Whirfloc and hopstands

[Kealia]

So....I've been using Whirfloc since just after I started brewing as part of my normal process. Over time, my processes have changed so it got me thinking about its effectiveness when doing a hop stand.

The recommended application is 1/2 tablet boiled for 5 minutes in a 5G batch - which is what I do. After 10 minutes, it's said that it becomes ineffective due to denaturing of the active ingredients.
So......a 30-minute hopstand at 180 degrees seems to me would cause this denaturing and render it ineffective. I wonder if it would be better to drop it in with 5 minutes left in the hopstand? Or maybe 180 degrees isn't hot enough to get it to work in the first place.

I've done some Googling and can't find an answer to this so I'm putting here for discussion.
Mind you, this isn't a big deal. I generally have very clear beers as it is but if I'm wasting it in the beers I hopstand than it's just something I can either adjust the time I put it in or stop using it altogether.

Whaddayathink guys?

[Beer-lord]

Hmmm, never thought that much about it. It was one of those things that a number of people suggested using it and I just did it! Not very good I guess. However, I use a whole tablet in my 6 gallons and the few times I haven't, I think I've seen a difference. I do lots of hopstands and whirlpooling too and now you have me thinking.
Sounds like you should ask the Brulosophy guys to use this test on one of their future experiments.

[mashani]

It wasn't really a hopstand, but actually is theoretically "worse".

I threw 1/2 a whirfloc into the first beer I no chilled in the M&B. (this was probably an "overdose", since it was a 3 gallon batch). I threw it in with 5 minutes left I the boil.

I did not throw any into the other two that I also no chilled.

The first beer had a lot more kettle trub and also a lot more fermenter trub, but the fermenter trub is probably because I tilted the M&B to get more out - and that's when I discovered that there was a hella lot of kettle trub as it poured into my fermenter almost immediately on tilting. As in I had really almost 1/2 gallon of kettle trub.

The other two didn't have as much kettle trub and I was able to tilt it a bit and not be pouring kettle trub into my fermenter. They probably each only had 1/4 gallon of kettle trub. The second batch was almost the same amount of grain as the first and the 3rd batch had more grain.

I don't if the end result will be "clearer" yet.

I'm going to throw 1/2 or 1/3rd (if I can break it in 3) a whirfloc into my next batch now that I've got the boil/boiloff volume figured out better, so I won't have to tilt it to make fermenter volume.

I'll decide what to do going forward based on how all this stuff turns out.

But it "seems" that the whirfloc did something based on the difference in kettle trub?

Maybe?

Or it could just be shit that happens, I don't know.

[John Sand]

I used whirlfloc early on, then stopped. My beers are usually very clear without any fining or cold crashing. I do leave it in the fermenter for three weeks. The exception is that recently some of my rye beers have cleared very slowly in the keg. On my current batch (Wrangled the Rye Beer) , I used whirlfloc and it is clear right away. I also used Nottingham yeast, which flocculates well.

[BlackDuck]

Good question Ron, I never thought about it. I use at least a half tablet for every batch. And I've used it with a without a hopstand. Both have come out clear. But that doesn't necessarily mean that there was or was not an adverse effect on with the hopstand.

Paul has a good idea about writing Brulosophy and see it they will run an experiment.

[HerbMeowing]

According to me; Irish Moss produces a denser trub cake than Whirlfloc resulting in less loss of clear wort.
Probably not much of an issue for larger batch sizes or homeboy brewers who don't obsess over their volume-into-the-fermentor the way I do.