why does he recommend not to with extract beers?

Are you sure he says not to use the tablets, or that they're not as effective? I would assume that perhaps Whirfloc/Irish Moss can do a better job with AG full batches...as you've got the full batch of solution during boil. But I can't see why Whirfloc would not be useful in clarifying extract as well (it's still binding to different proteins and various solids in extract brewing).

 

[KepowOb]

I just read through Appendix C of How to Brew as I was curious about why he'd say not to use it. He says it's because it can pull out the Free Amino Acids (FAN) which the yeast use for nutrition, so it's not recommended for high adjunct or extract brews. He also says its possible that it pulls out some of the smaller proteins, leading to poor head retention.

 

[SteveHeff]

I would simply make the switch to Irish Moss if there were any issues with the FAN. I love clear beer and I also want my yeast to be a strong little army. But if you're not having issues with the whirlfloc tab, keep using them.

 

[boscobeans]

For "ALL" extract beers like the Cooper's kits where there is no boil involved and all you do is heat a little to mix the extracts then dilute and ferment Whirlfloc would be a NO. If the wort has to be boiled, usually forming a break I see no reason not to use Irish moss type products.

OMO

bosco

 

[davesrose]

He says it's because it can pull out the Free Amino Acids (FAN) which the yeast use for nutrition, so it's not recommended for high adjunct or extract brews. He also says its possible that it pulls out some of the smaller proteins, leading to poor head retention.

I think Palmer can sometimes be too theoretical and doesn't consider other factors. Looking at info about Free Amino Nitrogen, the levels vary wildly between different extracts. There's also different amino groups that yeast will use for nutrients, so a given sample could be low in one area/high in another. This article is an interesting read about extract brewing (they have tips for maintaining good TAN levels)

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue1.2/lodahl.html

Taste panel testing and contest results suggest that it is possible to make very good beer using malt extracts, but many of us have at some time had problem extract batches. The degree of variation this study identifies suggests that we may not always have been at fault. Following are some guidelines for using malt extracts:

If possible, make at least a portion of your wort from malt, performing a "partial mash." In addition to enhancing flavor, it will add utilizable FAN.
If you can't at least partial-mash, try adding small quantities of a commercial yeast nutrient. Although it may not provide the full spectrum of amino acids necessary to avoid all fermentation problems, it may at least boost the attenuation rate.

Don't add sugar to an extract wort. It may already have all that it can stand.
Some yeasts, especially lager strains, are very sensitive to wort composition. Experiment with yeast-extract combinations.

Whenever possible, request analysis data from suppliers or manufacturers. They certainly generate such data as part of their quality assurance process, and knowing the extract's composition will help you to decide how to use it. An extract's FAN content may be perfectly adequate for a high-gravity beer but deficient for a lighter one.

Experience is the best teacher with each product you use. If it works, keep using it; if it doesn't, switch.