MacGuyvering up some kettle finings?

[Greig McGill]

So, I'm about to have a crack at a Märzen tomorrow (unseasonality noted), and don't have any kettle finings. It's too late to buy any now, and nothing will be open tomorrow.

Is there any common household substitute for Irish Moss in the kettle in the way that gelatin works as a barrel fining?

[JoKing]

Oh well - sux to be you for sure. Me too... this is the second time I've offered advise on here and it has turned pear shaped for the recipiant. I feel quite guilty...

... maybe I should keep my mouth shut from now on.

On a lighter side (just to piss you off) I just scored 1.057 with 5.5kg of malt. The wort is tasting very Anzac Biscutty... with marmalade...

I hope this isn't understood to be a "mine's bigger than yours" comment.

Chin up lad - better luck next time!

[Greig McGill]

Not at all, your advice worked like a charm in terms of reducing protein haze in the wort. Something else went wrong. Fuck knows what! :)

I'm sure yours IS bigger than mine. I've seen the photos. We are talking about mash tuns, right?

[James P]

My last pilsner took a hit with efficiency with a 52, 65, 72.

I'm putting it down to the crushed grains being about 4 weeks old....

[Greig McGill]

Hrm, that's a very good point. I normally grind my own, but bought small quantities (4kg total) of Munich and Vienna combined - already crushed. I've had them for 2 months now. Maybe that was it?

[JoKing]

It would explain some loss in diastatic power, but if you had a couple of kilos of freshly crushed modified malt - there should have been enough power to convert the starches of the older malt... but it is a good point.

[studio1]

how quickly does crushed base malt spoil?

[James P]

I was wrong the pilsner malt was 6 weeks old... the carapils 8 weeks.

Efficiency for me over the last four brews has been 75, 77, 78, and then crashed to 62. The only thing different between the brews has been the age of the malt and the mash the mash schedules, 1 and 4 where two step infusion with batch sparge, while 2 and 3 where 1 step with batch sparge.

[Mike Neilson]

Im going to put this out there, but I dont reacon you need to do stepped mashes!! well with the grain im getting anyway.

[Stu McKinlay]

I agree. All modern malt should be so well modified as to not require it. Solid mah temp and pH, plus a good vigorous boil, should be all you need. But it would make for an interesting experiment (by a lab, not a hombrewer!).

[Greig McGill]

I agree but the point was to work around lack of kettle finings. And that part worked like a charm.