Irish Moss

[MBuck]

Planning my first use of Irish Moss in a brew tomorrow and have a question. I understand that I should toss it in at the tail end of my boil. Then I will chill and transfer to my carboy. Now, I always strain the wort on the way into the carboy which I assume will capture all the Irish Moss. Will it have finished all it's work during my half hour (maximum) chill?

 

[stvo]

Yes it will, brewed a batch Thurs and used it, added at 5 min before flame out and it works for sure, clumps of junk everywhere!! (looks like giant brown boogers) they where all over my chiller, the bottom of the kettle and walls!!

 

[ChshreCat]

I wouldn't do it right at the end. I usually throw mine in at about halfway or just after. 15-20 minutes before flameout at least.

 

[brewkinger]

Moss at 10 min for me and I also put my chiller in at the same time.

 

[Pratzie]

i usually throw my whirlfloc/yeast nutrient in the last 15 minutes. just a habit of throwing them all in together to make sure i don't forget.

 

[homebrewdad]

I do Irish moss at 15 minutes, at the same time I put my chiller in for sanitizing. Works great.

 

[unionrdr]

Typical instructions do say 10-15 minutes from the end of the boil. I got some 5 star super moss that says 10 minutes from the end. Can't wait to see how well that 1/4tsp @ 10 works in my pm biab...

 

[MBuck]

Thx all. So, a 1/4 tsp good for a 2 1/3 gallon boil?

 

[Bigscience]

Make sure you rehydrate the Irish miss first. Works better that way. I usually start mine at the start of the boil and then it's ready when I need it.

 

[Tinhorn]

I do Irish moss at 15 minutes, at the same time I put my chiller in for sanitizing. Works great.

^this is what I do also helps me remember to put it in

 

[LBussy]

Planning my first use of Irish Moss in a brew tomorrow and have a question. I understand that I should toss it in at the tail end of my boil. Then I will chill and transfer to my carboy. Now, I always strain the wort on the way into the carboy which I assume will capture all the Irish Moss. Will it have finished all it's work during my half hour (maximum) chill?

I wanted to emphasize that part. In my experience, Irish Moss will clog up most of those funnel/screen combos. I have taken to using a method to rack the wort off the significant trub that will accumulate.

If you don't pay attention to the above part or think I'm just being anal, you can pour all of the batch into your primary, trub and all after the screen clogs. No harm in it, it will settle out in a more dense layer than it will in the kettle and you lose less beer.

 

[Tupperwolf]

I've been using 1 tsp at 10 or 15 minutes... Whether it's too much I don't know, but the moss I'm using isn't fine powder, it's fairly coarse flakes or strips, and I just can't imagine 1/4 tsp of the stuff I'm using being effective in 5 gal. I have been getting great protein coagulation with a nice miso soup look during chilling and everything falling to the bottom before I drain the kettle.

 

[MBuck]

I've been using 1 tsp at 10 or 15 minutes... Whether it's too much I don't know, but the moss I'm using isn't fine powder, it's fairly coarse flakes or strips, and I just can't imagine 1/4 tsp of the stuff I'm using being effective in 5 gal. I have been getting great protein coagulation with a nice miso soup look during chilling and everything falling to the bottom before I drain the kettle.

I'm only doing 5 qt batches with boils of 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 gals. Don't want to use too much - the stuff I have sort of looks like cigarette tobacco and recommends 1 tsp/5 gals.

 

[unionrdr]

The 5 star super moss I have says 1/4tsp per 5 gallons 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Concentrated or really strong,whichever. They say it's superior. Five stars' PBW & Starsan are great,so we'll see.

 

[ChshreCat]

Make sure you rehydrate the Irish miss first. Works better that way. I usually start mine at the start of the boil and then it's ready when I need it.

+1 on rehydrating. I drop mine into a cup with a little water when I start my boil and let it sit until ready to toss in.

 

[Hackwood]

I've never heard about hydrating Irish Moss until this thread. I SHOULD be brewing next weekend and will have to give it a try.

I have had great results with 2tsp per 10 gallon batch so far, so if hydrating makes it even better then ............. YOWZA!

 

[woozy]

What's the theory on hydration? Wouldn't there be plenty of water in the wort?

 

[Hackwood]

What's the theory on hydration? Wouldn't there be plenty of water in the wort?

I can see it "binding" faster, but as I posted before I haven't messed with hydrating at all. I'm curious about this too....

 

[MBuck]

So, went with half a tsp, rehydrated first, tossed in at 15 minutes. Clearest I've brewed so far, although hard to make a final assessment both because so early in the process and because doing a brown and hard to see through at fermenter volume.

 

[LBussy]

I can't see how dropping the Irish Moss into boiling wort won't hydrate it fairly quickly. You can tell (egg drop soup) it's working so rehydrating the moss seems like just something else to spill on the workbench while brewing.

The "need" to rehydrate seems to go back the HBD days, and was in Al Korzonas' book. Back then most of our stuff needed some preparation or another, and anything that was dry "needed" rehydration. I was a rebel then and I guess I'm a rebel now. If you have the powdered form I can see the need, since it will likely make a gummy ball if you just plop it in, but the "dried seaweed" most folks use should be fine and has always been fine in my beers. When used in cooking no such indications are made - drop in boiling water.

By the way, Whirfloc FTW ... no measuring, no spilling. Probably the best improvement to brewing I've found since I've been back. If I could only remember to use it ....

 

[Yooper]

It may not "need" to be rehydrated- but I noticed that it worked significantly better when I rehydrated.

I think it's because when I rehydrated, it actually took about a half an hour to get fully rehydrated. I then added it with 15 minutes left in the boil. If I add it dry, it still works but I noticed a big improvement once I rehydrated.

For the last couple of years, I've been using whirfloc instead of the loose Irish moss, and that's given me even better results. When I remember to use it.

 

[fizgig]

I talked to a local brewpub brewer about rehydrating or not, it does take a while to get fully hydrated but you are also getting more surface area for a longer period of time as well. Also it's not done in the boil, it continues to help precipitate solids out in the fermenter.

 

[unionrdr]

I was just reading the instructions on my jar of super moss HB (home brew formula it says). "Use at a rate of 1/4tsp per 5 gallon batch. You may use less,but NOT more. Place super moss in 4ozs of cooled wort. Shake vigorously. Add mixture to last 10 minutes of boil & whirlpool if possible. If not,fermenter will accumulate settlement on bottom. Discard settlement.".
So Fivestar prefers it to be rehydrated before use in a small amount of cooled wort. That's rather akward when still making the wort in that the 4oz sample must be chilled rapidly to mix with the moss to add to the wort...Sounds like a pain to me.

 

[woozy]

"Use at a rate of 1/4tsp per 5 gallon batch. You may use less,but NOT more"

Anyone else using the tablets (one tablet for 5 gallons)? I was using 1/2 tablet for my 2 gallon batches and was thinking of upping it to a full tablet. I guess I shouldn't, huh? Yooper thinks I can actually cut down to 1/4.

I'll try rehydrating the tablet.

 

[fizgig]

I just rehydrate in water, in that concentration a little water won't hurt.

 

[stonebrewer]

Everything I have read says that the polymer k-carrageenan is the active ingredient in seaweed (aka Irish Moss). After the washing machine action seen during active fermentation, the clumps of polymer are bound to proteins and they settle out of suspension because they are larger and heavier due to the clumping. This means you probably want the polymer in your carboy. How it gets from the seaweed into suspension is the question. Is it due to the rehydration (doubtful), the boil, or some other aspect of brewing? According to wikipedia, there are different types of carrageenan formed by seaweed, all of which are soluble in hot water, though the lamba version is soluble in cold water. Since we are using the kappa version, it appears that all you need to do is dump it in boiling wort to get it into solution. So from what I have read, you don't have to rehydrate it. There are two other interesting factors about it I will post here: 1) there are two types or grades sold in the US, refinded (RC) and semi refined (SRC). I suspect that is the difference in the two types posted above because they remove more of the cellulose material in the refined version. 2) There are health concerns in using this stuff! There are studies showing gastrial inflammation, ulcer's and colitis-like symptoms in animals who had Irish Moss added to their drinking water or food. Interesting topic...