Cold Break in FV, any advice.

[SiHoltye]

Hello,

I made a mild yesterday:

3.83 MO
0.45 Cry 60
0.23 Choc
25g 5.0 Goldings 90mins
25g 5.0 Goldings 15 mins
S04

Only trouble is the hop strainer (H&G 10G kit copper manifiold) blocked. I had to swirl the contents around continually to get the wort to pass out. Consequently I am sure I have a load of cold break in my FV. I didn't think fast enough to let it settle again and rack from the first FV into another but have pitched the yeast and am now wondering what might happen? Is skimming gonna remove much of the break material? Am a bit peeved 'cos this was to be ready for Xmas and a rebrew would really be cutting it fine.

Any thoughts or advice most welcome.

[prolix]

i would not worry to much those using cfc coolers must get loads of cold break in the fermenter, anyway the yeast needs a bit of nutrient

[Vossy1]

I started a poll a while ago regards fermenting on/off the break and it was near as dammit a 50/50 split.
I ferment on the cb FWIW.
As P says, don't worry about it

[Aleman]

Most of the break material will end up on the initial yeast head, so skin that when it forms, and allow it to reform, it should be clean and bright.

if you are really paranoid, look to get this off the yeast cake as soon as fermentation ends, and then keep it slightly warmer to help the yeast complete the fermentation, for a couple of days.

[SiHoltye]

It would be preferable I think to leave the break behind in the boiler. So how do others achieve this? My H&G copper manifold has got progressively worse at allowing wort through as the cold weather has come on. Perhaps relating to my increased ability to cool my beer in cooler ambient temperatures and acheiving better breaks which leads to the manifold clogging. Also I've started with a batch of silver foil hops that seem a little cloggier. Now I'm getting paranoid about everything!
I'm gonna brew again with my basic H&G 10G kit and want some confidence from you guys ythat I'll not get a stuck run off the boiler again!

Thanks of course for your suggestions.

[Dan]

recently Ive been leaving more and more break material behind in the kettle. Ive found my fermentations have been somewhat less vigourus than before. please correct me if im wrong but I read somewhere that yeast can sythersise oxygen from break material, and will do so when the dissolved oxygen is low.

By removing extra break material you may find you need to futher aerate the wort before pitching in order to get a fast and complete fermentation.

[niall]

My latest brew had less cold break than ever before in primary and fermentation was definitely not as vigorous as usual. Cold break didn't do my beers any harm (that I could tell) up to now.

I had the same problem in the past with the H&G hop strainer clogging in the 10 gallon boiler so I no longer use it. You could put your hops in hop bags or a hop sock.

[Aleman]

please correct me if im wrong but I read somewhere that yeast can sythersise oxygen from break material, and will do so when the dissolved oxygen is low.

Only too happy to oblige

Yeast are able to synthesise Sterolsand fatty acids from cold break which are used in building cell walls. It is much more efficient for them to synthesise sterols using oxygen and the biochemical pathways are set up so that in an oxygen rich environment this happens. When Oxygen is low then they use the alternative pathway, leading to an extended growth phase and poor quality of fermentation.

Basically you should always aim to aerate your wort as much as you can, particularly with lagers when you are pitching cold, and Big beers where you need more yeast to do the work.

[delboy]

It would be preferable I think to leave the break behind in the boiler. So how do others achieve this? My H&G copper manifold has got progressively worse at allowing wort through as the cold weather has come on. Perhaps relating to my increased ability to cool my beer in cooler ambient temperatures and acheiving better breaks which leads to the manifold clogging. Also I've started with a batch of silver foil hops that seem a little cloggier. Now I'm getting paranoid about everything!
I'm gonna brew again with my basic H&G 10G kit and want some confidence from you guys ythat I'll not get a stuck run off the boiler again!

Thanks of course for your suggestions.

I had the same problem with the H&G strainer blocking all the time, it was suggested that i get the hacksaw out to it and double up on the slots.

With the extra slots it works much better now

[SiHoltye]

Thanks all,

Using a hop sock there wouldn't be a filter for the break material so I'll try delboy's more slots attack first. I was getting great break left in the boiler a up 'til this. It was quite satisfying to see! If this improves things or not I'll report back.

Ta.

[mik82]

I used to fuss about leaving break in the boiler but now I just dump the whole contents of the boiler into a strainer set over the fermentation bucket. I can't notice the difference to be honest.

[Dan]

you tip the whole lot in ? It make s a big difference for me!

[Hammerhead]

I've never bothered about it and manage to consistently produce good beer.

[beermygod]

May seem a daft question, but are you leaving enough time for the hops to settle on top of the strainer?before you start a{slow)run off,I am not sure what the hop and grain strainer looks like,but i am assuming it is a copper pipe with slots underneath,i use a home made version like this i made many years ago,and found it needed a good few slots, and that it was best to let the hops settle while i am force cooling,
these days when i brew it is usually 100ltrs or a double strength boil to gyle down to ferment 200ltrs so there are plenty of hops to act as a filter on top of the strainer,in a small brew whith a fairly low OGthere are not many hops to act as a filter bed on top of the strainer.
as to your main point, I agree whith a lot of the others, i woudnt worry too much about, the carry over, just make sure you get a good vigorous fermentation ,skim often,the yeast will take care of it! if you have enough barrels/cornys,transfer it to another one, after a week of secondary fermentation.sure it will taste fine! cheers!

[SiHoltye]

Panic over.

The fermentation has reached 1.009 from 1.037, that's a smidge over 75% attenuation - good old S04! It has taken longer than usual but then I've never made a beer with as low OG as this and carried over the break material before. It's reached this today on day 8, without rousing or anything. Tastes good too. I plan to leave this another day and recheck SG. Then rack off, and leave for one week at room temp, then 2 weeks in my fridge at 2°C, then force carb in corni for Chrimbo drinking.

This brew is to keep things convivial during Christmas daytime, after the Queen's speech ANYTHING GOES!