Home of the BrewNosers

A little over three years of homebrewing and I've only just started using whirlfloc. Up until now I always thought Irish moss worked great but the difference on the last two batches has been dramatic. They look like cottage cheese in the kettle and there are huge chunks of break material swirling around in the fermentor.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

I have only used Irish moss myself but I have heard other people say that whirlfloc works better. Maybe they concentrate all the good stuff from irish moss when they make the tablets?

I have only ever used whirlfloc, and have wondered about irish moss.

I have also noticed a number of times a lot of chunks 'whirl'ing around in the fermenter. It only tends to happen when 1)I wasn't careful (ie. too drunk by the end of the brew), to make sure i didn't take too much of the trub and break material from the kettle or 2) on higher gravity beers where there is a strong fermentation for a couple of days.

It usually always settles back out nicely and after a week or two in secondary, produces a nice, pretty clear beer.

I've use both. Irish moss does look a little more like cottage cheese. I don't get much in my fermenter and my beer turns out super clean (no secondary). Whirfloc seems to break into smaller particles I find.