Irish Moss

[stedtale]

So, I have a Kolsch going right now. bubbblin' away. but, I meant to add irish moss in the boil to help with clarity. Is there any way to add it to the secondary? Can I boil it in a small amount of water and rack over the top of it?

 

[Oldsock]

No, irish moss only works in the boil as far as I am aware.

You should try cold conditioning the beer after fermentation, that should help your clarity. You can also look into the numerous finings that are designed to work post-fermentation (gelatin, polyclar, sparkolloid, bentonite, isinglass etc...)

 

[stedtale]

No, irish moss only works in the boil as far as I am aware.

You should try cold conditioning the beer after fermentation, that should help your clarity. You can also look into the numerous finings that are designed to work post-fermentation (gelatin, polyclar, sparkolloid, bentonite, isinglass etc...)

That's what I thought. Oh well.

Yep a cold condition in the secondary is in store fore sure, but I will also look into the other claering agents.

Thanks!

 

[smokinghole]

Try some gelatin. There's a recent long thread.

 

[beesy]

Try some gelatin. There's a recent long thread.

+1 on the gelatin. i have used it before and had worked well for me. I used it on a cream ale i brewed for a charity corn hole tourney. you could practically read newspaper though it in a 6.5g carboy.

 

[stedtale]

Does it dilute the brew at all? Gelatin, that is.

 

[StAnthonyB]

Does it dilute the brew at all? Gelatin, that is.

Nope.

Knox gelatin is the bomb. After I feel that my brew has has the proper amount of rest time, I throw some into my secondaries, and then wait a week or so before kegging. In my amber (9 SRM) brew I can literally see the details of my hand through a Guinness pint glass.

 

[smokinghole]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/gelatin-no-joke-153093/

There's the gelatin thread. Almost any and all questions can easily be found in the thread. That includes amounts to use, temp to heat it to, along with bottling and kegging concerns.

 

[stedtale]

Thanks!

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[stedtale]

so, can I add gelatin to the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar and have it clear in the bottle?

 

[Oldsock]

You can (this is how many people do cask ale), but you'll end up with extra sediment in the bottles.

 

[goose1873]

I just finished a keg of kolsch that I used knox gelatin on...crystal clear! looked like miller lite (but tasted better)...

I used 1 packet in 170F water (boil and cool to 170 to sterilize...add gelatin at 170)...I dumped it into my primary that was cold crashing for a couple days, gave it a quick stir (not enough to mix up the sediment) and then waited 48hrs and it was crystal clean...magical......then just racked into corny (or bottling bucket if bottling).

 

[smokinghole]

I read about a couple ways to do it. I've tried a couple batches when I throw it in at the end of fermentation if I'm not doing a secondary, or near the end of your secondary. On two recent batches I forgot to use irish moss as well and added the gelatin only a day or two before bottling and then bottled. Both seem to have worked alright. I don't know what the BEST way is to do it.

 

[mightynintendo]

How do the brewers in Koeln manage to get such clear beer without using moss or gelatin?

 

[Oldsock]

How do the brewers in Koeln manage to get such clear beer without using moss or gelatin?

Multi-step mashes, and cold conditioning. Cold conditioning is something that nearly every brewery does, but few homebrewers follow suit.