Substitute for Irish Moss??

[majorvices]

@denny

@majorvices

To be clear (no pun intended) German Brewers use neither gelatin post fermentation nor IrishMoss in the boil (if they want to stay reinheitsgebot compliant) and their beers turn out pretty darn clear – course they may filter or centrifuge. As mentioned, gelatin isn’t really a sub for IM they are used for two separate purposes. IM is a kettle fining and gelatin is a post fermentation fining. The best use for IM is to settle out hot break out of the beer. Arguably this is more important on all-grain than extract and if you hit you pH on AG you could argue it isn’t important at all anyway.

If you do want to use the gelatin mix some up and pour it in the primary at the end of fermentation and gently swirl to disseminate and let it rest a few extra day (preferably cold).

Clarity is going to depend on a lot of factors and yeast choice will be one of the biggest factors. For instance, English yeasts will generally drop much more bright than German yeasts. But hazes can be issues as well. Usually hazes are flavorless.

I don’t find a little haze a big detractor from a homebrew, personally.

In was under the impression that as long as something doesn’t end up in the beer, it’s Rgebot compliant.  Which means IM would be OK.  Is that not the case?

A quick search came up with this:

“The revised Vorläufiges Biergesetz (Provisional Beer Law) of 1993, which replaced the earlier regulations, is a slightly expanded version of the Reinheitsgebot, stipulating that only water, malted barley, hops and yeast be used for any bottom-fermented beer brewed in Germany. In addition, the law allows the use of powdered or ground hops and hop extracts, as well as stabilization and fining agents such as PVPP. Top-fermented beer is subject to the same rules, with the addition that a wider variety of malted grains can be used, as well as pure sugars for flavor and coloring.”

So I don’t know if that applied to IM or gelatin. I would think not with IM since if you use too much you can taste it. Gelatin certainly isn’t vegan.