irish moss and gelatin ??

While brewing up a batch this weekend, forgot the Irish Moss until about 8-9 minutes left in boil, so I am not sure how effective it will be. Used gelatin for first time on my last cream ale and it was crystal clear. will the gelatin still coagulate and form a precipitate with the moderate usage of the irish moss?

Isn't that when you're supposed to add Irish Moss? With ~10min or so left?

I'm not so sure that the gelatin needs the irish moss to work. I think it is just another tool, like irish moss or crash cooling, to help clarify your beer. You'll be fine.....

I use both Irish moss and gelatin. Sometimes I forget the Irish moss, but the gelatin saves the day and I get very clear beer early on (Patience will clear the beer too)

My last batch, I remembered the Irish moss, bt forgot the gelating before bottling. This time the beer is cloudy for a much longer period.

In summary, my opinion, Irish moss= meh.....Gellatin = Awesome.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I use both Irish moss and gelatin. ...

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Same here. I recently used gelatin for the first time on the last couple of beers I did and I'm a believer. Couple it with some crash cooling and you'll have beer so clear you can read the fine print on a government contract through it!

Rhoobarb said:

Same here. I recently used gelatin for the first time on the last couple of beers I did and I'm a believer. Couple it with some crash cooling and you'll have beer so clear you can read the fine print on a government contract through it!

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So long as you are drinking from a Tall Weizen casue, umm, they are llegal sized.

So after reading these "rave reviews" of gelatin, may I ask where you get this stuff? I mean, is it brewing specific or do you buy plain ol' knox gelatin at the grocery store next to the JELLO display? How do you use the stuff? When do you use it (i.e. secondary, bottles?)

Gelatin is the Knox at your local grocer. Get the unflavored gelatin, put a packet in 2 cups of boiling water, put in fermenter, rack beer (into secondary) on top.

Easy as Jell-o.

slimer said:

Gelatin is the Knox at your local grocer. Get the unflavored gelatin, put a packet in 2 cups of boiling water, put in fermenter, rack beer (into secondary) on top.

Easy as Jell-o.

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Can you do this with a beer you are lagering as well? Or does it only work with ales?

Lager it first and if you still have a clarity issue, try it.

Don't boil the water.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/gelatin-finings-53912/

I've found the following method to be easy and effective.

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in the spark-o-matic, cover with saran wrap and let cool down to 185f or so, mix in one packet of Knox, recover, let cool to below 100f, add to secondary, wait 3 days+/-, keg.

let me try to answer as many as possible in one shot.

for irish moss, my container says 15 minutes, which is what i have always used. fair results always, but nothing "WOWSERS!!!"

wasn't planning on using both. the cream ale i mentioned i used only gelatin because i wanted to experiement, (and forgot the irish moss!!) and was impressed.

wasn't trying to insinutate one needing other if it came across that way, just wondering if the gelatin would be that effective since there was irish moss in there.

The thread Lou posted above is the one i was talking about. follow biermunchers directions and you will be set/

imho, if your lagering, it will clear by itself from temp and time, but you could always add gelatin if not happy with clarify.

i put gelatin in bottom of 2nd and racked on top of it, and that was it. racked into keg in 10 days and it turn out crystal clear. i posted a pic in my profile, but since i'm not a premium member, not sure if it still there.

whew. all that typing calls for a HB!!

Lou said:

Don't boil the water.

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Don't boil it with the gelatin. But boil your water by itself to sanitize, then add the gelatin when it is lukewarm - ~115oF. Add it to your secondary, then rack the beer on top of it. It'll float down to the bottom, taking proteins with it, in a couple of days. Works for ales or lagers.

And it is the Knox stuff, right next to...

I don't use the grocery store gelatin. A whole packet? I use the little jar from JD carlson (Midwest has it). One teaspoon for 5 gallons. It works out cheap, and you can boil it. Works great!

I've never used gelatin, but I do use Irish moss @ 15 minutes in all my brews (except for stouts and hefeweizens). I do 3-4 week primaries, rack to kegs and condition at cellar temps for at least two weeks, and then a week in the kegerator on gas. I always end up with crystal clear brews. Based on my own experiences, gelatin seems completely unnecessary.

i am a bit of a pesimist as to how this thread got started, but i'll tell you what, no irish moss, used gelatin (l.d. carlson - so i can't speak for grocery style) and it was the clearest thing i have ever seen. 4 real!!

frolickingmonkey said:

Based on my own experiences, gelatin seems completely unnecessary.

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+1 to this, and I've used both.

More importantly...I can't believe that no one has brought up the theory that gelatin may strip some taste and/or mouth feel from your brew!

Personally I'm not trying to read legal documents through my beer, but I am always trying to get the tastiest beer!

To each his own I guess...

I'm not sure irish moss works all that well, I've tried it and tried it at double and triple the recommended amounts and pretty much no matter what it doesn't work as good as 1/2 a pack of Knox unflavored gellatin. I'm of the opinion that unless you're just striving for being authentic the irish moss isn't really worth the trouble considering how much better gellatin works.

Mutilated1 said:

I'm not sure irish moss works all that well, I've tried it and tried it at double and triple the recommended amounts and pretty much no matter what it doesn't work as good as 1/2 a pack of Knox unflavored gellatin. I'm of the opinion that unless you're just striving for being authentic the irish moss isn't really worth the trouble considering how much better gellatin works.

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I couldn't have said that better.

Mutilated1 said:

I'm not sure irish moss works all that well, I've tried it and tried it at double and triple the recommended amounts and pretty much no matter what it doesn't work as good as 1/2 a pack of Knox unflavored gellatin.

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I think Irish moss works... I brewed the same Weizen recipe twice, and with one batch used Irish moss @ 15 min, and the other batch, I did not use the Irish moss. Batch #1 turned into a sparkling clear Kristalweiss, whereas batch #2 was as cloudy as a hefeweizen should be.