Newest Threads

Cajun_Tiger33 · 09-27-2012, 12:39 AM

Im a beginner brewer and i was wondering how to remove hot break from the brew kettle when using a CFC. I will be using a hop bag also. i may be over thinking this because im still a little unsure what hot break is. I just want to brew a good beer.

deepcdan99 · 09-27-2012, 12:45 AM

I have never once worried about cold or hot break, and have turned out great beers everytime, well almost everytime, but was never due to cold/hot break.

xmacro · 09-27-2012, 12:45 AM

Hot break is bad; you want that gone; best way to get rid of it is to chill the wort quickly via immersion chiller, counterflow chiller, or a good ice bath.

Hot break is what falls to the bottom of the kettle when the wort stops boiling, the trub.

Cold break, aka chill haze, is arguably beneficial for fermenting and the yeast - it stays in solution and is only visible if the beer falls below 40F, so it's harder to remove

Good info:

Hot break: http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue1.4/barchet.html

Cold break: http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.2/barchet.html

kanta · 09-27-2012, 01:25 AM

Hot break forms when you are boiling your wort, and is the result of certain proteins coagulating. You won't see much of this, if any at all, if you are brewing extract, as the hot break has already happened to the extract when they were making it.

Cold break forms when you cool your beer from boiling, and you will get more of it if you cool faster, and the more of the break that you are able to get, the more you can remove. Don't worry about the cold break. If you are brewing extract and you follow the recipe the shop gave you (or that was included in your kit, if you are making your beer from a kit) you will produce the intended result

Cajun_Tiger33 · 09-27-2012, 02:07 AM

I'm brewing my first all grain in the next few weeks... This is why I was asking what's the best way to remove it? I was thinking just sending everything through the CFC an straining it when it comes out.

Cajun_Tiger33 · 09-27-2012, 02:33 AM

I have also been reading other sites about this and they said a strainer in the pot at the outlet for the valve would help filter the hot break before going into the CFC. Well I was given a legged and it has a welded valve on it and I was wondering if thee was a way to install a filter on it. If there is no pipe nipple on the inside part of the keggle.

**gcdowd** · 09-27-2012, 02:36 AM

Can't really remove all of it unless you filter. Best thing to do is to chill the wort quickly, maybe use a fining agent like Irish moss or gelatin, and let it ride. Most of the break material will settle during fermentation. After that, cold crashing will further help. I've never had a problem with break material. Beers will tend to clear, especially with much refrigeration. Virtually all my beers have cleared very nicely.

**unionrdr** · 09-27-2012, 01:09 PM

Hot break is the foaming you get right before the wort boils. It can produce the "wet popcorn" stuff to varying degrees. I use an ice bath,chilling down to about 70F in 20 minutes. Then pour all through a fine mesh strainer on top of the FV. Iget clear beer & about 3/8" of trub on average. Some kind of strainer would be the thing.

Cajun_Tiger33 · 09-27-2012, 01:56 PM

So basically if i was to strain everything after it goes through the CFC and before it goes into the fermentor i will be good and will remove alot of the trub? Also is there a possibility that the hotbreak could clog my cfc if its only gravity fed?

**unionrdr** · 09-27-2012, 02:03 PM

Hot break could plug up a CFC. But I had an idea once to use a large,in-line fuel filter (clear one with fine screen inside) to filter before going into the CFC. Seems to me someone on here did something like that once...