Whirlfloc during fermentation?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MaskdBagel

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2017
Messages
23
Reaction score
2
Location
Seattle
I have a batch of saison a few days into fermentation and at 1.019 as of this afternoon. Probably ready for dry hops in a couple more days. I realized a day into fermentation that I'd never dropped my whirlfloc tablet into the boil. I don't really know the exact science of how whirlfloc works, so I'm wondering: would it be effective at all if I added it now? Dissolved in a bit of water, boiled, straight into the fermenter where things can agitate it... Anyone done this? Any ideas on what would happen?
 
Hmmmm, did some reading. Looks like gelatin, cold, and time will need to do the trick here. Good news is that it sounds like that combination will do just fine. :)
 
Hmmmm, did some reading. Looks like gelatin, cold, and time will need to do the trick here. Good news is that it sounds like that combination will do just fine. :)
Yes gelatin and a cold crash will do the trick. I do this with a lot of my beers after fermentation. Whirlfloc targets kettle trub so i don't believe it would help you now even if you tried it
 
Gelatin, cold, and time. Whirlfloc is essentially Irish Moss and purified carrageenan. It needs to be boiled to induce a negative charge, which in turn attracts positive charged particles in the boil (i.e. proteins) to assist them to crash out in the cold break. Adding in the fermenter would do nothing.

For some anecdotal "evidence" check the Brulosophy entry on whirlfloc. Ultimately, using whirlfloc produced the same result as with gelatin.
 
Back
Top