Clear wort when sparging?

[Tony Dyer]

Right, I've been brewing for 3 years or so with varying degrees of success but generally improving. However... when sparging, all the instruction books, manuals, websites etc. that I read say that you should recirculate your wort until it "runs clear". In all my 50 or so brews, this has never once happened, the runnings always remain cloudy although (sometimes) they improve a little after 8 or 9 circulations of 500mL to 1L each. I'm using the old 2 plastic buckets with holes in the base of the inner one method and a watering can with a rose.
Can anyone testify to what "runs clear" means and has anyone achieved this?

If so, I'd be interested to know how you do it!

 

[Clint]

Vorlauf I think it's called...I do enough jugs returning liquid to the mash tun until its clear of any husks and considerable amounts of any malt flour . I never get it absolutely clear to start but as the sparge progresses it clears quite nicely.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Right, I've been brewing for 3 years or so with varying degrees of success but generally improving. However... when sparging, all the instruction books, manuals, websites etc. that I read say that you should recirculate your wort until it "runs clear". In all my 50 or so brews, this has never once happened, the runnings always remain cloudy although (sometimes) they improve a little after 8 or 9 circulations of 500mL to 1L each. I'm using the old 2 plastic buckets with holes in the base of the inner one method and a watering can with a rose.
Can anyone testify to what "runs clear" means and has anyone achieved this?

If so, I'd be interested to know how you do it!

Before I upgraded my kit, I used to recirculate about 5L of wort (vorlauf) back into the top of the mash tun - basically the same amount you do. It never ran clear. It just took some of the larger particles out of the runnings. It would always be cloudy, but absent any particles visible to the eye.

It never caused me any problems brewing like this for 15 years and ended up with clear wort after the boil. I wouldn't worry about getting to get it to run clear.

I now have a grainfather, which recirculates constantly. It takes about 20 minutes of recirculation to run clear. But that clarity doesn't help in any way.

 

[peebee]

Can anyone testify to what "runs clear" means and has anyone achieved this?

It means whatever you want it to mean. I think the guys above have already answered well enough. I'm sure you can work at it to get a runoff that's all-but transparent but will the end result benefit from all the effort? More likely the effort will achieve the exact opposite.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

The until it runs clear advice seems a bit strange

Recirculation has two purposes

1. It runs the wort thro the seed husk again, the seed husk contains an enzyme that helps break the starch (that's what's in the grain not sugar) down into sugar hence the more times that you can run your wort thro the seed bed the greater mash efficiency (I.e. rate of sugar extraction). Now I am not saying you will get significantly greater mash efficiency, but you will achieve a marginal increase in mash efficiency; obviously declining each time you do it

2. Recirculating also helps temperature control during mash (before sparge). It wouldn't be unusual for there to be a 3 C degree temp difference between the top and the bottom of a mash tun - which isn't great in terms of the types of sugar you are creating - but it all depends on your gear.

However, how clear the wort is at the end of sparging is a bit academic since during the boil proteins will be produced that will make the wort cloudy. So the time to deal with any cloudiness is after the boil

 

[moto748]

In my ignorance, possibly, I thought it was largely the hop boil than does largely clear the wort, is that not the case? I don't really know how clear my wort is prior to hop boil, I've never thought to look, but I suspect not very. But as for the vorlauf thing, I do recycle a few litres of wort through the grains prior to sparging. Which works out quite conveniently, by the time I've done that, and the sparging, and got as much as I can out of the grain bag, the wort is nearly at boiling point and ready for the hops.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've often wondered about this. I used to recirculate until the wort was clear if visible particles, but then Brew in a Bag became an option. There's not the slightest recirculation with this process and often no sparge, either. Is the beer produced by this method inferior in any way? So I've tried making beer with no recirculation and observed no drop in clarity or quality.

 

[foxy]

Clint nailed it. 'Vorlauf' keep the grain bed fluid so it is above the wort, 20 to 30 minutes there will be a certain clarity, meaning the bits of flour will be eliminated from the boil. This is the most labour free way of clearing the wort before the boil. Alternative, a sieve and scooping the bits out.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Is the beer produced by this method inferior in any way?

No

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I recirculate throughout the mash and I do get clear wort. I can’t say it makes my beer any better in all honesty but I do like the way it looks. It *may* give me less material in the hot-break and cold-break possibly?

This is my wort from the mash pre-boil…

 

[An Ankoù]

I recirculate throughout the mash and I do get clear wort. I can’t say it makes my beer any better in all honesty but I do like the way it looks. It *may* give me less material in the hot-break and cold-break possibly?

This is my wort from the mash pre-boil…

View attachment 77240

It looks ready to drink!

 

[Tony Dyer]

Thanks everyone. All your comments make good sense and echo my own thoughts. I could try recirculating a few times during the mash but as this is a manual process involving removing the lid from the mash tun and exposing the wort to the air while running off, it would probably result in cooling my wort.

I think it's going OK - it always tastes good and that's the point isn't it?!

 

[Clint]

It looks ready to drink!

He don't need ideas like that.

 

[Clint]

Thanks everyone. All your comments make good sense and echo my own thoughts. I could try recirculating a few times during the mash but as this is a manual process involving removing the lid from the mash tun and exposing the wort to the air while running off, it would probably result in cooling my wort.

I think it's going OK - it always tastes good and that's the point isn't it?!

I stir my mash 2 or three times during the process,the vorlauf is at the end just to clear those husks and bits. You could rig up a pump and tube to recirculate but as your tun isn't heated it may cool the mash temp. All in one systems maintain the temp. What efficiency are you getting? Just a word on efficiency....you may never get the 80+ figures some get...I rarely do but mine is consistently around 70 and that is the key,consistency. You can then begin to nail down your process and make calculated adjustments if you want to and also make problem finding easier.

 

[Sadfield]

Clear wort into the kettle here.

Turbid run off is often the result of running off too quickly.

It's the same old, same old, though. Nothing makes a difference in homebrew. Do what what works for you.

However, if you dig a little deeper than homebrew forums, there's interesting information to be found that suggests things can make a difference, in often unexpected ways.
For example.

https://alchemyoverlord.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/how-lautering-and-wort-clarity-affect-ibus/

 

[chthon]

Wort clarity was not well correlated with beer clarity, which does not support the adage that “clear wort makes clear beer”.

It somehow always gratifies me when such one-liners are debunked.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Clear wort into the kettle here.

Turbid run off is often the result of running off too quickly.

It's the same old, same old, though. Nothing makes a difference in homebrew. Do what what works for you.

However, if you dig a little deeper than homebrew forums, there's interesting information to be found that suggests things can make a difference, in often unexpected ways.
For example.

https://alchemyoverlord.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/how-lautering-and-wort-clarity-affect-ibus/

Thanks for the fascinating link

 

[Buffers brewery]

I also recirculate throughout the mash process and achieve a nice clear wort into the kettle until right at the end when I squeeze the grain bag to get as much out as possible resulting in a pint or two of murky, milky wort going into the kettle . I leave the boiled wort for an hour after it’s cooled allowing it to settle out before transferring the wort to the fermenter. Still manage to transfer trub into the fermenter. It all drops out after fermentation and a 3-4 day cold crash.