Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

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Robwalkeragain
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Re: Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

Post by Robwalkeragain » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:21 pm

gobuchul wrote:
Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:38 am
Well I did another brew yesterday, a strong, hoppy IPA with 230g of hop pellets.
These were mainly Amarillo with a bit of Chinook for bittering.
I recirced through the chiller and back into the Grainfather until I got down to 60c, didn't take too long to get there. Then I left it for 30 minutes or so. Then dropped into the fermenter at pitching temperature.
The wort was a lot clearer than the previous brew.

However, the pellets did behave differently from the Saaz pellets. The Saaz pellets broke up into very fine particles and spread across the top of wort the moment I dropped them in, very visible and a pea green colour. Something I haven't noticed before. The Amarillo did not break up in the same manner.
I would guess the alpha acids are responsible, high aa% are very sticky, low aa% are flaky. Might need a quick stir to break em up, most breweries I know slurry them first but I just go straight in.

gobuchul
Steady Drinker
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Re: Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

Post by gobuchul » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:33 pm

I would guess the alpha acids are responsible, high aa% are very sticky, low aa% are flaky.
That could be it, the Saaz pellets were very low AA, only 2.4%. I've never brewed with such low AA pellets before, I have always used leaf hops when doing lagers.

Robwalkeragain
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Re: Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

Post by Robwalkeragain » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:48 pm

gobuchul wrote:
Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:33 pm
I would guess the alpha acids are responsible, high aa% are very sticky, low aa% are flaky.
That could be it, the Saaz pellets were very low AA, only 2.4%. I've never brewed with such low AA pellets before, I have always used leaf hops when doing lagers.
Not to be underestimated! We write off a lot of good hops in favour of big punchy ones. Nobles have been around for years with good reason and make a fantastic light ale

Dave S
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Re: Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

Post by Dave S » Sat Nov 17, 2018 2:25 pm

chris2012 wrote:
Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:59 pm
Ah cheers I didn't realise that.

So you leave it 30 mins or so to drop from 50/60C to pitching temp?

Does that work better than chilling the wort straight to say 18C?
After the 30 min rest I continue recirculating through the CFC until it's output is at pitching temp, which only takes a couple of minutes. If I'm adding whirlpool hops I first reduce the temp to 80C as per Orlando's procedure, then after the hop steep I might continue to reduce temp to 55C as before. I don't always do that though, depends how the wort is looking. If it looks like a mirror I'll probably go straight for run-off.
Best wishes

Dave

chris2012
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Re: Hazy wort from pellets in Grainfather

Post by chris2012 » Sun Nov 18, 2018 11:55 am

Dave - Thanks a lot for the reply, I'll have to give this a try!

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