using Irish Moss for clearing agent

[shanek17]

hey there I have heard that Irish Moss is used as a clearing agent in alcohol to help clarify it, i guess it attaches to the proteins in the alcohol and thats how it works. I ended up having a bag of fresh Irish Moss from Eastern Canada in my house so I thought I would try some out in my wine. I added a little bit when I mixed my juice and sugars together before fermentation, I assumed that was how you used it.

Then recently I found out that most people have heard of it only being used in Beer making, so now im wondering if it can work well in Wine ? I dont think I should have added it before fermentation, although it may have acted as a yeast nutrient, because its a health food.

Now Im thinking though maybe the best way to use it is when fermentation is done and you want your wine to begin clarifying, because this is the time when you normally add fining agents rite ? Has anyone used Irish moss before in wine ? How much do you use per liter or gallon ?

 

[mmadmikes1]

When making beer I add it at the boil. I never boil wine must so I don't think I will try it. I don't know it it works without boiling but I have sparkaloid and bentinite for wine. All are cheap enough so I will continue using Irish moss and gypsum for beer

 

[shanek17]

yea I understand that typically you add the irish moss when its boiling, and that does the trick FOR BEER, but what im wondering is if the irish moss can be added to the wine at some point of its stage of life. Maybe the wine doesnt need to be boiling for it to work, and maybe you dont have to add it before fermentation. I have added 1/4 of a teaspoon into a small batch of red wine im making, so I will see if there is any noticeable results. The red wine has been done fermentation for a couple weeks now, after stablizing and sulfiting. I did notice that after I added the Irish moss in there and stirred it up, that there were alot of tiny tiny bubbles rising up to the surface, but then hours later when I checked up on it, the wine completely stopped doing that and its back to its normal non fermenting look.

 

[tonyandkory]

Ok so what were your findings on this? did the Irish moss work?

 

[shanek17]

Ok so what were your findings on this? did the Irish moss work?

Well sad so to say it wasnt a very good experiment. i added soms to my first batch of wine and didnt record any info since i was still a newbie. i also drank this batch up already so i cant see it rite now but i do recall it was decently clear considering i didnt let it age at all. i did come across this info on a website of someone suggesting irish moss for wine and mead. everytime i find cool info i save it on my evernote account.

This is what was recommended. for wine and mead. 1oz per 5 gallons

 

[shanek17]

Okay so im finding alot of people sharing recipes on google for using irish moss and mead. But im not seeing anything for wine... I dont know why. i guess we got some experimenting to do!

Check out this website they talk a bit about it. the person is worried about IM adding flavours to the must. But iv heard you have to add ALOT of IM for that to happen.

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.crafts.meadmaking/2008-08/msg00020.html

And another website

http://www.makemead.net/clearing-cloudy-mead.aspx