hot break help what is it on my twelve brew now

[userlee5267]

hot break ok i aint got a clue what it is?

is it when the foamy stuff comes to the top just before the boil or am i missing something here?

only ever seen the protein clumping when the heat is turned off

i always thought it was the foam that comes to the top but i still get very hazy beer when its cold so i think maybe just maybe i aint getting a hot break what does it look like and what actually happens and can you see it happening at all. cold breaks easy as that starts quickly on heat off

confused.com on my twelve brew and have only ever seen the foamy stuff come to the top just before the boil starts

 

[jamesb]

The foamy bit when it comes to the boil isn't the hot break (despite what Palmer says).

After an hour or so of the boil and you're getting nice clear wort, look closely at it. You should see some white small flecks in it, loads of them. That's the proteins colagulating together. The addition of copper finings (protofloc, etc) at the end of the boil helps these to bind together even more.

 

[Alestar]

The foamy bit isn't the break, but if your boil is rolling nicely you may find that the break material gets stuck in the foam as the liquid circulates and then you can scoop lumps of crud off the top like a floppy rice pudding skin (especially if you're boiling unhopped wort or you've got your hops in a bag so they're out of the way!). :thumb:

 

[userlee5267]

never ever seen white flecks to be honest does it look the same as when you turn the heat off and you see loads of stuff coming to the midldle and dropping down?

and also are you suppose to scoop the crap of the top of the wort when its boiling somtimes i get loads forming on the top not white flecks just brown scum/foam?

 

[LeicesterLad]

i still get very hazy beer when its cold

You sure it not just chill haze what sort of temp are we talking, also are you using Protafloc or Irish Moss for the last 15mins of the boil ?

 

[userlee5267]

yes use either protofloc or whirlfloc @ 20 mins from end. when boil finsihes leave 30 mins then cool down to 26oc in 40mins then leave for 30 mins then a really slow run off half hour to one hour.

when botte leave bottles one week warm then into shed and some into fridge for 6 weeks the ones in fridge go very very cloudy i know its only cosmetic but i would like to get rid of it really

 

To quote Dave Line from his Big Book of Brewing (p159)
“The ‘hot break’ is said to be secured when all the protein matter has formed into flocculating compact lumps. Always check for this condition, (but not before at least one hour’s boil), by removing a wineglassful of the wort.
The thermal cycle of cooling, should, if the break is successful, deposit match head sized particles at the bottom of the glass to leave the wort above clear of suspended matter. If there are still minute particles in suspension which have not combined with the main masses, then the wort is ‘under cooked’ and boiling must be continued”.

 

[Alestar]

Don't think your white flecks have to be anything that'll pass the Daz doorstep challenge by the way. It can be off-white through tan or even brown depending on what you're cooking up...

 

[Tony]

... by removing a wineglassful of the wort.

A word of warning .... something made of pyrex is better here, I tried a wine glass years ago and it cracked. Good quality wine glasses have a real hatred of boiling wort/water/anything

 

A word of warning .... something made of pyrex is better here

Good point Tony, I did consider it, but couldn't alter the quote!