Irish Moss - I think I added way too much!

[Matt62489]

Hey guys,
First post here on the forums - its an awesome site. I am a beginning brewer and have already made five batches of my own beer. I recently got a recipe for Oktoberfest Ale beer at my local homebrew supply. I followed all the directions, although I think I made a dreaded mistake. In the ingredient kit, I received one pound of Irish Moss. As I am doing a 2.5 gallon boil, I need to split all ingredients in half. I split the Irish Moss in half and added the half pound of it to the last 20 minutes of the boil. What resulted was scorching at the bottom of my pot, a strong scent of burnt moss from the wort, and an extremely sludgy batch of wort. Hesitantly, I poured the whole thing in my carboy, added yeast, and have yet to see the results. So... am I doomed if I added a half pound of Irish Moss to my beer?
It never specified in the directions how much to add, and I assumed all the ingredients were in accordance to a 5 gallon beer batch scale (so I added the half pound of Irish Moss to my 2.5 gallon brew).
Did I just ruin the beer?

 

[marubozo]

Mmmm. Seaweed beer.

Honestly, that is probably going to make your beer taste a little odd to say the least. Usually Irish Moss is added in terms of a pinch or maybe a tablespoon for a 5 gallon batch. But since you've already gone the distance and have it fermenting you might as well let it go and see what happens.

 

[neomantra]

Yikes...yeah dude, I think you're hosed unless you really like the taste/smell of irish moss. 1 tsp is what you should normally add for a 5 gallon batch.

edit: +1 to marubozo on letting it go now that you're this far though. maybe you'll discover some new beer style. but i would go ahead and buy your next set of ingredients in the mean time and maybe take (and try to drink) a sample to see if it's palatable.

 

[Matt62489]

Haha, oh wow. I better mention to the homebrew shop that they should specify the tsp. amount on their instruction kit instead of just saying "add your Irish moss when there is 20 minutes left of the boil". I saved a "sample" of the wort and will take it to them tomorrow and they can judge whether I should save it or dump it. I guess one bad batch out of five batches isn't too shabby..

 

[david_42]

I'm impressed, I've never seen a pound of Irish moss in one spot. By itself the extra wouldn't have been a problem, but the scorching is.

 

[nathani]

Haha, oh wow. 1/2 a pound. That's an intense amount of Irish moss. But yeah, I would give the shop crap for not labeling their ingredients with instructions. Every shop I've ever been in has instructions right on the package, my Irish Moss tells me to put 1tsp per 5 gallons in a cup of warm water and add in the last 10min of the boil

Also I would let it go the distance and see, you never know. Unless that is, this Carboy is holding up your production. In this case I would buy another carboy, if that's not an option you might want to dump it.

I haven't weighed it out, but you can do this yourself. I think 1tsp is about 2.5g (my 50g pouch will last me about 20 batches I think), you've added 226g, so effectively 100 times the normal amount.

 

[nathani]

I'm impressed, I've never seen a pound of Irish moss in one spot. By itself the extra wouldn't have been a problem, but the scorching is.

My shop sells it by the kg!

Also I would think that much Irish Moss would add a seaweed flavor. Most people complain about being able to taste the proper amount in the finished beer, never mind 50-100 times that much.

 

[Scimmia]

Most people complain about being able to taste the proper amount in the finished beer

Who? I don't know that I've ever seen anyone make that claim.

 

[mgortel]

Dont let the DEA see that much moss...they may think it is some other type of "weed"......hahah

You can calso get the Whirlfloc....which is in tablet form.,...you just toss 1 tablet in for 5 gallons....just for future reference for you to know....

 

[nathani]

Who? I don't know that I've ever seen anyone make that claim.

Ooops, sorry, I meant to say "some" not "most". I've never been able to taste it and I think they're crazy too, but I have heard a few people say that they won't use Irish Moss, because it makes the beer taste and/or smell fishy. I still use it.

 

[BendBrewer]

I am just wondering why you had 38 years worth of Irish Moss on hand........

 

[ctufano]

I am just wondering why you had 38 years worth of Irish Moss on hand........

lol :rockin:

thats a ton -- i was expecting to see maybe like 3 grams but 1/2 pound? damn.

and its sludge? you'd think itd be crystal clear

oh, and does irish moss smell like fish food to anyone else than me?

 

[neomantra]

when i first found out about irish moss I went to AHS to buy some. they sell 1oz, 4oz, and 1lb bags of it. 1lb was only ~12 bucks so I just bought the 1lb bag thinking it was the better deal. then i realized you use such small amounts...

if anyone lives in the MD/DC area and wants some lemme know. i apparently have enough for the rest of my brew career haha. (does this stuff ever go bad btw?)

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Sheesh, I was expecting something like "I put in 2tsp of irish moss instead of one. Is it going to be ok?". But half a pound?! wow.

Absolutely sure it was irish moss you dumped in there and not something else that may have been mislabeled? One pound of irish moss is a LOT. Not clue why a homebrew store would sell you that much in one shot.

AHB sells irish moss for $1.50/oz. That ounce of irish moss can be used for several 5 gal batches. Why in the world would the home brew store sell you 16 times that amount?

 

[imtrashed]

Classic.

OP has been quiet quite a while. Embrace it as a great story and just a speed bump in your early brewing career. It will be very funny when your friends are begging you for more samples.

 

[DoubleAught]

Bottle it and when your mooching friends come over to drink all your homebrew, serve them that. I promise they wont drink you dry like my friends do

 

[lumpher]

still chuckling over the amount. you didn't know, as it wasn't labeled, but wow... 1 tsp, vs 837 tsp's...mostly chuckling over the lhbs selling it in that large of bags

 

[Grumpybumpy]

Sorry to bump this, but my mind was on irish moss as I was about to go to bed and lead me to think of this thread. (stupid HB addicted brain...)

How did this turn out?

 

[statseeker]

Did it turn out okay?

 

[FightingBob]

I wish the OP would come back and post. I really want to know how this turned out!

 

[PhelanKA7]

I wish the OP would come back and post. I really want to know how this turned out!

Same. It's a great experiment in the name of science. I hope the OP didn't dump it.

 

[mikescooling]

LOL, I like this post, it's like putting a man on the moon. We need to know what this beer turned out like!!!!LOL

 

[Zoidberg]

I just read through this whole post because I was very interested and am very disappointed we have no results still.

Not to put a damper but nobody else should try experiment until it's confirmed he's alive.

Let's just assume the best that he just quit homebrew after being so distraught. haha

 

[SteveM]

I'll just bet this was one darn clear beer!

 

[climateboy]

C'mon, OP...deliver! How did it turn out?

 

[gcdowd]

I think OP is long gone, he posted that almost 3 years ago

 

[FightingBob]

I think OP is long gone, he posted that almost 3 years ago

Still fun to think about how this seaweed ale turned out.

 

[gcdowd]

Still fun to think about how this seaweed ale turned out.

Agreed. Maybe I'll try it sometime

 

[Zoidberg]

Agreed. Maybe I'll try it sometime

Haha just be sure to post tastings. This is when you know you've brewed every kind of beer, when you've gotten to seaweed beer.

 

[LibertyHillBrewery]

it may have turned into an ocean flavored beer jello!:smack:

 

[ricshayne]

had to resurrect this one from the dead.......OP, you there? how'd it go?

 

[SteveM]

From five years ago? My guess is that it's forgotten.

 

[Brew_G]

Two posts total - both in this thread - and not active since November 2010. My guess is he's not going to provide an update on this beer.

It's too bad that so many folks don't follow up with reports on how their beers turn out, especially when their brew day goes tits up. I'd love to hear how these kinds of beers end up!