Forgot to add Irish Moss

[dzachery]

I'm brewing a strawberry blonde. It called for Irish Moss which I forgot to add. Is it possible/worth it to add it during fermentation?


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[flars]

Some brewers make the use of Irish Moss a standard practice. Some brewers never use it. I don't think you will notice any difference not using it.

 

[MikeBergan]

I did a quick check through the forums and saw a few mentions of this question; the summary of replies is that ...

No, adding it now will not help. It seems to be primarily effective only when used in the last 10-15 minutes of boil and going into cold-break.

As said above, Irish Moss only works near the end of the boil. If you have a cloudy beer after fermentation, your clarifying options are isinglass and gelatin. Of those two, I've only used gelatin, and I've found it works wonderfully. A quick forum search will provide lots of useful info on that.

 

[brewkinger]

Gelatin is a viable option. Not really necessary though, as the only effects are your beer not being real clear and perhaps chill haze. Both aesthetic and won't really change the flavor.


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[sandyeggoxj]

Not going to change the flavor. Just the clarity. I wouldn't worry about it at all at this point. I use whirlfloc for all my beers. I have forgotten to add it and it has negligible effect on the the final product. I don't think I could tell you the difference if you gave me a blind tasting between the beer with it and without.

 

[hnycrk]

It is not an absolute necessary. Your beer will be perfectly fine.

 

[Zuljin]

I rarely use it anymore as I can't tell the difference either way.

 

[ODI3]

I generally use it, but have not added it on occasion by accident.
The batches where it was not added, the beer doesn't go crystal clear as easy.

It has to be added during boil for it to work. Don't add it afterwards.

 

[Wolfbrau]

If I had a list of one hundred things to worry about in my brewing process, forgetting the Irish Moss would not make the list. It's an agent to help get break material out of the boil. The value of doing such a thing is questionable, but held by conventional wisdom as being important to clarity.

Personally, I use gelatine in almost every batch and end up with crystal clear, commercial-looking beer whether I use it or not.