Is This What 'Cold Break' Looks Like?

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Stankonia

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I brewed 2 batches back-to-back this past Saturday and experienced something I never have before:

cold_break_.jpg


This pic is after the keggle was already emptied to my carboy after chilling, so the foam itself is taking up half of the keggle.

I use an immersion chiller, and have a 15" false bottom in my BK. Also, I use whole hops loose in the kettle.

I read that whole hops help filter out cold and hot break, but this seems ridiculous. It looked and felt like a can of cool whip exploded in the kettle. You can kind of see the tracks left behind when I ran my hand through it.

So is this what cold break looks like, or could it be something else?
 
What did you brew? It looks like hot break but it certainly couldn't be that if you chilled and emptied the keggle. It's certainly protein break material.
 
The pic was of a stout so it was a pretty diverse grain bill, the the base was 2-Row. The same thing happened on the IPA I Brewed next which was pretty much all 2-Row.
 
Odd for sure. Are you using Irish Moss/Whirlfloc or similar? Water changes?
 
What burner are you using and are you getting a good, rolling boil? thinking your burner may be undersized and you not getting a good boil (ie. hot break) until you evaporate some liquid which is toward the end of your "boil". just a guess here cause it certainly does look like hot break to me.
Tom
 
You nailed it when you mentioned back to back batches. That makes for a long brewing day. Now, since you probably didn't want to spend 8, or 10 hours brewing. You may have sped up your process. The foam is a result of a short or slow boil. Foam and hops are the first thing over the rim of a boiler during the dreaded boil over, when the boiler isn't large enough. The foam in your boiler would have dissipated if the boil was right. You didn't get a decent hot break. The best way to know when you boiled long enough is to look at the wort while it is boiling. Once you boil past the foam stage, continue to boil until the wort appears to glitter as it boils. When you see the wort glistening, you hit the hot break. In old brewing jargon it was called "falling bright in the boiler." A simmering 60 minute boil won't achieve a good hot break in a heavy grained dark beer, any Pilsner, or fine Ale. Also, try slowing down the run off from your lautertun. You carried some "mud" into your boiler.
 
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