Hot-break driving me demented!

[beardybrewer]

I've been extract brewing for 8 years but in the last year something has changed causing an overzealous hot-break I can't figure out: change in DME brand, grains, hops, whirlfloc vs. irish moss?

Today I brewed my Armarillo-heavy IPA: http://lounge111.net/Brew/ViewLog.aspx?ID=74

Had a huge amount of hot-break material. There was a gummy wad of it in the tap I removed when I cleaned up. It's not hops, I'm not sure what it is, just gummy bound up proteins? Lots of it ends up in the fermenter and I'm leaving the last 1-2 litres behind because it's filled with so much material. This seems hugely wasteful.



Is this egg-drop soup looking stuff the hot-break? Should I just ignore it? How can I lessen it? I've tried new micro mesh hop bags and whole leaf hops but this makes no difference. Should I rinse my speciality grains thoroughly? There is often a lot of powder I can shake from the muslin bag. Any other ideas? Could the whirlfloc tablets be too effective? When I stir it to draw it off the sides it doesn't work, just instantly breaks apart and becomes inseparable from the liquid.

How can I avoid this? Or what should I do? This has been frustrating me for a long while and I could really do with some help / advice.

[soupdragon]

The only thing I can recall is that too much protofloc can give you a lot of fluffy break material. Usually a quarter to a half tablet is enough.Sorry I can't be more help.

Cheers Tom

[deanrpwaacs01]

Half a tab to 25ltrs is the correct dose iirc . If you get some break in the fv its nothing to worry about .

[simple one]

Well I for one didn't think you would get break material in DME or LME. I would have thought it was removed during the manufacture.

Shows how much I know!

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Watch your whirlfloc dosage. Over do it and you can have massive amounts of wort loss to trub

[orlando]

Well I for one didn't think you would get break material in DME or LME. I would have thought it was removed during the manufacture.

Shows how much I know!

Came as a surprise to me when I started boiling it for making starters, found it dropped out quite quickly but didn't worry about it if I didn't, hasn't affected yeast performance. The OP's problem is almost certainly overdosing with kettle finings.

[Jocky]

Well I for one didn't think you would get break material in DME or LME. I would have thought it was removed during the manufacture.

Shows how much I know!

You do get a bit, but nowhere near as much as an all grain brew.

[beardybrewer]

Thanks very much for the responses fellas. I've gotten similar advice that I'm overdoing the whirlfloc. This would also make sense why the problem has cropped up in the last year as previously I used irish moss for many years.

Also I was informed the picture is of cold-break, not hot break. That hot break is the little flakes you see when starting the chiller from boil and cold break is the egg-drop soup result of congealed proteins in my picture. For a long time I thought it has to do with the pellet hops I was using which often disintegrate somewhat. But my last brew in the tap was a grey gummy wad of proteins that certainly wasn't from hops. Pretty sick, eh?

I'm very interested to try my next brew back with irish moss and see the difference. I didn't realize I was overdosing and that doing so would have such a pronounced effect.

[albion_king]

Looking for an opinion I think related to this topic. Followed this extract recipe last night
http://brewerschoice.com.au/mosaic-pale-ale/
(Adding the balance of the extract at 55 mins which they seem to have completely forgotten!) and got this when I strained into the fermenter




My best guess is I've overdone it using a whole whirlfloc tablet (first time I've used them) but would appreciate the opinion of a few more experienced members.

Pitched my yeast starter and it's happily fermenting away this morning.

Do I have a problem? Is it likely to be detrimental to the beer? Should I be worried about how dark the liquid is once this stuff has dropped? It's supposed to be a pale ale!

Be grateful for your input

AK

[orlando]

Probably overdone the copper finings but probably also run off to soon. I always leave it at least 1/2 hour after chilling before doing so. You don't mention how you chilled, If you chill in the boiler either with a coil chiller or by recirculating via plate chiller back into the boiler, the cold break should form quite quickly and will eventually drop out and mix with the hops to form a good filter. Most of the trub should be then left behind, a little coming through isn't supposed to be a problem arguments have been suggested that a little is good for the yeast. Bottom line is it probably won't do any harm but may give you some clarity issues if you don't leave a lot of the trub and of course beer behind.

As for the colour of the beer it looks like you will be stuck with that, post your recipe it's likely to be that rather than anything else.

[albion_king]

Thanks. Still very much a beginner, I cooled it in a water bath. Would you recommend racking to secondary?

[orlando]

Would you recommend racking to secondary?

No. I don't think many brewers now rack to a secondary unless it is to bottle or cask from. The downsides are too many, risk of infection and not allowing the yeast time to clear up after itself, are common problems. It used to be believed that yeast cleared better but it turns out to be something of a myth.

[albion_king]

Ok. Can you help me understand exactly what this stuff is in my wort? Guessing some kind of protein that the tablet is meant to drop out to help it clear? Would this normally be held in suspension in the wort if I hadn't used whirlfloc?

[orlando]

Ok. Can you help me understand exactly what this stuff is in my wort? Guessing some kind of protein that the tablet is meant to drop out to help it clear? Would this normally be held in suspension in the wort if I hadn't used whirlfloc?

It is indeed protein, amongst other things. Given enough time it may well drop out but we don't want the wort to spend any more time than necessary at temperatures that can expose it to other things that love wort as well. This is one reason why crash chilling is such a good idea and why using kettle finings helps us to pitch the yeast as soon as possible.

[albion_king]

Cheers. By run off too soon, are you suggesting the wort may have been too warm when I mixed it with the cold water in the FV? (Only boiled 8 litres)