Irish Moss Question

File this under “probably not worth asking”…so I threw about 3/4 of a tablet of Irish Moss into a 2 gallon batch. The instructions say one tablet for 5-10 gallons. Is this a problem?

Edit…it was Whirlfloc…same thing as Irish Moss?

Might taste a little off.

Yeah, pretty concentrated for that amount of beer. Let us know how it turns out.

Crap. What would that taste like?

Spirolina, just pass it off as health beer

Why would it taste off at twice the dose?

Are you asking me, or is this a facetious question? If the odds are that it’ll taste off, I’d rather dump the two gallons and start over vs. waiting a month to taste off beer.

It was an actual question for TX and Hoosier.

Almost triple the dose. Those things are made for 10+ gallons and he dropped 3/4 into 2 gallons. I would ride it out and see what happens. Might taste a little seaweedy.

There was an episode of can you brew it where somebody used way too much. Nobody could figure it out until somebody mentioned it tasted like seaweed.

Good to know.

That was my understanding too - actually I thought I read a whole tablet was good for 12 gallons. Anyway, I’m not saying he ruined his beer. I’ve just never used it in that concentration. I’ll be curious to see if he notices any off flavor/aroma.

Hmmm well this is perplexing. I really hate to wait. Perhaps I’ll just tough it out for two weeks and check the taste prior to bottling. Now will all you wonderful helpful folks please check my other post about my yeast packet??

It might turn out fine just six times clearer than normal

Naw, I’m pretty sure the taste will be off.  At least it was in my beers.  I used Irish Moss for a few batches and I was measuring it out.  I had a taste in the beer I was first calling a ‘green’ taste.  Finally came to the realization that it tasted like what I would assume chlorophyl tastes like.  When I checked my notes, I found the only new addition was the Irish Moss.

You asked the ? the right week. One of the article on the AHA main page is about Irish moss.

Thanks, good read. Granted, I did use a massive amount of Irish moss but my two fermenters looked like a science experiment last night. Even when used at appropriate amounts, do you still see this clumping? I thought the idea was for the clumping to take place in the kettle and remain behind.

Yep, you will see a lot of clumping with Whirlfloc/irish moss. I actually skip it in some 1-gallon batches because the trub gets so fluffy that I generally net 1 less beer per batch. It totally looks like the swamp thing on the bottom, and it’s perfectly normal. It doesn’t all stay in the kettle because the cold break continues to drop out for a while.

Here’s a topic from a while back regarding the whirlfloc trub issue:
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=13403.0

Personally, I doubt you’ll see much impact on flavor. I just kind of eyeball it for my small batches and likely use at least double the recommended dosage. I’ve never noticed an impact on flavor. Just ride it out - I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine.

I use tons of irish moss and have never noticed any flavor. I often use double the recommended dose especially on not particularly hoppy beers that I want to be really bright.

Bad info.  According to the manufacturer, one tablet is good for 12 gal.  The distributors write their own instructions when they repackage it and they’re almost always wrong.  Based on my own experience I’d say the flavor impact will be pretty much nothing.  You may find that the body of the beer is a bit thin and there’s a lack of head.

No offense, but I find that kinda hard to believe based on my own usage for many years and many batches. Either you’re extraordinarily sensitive to IM, or you were detecting something else and blaming it on the IM.