Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
How do you know which clarifier to use? There's just so many to choose from.
Clarifiers
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Boleslaus
Well-Known Member
Well if you are going to decide which one to use pre-brew day, you could go with something you add to the boil like Irish Moss. If you are trying to clear up a bear already in fermentation you could use gelatin. From what I've read on here (only used Irish Moss), gelatin works amazingly well.
i use irish moss 15 minutes from end of boil, like the directions say. works very well to coagulate the proteins and crash other gunk
BOBTHEukBREWER
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i soak my irish moss for an hour then chop extremely finely before adding for last 20 minutes. Theory being that extra surface area will clear even better.
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
AHS sells Irish Moss by the ounce and says to add 1 tsp to your batch. Is 1 tsp of this stuff an ounce?
Houblon
Well-Known Member
Half a tab of whirlflock @ 20mins.
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
I called AHS, they said I should get about ten 5 gallon batches out of an ounce of Irish Moss, but the guy recommended I use Whirlfloc Tablets just because they're easier. Any arguments?
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
Out of plain ignorance, why only a half tab? Directions on AHS site say to use the full tab in a 5-6 gallon boil.
Houblon
Well-Known Member
No the maker reported half was more then enough for 5 gals.
Posted years ago @
northernbrewer forum,morebeer forum and most likely other forums.
< edit >
http://forums.morebeer.com/viewtopic.php?p=111515#p111515
Google reports >>
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/whirlfloc-whirlpooling-136654/
or
[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=how+much+whirlflock+for+5gals%3F&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=[/ame]
Posted years ago @
northernbrewer forum,morebeer forum and most likely other forums.
< edit >
http://forums.morebeer.com/viewtopic.php?p=111515#p111515
Google reports >>
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/whirlfloc-whirlpooling-136654/
or
[ame]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=how+much+whirlflock+for+5gals%3F&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=[/ame]
I use 5 Star SuperMoss as directed. Pure Carrageenan. It is a combination Kappa and Lambda based carrageenan while whirlfloc is Kappa-only.
According to Wikipedia:
Irish Moss is 55% carrageenan and also "When softened in water it has a sea-like odour, and because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 100 times its weight of water."
This "jelly" is what some call hot break, but in reality it is a byproduct of the Irish Moss itself.
According to Wikipedia:
Irish Moss is 55% carrageenan and also "When softened in water it has a sea-like odour, and because of the abundant cell wall polysaccharides it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 100 times its weight of water."
This "jelly" is what some call hot break, but in reality it is a byproduct of the Irish Moss itself.
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
I just re-read the AHS site...I stand slightly corrected. They don't give a volume of measure, but they did say to use a whole tab. Either way, a half a tab seems to work for you. It will most likely work for me as well. It's also cheaper.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=465{10}698
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
So your saying it absorbs 20-100 ounces of my beer? Seems like a lot or am I confused?
Toecutter
Well-Known Member
hold crap. I use 2 onces to a 10 gallon batch
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
An ounce of Irish Moss is way more than you need in a typical batch. I haven't weighed out a tsp of irish moss... ever... but I would guess it's probably in the .1-.15 oz range?
WTF!?!?! Seaweed beer!
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
This stuff sounds cool, but AHS doesn't carry it and that's where I've got my next order coming from as soon as their camlocks are back in stock. Being that I've never used any clarifiers I think the Whirlfloc will be better than nothing also. Thanks though. I may have to get some in the future. I'll swing by the old LHBS and see if she's got any.
I love whirlfloc- that's all I use for finings and my beer is crystal clear. I think you'll be happy with it!
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
I think that's the way I will go. Glad you love it. I love your avatar.
To be fair, you also cold crash, do you not? (not that whirlfloc doesn't do the job it's intended to do, just highlighting for completeness
)
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
To be fair, you also cold crash, do you not? (not that whirlfloc doesn't do the job it's intended to do, just highlighting for completeness
I use an IC. It took me 17 minutes to chill about 11.2 gallons last brew.
By cold crash, I mean place the completely fermented beer in a fridge or cold room for some period of time before racking. This accelerates the sedimentation/clearing process.
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
Ah, sorry for my confusion. I don't have a fridge big enough for that, so I usually just put it in the sink with ice water and keep adding icepacks for about 8 hours before racking. Now that it's winter though, it should be easy. Haul it outside...
Houblon
Well-Known Member
To be fair, you also cold crash, do you not? (not that whirlfloc doesn't do the job it's intended to do, just highlighting for completeness
Take a look at my gravity pics> http://s821.photobucket.com/albums/zz138/UknowWho2u/My brew pics/
the wort is clear in most, these samples are taken at Flameout.
After fermentation and kegged the beer is crystal clear.
Whirlflock along with proper mash/wort PH does wonders:rockin:
To be fair, you also cold crash, do you not? (not that whirlfloc doesn't do the job it's intended to do, just highlighting for completeness
Usually. But only in the keg, when it goes into the kegerator. I never cold crash the fermenter. I generally only rack clear beer to the keg. I've found that using highly flocculating yeast give clear beer, so I will usually use S04 for dry yeast, and then rack only clear beer to the keg.
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
Csuho
Well-Known Member
whirlfloc, cold crash, and gelatin. last batch was super clear so clear I could read thru it.
Houblon
Well-Known Member
Yesterdays brew>
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Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
I used some Irishmoss last week. Not too shabby. I used half a tab of Whirlfloc today...WOW!!! Cool stuff.
