Whirlfloc

[Nightstrife]

I brewed a 5 gallon batch of Yooper's house ale yesterday. The only mods I did to the original was I added an extra pound of MO just to keep my gravity up (using a new mash tun and I didn't know how well it would work) and I used wpl001 instead.

I also dropped in some fermcap at the begging to keep the foam down (small pot) and at the Last 10 min I used 1/2 of a whirlfloc tablet.

When I transfers to the primary, I had a lot of white and creamy stuff above all the hops residue. I mean a lot like a gallon or so out of 5..i ended up sucking some(most) of it up (Cus I'm a cheap bastard and didn't want to waist good beer). Now I know I didn't Crap on my beer but my question is did I use the whirlfloc correctly? Or is the another way..

My cooling is still sub standard (water bath in the tub) could this help retain cleaner beer?

 

[rlmiller10]

Could it have just been break material? Or were you just overly excited? Whirlfloc should not cause any white and creamy stuff.

I get a lot of break material which is lighter in color than whatever I am brewing. And like you I end up sucking a lot of it into primary as I don't want to leave a gallon of potential beer in the brew kettle. No bad effects so far.

 

[Nightstrife]

Could it have just been break material? Or were you just overly excited? Whirlfloc should not cause any white and creamy stuff.

I'm sure it was a little of both... I was just curious as to what the whirlfloc "actually" did Cus I didn't notice any change in cleanliness... Still Seemed like beer. I still have 9.5 tablets left and I'm going to use them but I guess I am looking for any reason to buy more or is it on of those "miracle cures" that is kinda pointless.

 

[rodwha]

I don't typically care enough to use them, though I will if I'm brewing up a lighter beer with the intentions of sharing it with people who may be leery of anything other than BMC.

 

[Nightstrife]

I don't typically care enough to use them, though I will if I'm brewing up a lighter beer with the intentions of sharing it with people who may be leery of anything other than BMC.

Agreed I have a buncha people I want to hand a homebrew to and proudly say "Yep I made that" so the clarity is what I was looking to gain out of it. But if it's bunk I won't buy more...

 

[rodwha]

You can gain clarity by refrigerating it a little longer too. I typically leave mine in a full week before I pop a top. But I don't care so much about clarity myself, and I don't enter contests.

Most people that drink my beer don't care either.

 

[jmccraney]

Whirfloc is made from carageenan, and it's similar to Irish moss on steroids: it's statically charged and attracts the proteins that denature during the cold break and come out of solution, helping them precipitate faster more solidly. The result is a grayish white scum. A gallon seems like a lot, but maybe combined w hops that's reasonable. Some folks don't like this in their fermenter, but I just let it through since it quickly settles out again. Is whirfloc necessary? No but it's an easy way to get clear beer which improves flavor stability and can reduce sediment in the bottle.

 

[Nightstrife]

Is whirfloc necessary? No but it's an easy way to get clear beer which improves flavor stability and can reduce sediment in the bottle.

BAM! This is what I was looking for thanks a lot all!

I just sucked it all out and left the trub layer as is... I figured it would settle out eventually.

Thanks again!

 

[BigFloyd]

BAM! This is what I was looking for thanks a lot all!

I just sucked it all out and left the trub layer as is... I figured it would settle out eventually.

Thanks again!

You figured right. Given time, much of the gunky stuff settles out to the bottom of the fermenter. If you can cold crash the primary for 5-7 days in the mid-30's before bottling, that will clarify it even farther and firm up that trub layer.