Protafloc - for all brews?

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slowdave

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Hi,
I'm relatively new to AG brewing and need some advice about adding Protafloc.

Can I / Should I add it to every brew?

So far, I have added it to every brew, but I'm about to brew my first wheat beer (Malt Miller Oberon) and wondered if there are any styles that I definitely shouldn't add protafloc to.

Many thanks
 
I add it to everything. Your not suppose to with the super hazy/ neipas. I would with a wheat. Beer. Greg hughes does in his recipe book
 
I only added Irish moss to beers I want to clear. I don’t add it to my Wits, for example. From the picture on the MM website it looks like the Bells Oberon is meant to be cloudy so I wouldn’t add the protofloc or any other finings, personally. But YMMV.
 
I’ve just brewed a NEIPA to a recipe from Greg Hughes book and it stipulates adding protofloc for the last 15 minutes of the boil. :confused.:

Yeah, well, um... I guess the carageenan’s job is to drop out the hot break proteins and it’s done its job long before the wort is in the FV. With that in mind, if the desired cloudiness is an effect of the yeast, excessive dry hopping or anything else that happens during and post ferment, it may not make any difference to the final product 🤷‍♂️.

I really don’t know, but if I want a cloudy beer, I’m not going to add anything that might lead to extra clarity in that beer. Saying that though, I’ve had Wits clear in the bottle naturally after a number of months conditioning. But in that case that can always be fixed with a bottle swirl on pouring.
 
A bit of advice on something on this please. My next project is the AG HPA following the recipe kindly posted by @darrellm. I cannot boil more than 20l at once so in effect need to split the boil by running off something like 5 to 7l after about an hour to be replaced by the same volume from the remainder of what I have sparged (after constantly topping up) and added to the boil for a further 15 mins to get sterilised. If I put the Irish Moss or Protofloc in at 45 mins does it suffer in its efficacy by being boiled for a further 15 mins and would it be effective on the newly added wort?
 
A bit of advice on something on this please. My next project is the AG HPA following the recipe kindly posted by @darrellm. I cannot boil more than 20l at once so in effect need to split the boil by running off something like 5 to 7l after about an hour to be replaced by the same volume from the remainder of what I have sparged (after constantly topping up) and added to the boil for a further 15 mins to get sterilised. If I put the Irish Moss or Protofloc in at 45 mins does it suffer in its efficacy by being boiled for a further 15 mins and would it be effective on the newly added wort?
Why not brew with less water so higher SG then dilute with water after the boil to get your OG and volume for the FV?
 
Why not brew with less water so higher SG then dilute with water after the boil to get your OG and volume for the FV?
Thanks. I may have misunderstood something somewhere but thought that there should be a ratio of 5l water per kg of grain and I would not even be achieving that at 20l as the recipe has just over 4.5kg of grain. I also understood that the objective was to top up the boil loss with the sparged wort to maximise what has been extracted from the grain thereby achieving a reasonable OG. That is how I understand the Dark Rock instructions that came with my last brew which was an AG. I might not be getting my head around this correctly though I do recall that years ago on following Dave Line's recipes I sparged enough to make an initial boil of 20l and did not top up until in the FV with cold water.
 
Yeah, well, um... I guess the carageenan’s job is to drop out the hot break proteins and it’s done its job long before the wort is in the FV. With that in mind, if the desired cloudiness is an effect of the yeast, excessive dry hopping or anything else that happens during and post ferment, it may not make any difference to the final product 🤷‍♂️.

I really don’t know, but if I want a cloudy beer, I’m not going to add anything that might lead to extra clarity in that beer. Saying that though, I’ve had Wits clear in the bottle naturally after a number of months conditioning. But in that case that can always be fixed with a bottle swirl on pouring.

I had that, I just gave them a shake before I put them in the fridge (an hour or 2 before drinking)
 
I add it to all my beers, even my wheats - the cloudiness in wheats is meant to come from the yeast not anything else.

I used to use Irish Moss but I find Protofloc seems to clear my beers better.
I’ve always used Irish moss too. You say that Protofloc clears your beers better, is that in terms of actual clarity or the speed that it occurs? I might give it a try with my next order.
 
For what it's worth I don't use protofloc in wheat beers. The hefewiezen I make is pure simplicity! The less ingredients and changes the better.
I'd put it in a heavily hopped IPA though, and still expect some hop haze.
 
I use it in everything and think it is definitely superior to Irish moss, which I used to us. Also, I’m more comfortable chucking a clean little tablet into my almost complete brew than some stinky bit of rancid seaweed.
 
I use it in everything and think it is definitely superior to Irish moss, which I used to us. Also, I’m more comfortable chucking a clean little tablet into my almost complete brew than some stinky bit of rancid seaweed.
I wouldn't call Irish Moss either stinky or rancid.
 
I can't see how putting a tsp of 'stinky' Irish moss is any worse than putting a couple of handfuls of stinky hops in a brew?
 
Hey on another topic does anyone use a conical fast fermentor if so are they any good
I do. For the money they are OK. And I really like the principle of conical fermenters particularly dumping the yeast to get clearer beer. However I have struggled with the plastic yeast dump/valve which is getting old and has a tendency to stick. So I personally wouldn’t buy again as I have the 10litre version and the replacement parts are very impossible to get hold of.
 
I had that, I just gave them a shake before I put them in the fridge (an hour or 2 before drinking)
It is not at all unusual when you buy bottled Hefeweizen in Germany for it to have settled in the bottle. If you are drinking it in a bar or café they will often poor half of the bottle, and then swirl or gently shake the remaining beer before pouring it into your glass. I've even seen them upend the bottle into a tall Weizen glass and let it glug its way out . . . . although I guess that this technique may not be regarded as good practice by all barmen.
 

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