forgot to vorlauf..

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krenshaw

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made 3 batches this past weekend and it wasn't until i was going through some threads on here yesterday that i completely forgot to vorlauf on all 3 of them :drunk: .. i know it won't effect my brew much at all.. seemed to sparge fine w/o any stucks or extra particulates.. though i was just wondering if anybody else has done weird mistakes like that which you don't even realize, but are so off from your typical brewing routine that had to make you laugh afterwards
 
It's no big deal, stuff settles anyway. But we all forget to vorlauf or add moss or get hop additions mixed up on occasion.

And the funny thing is....The beer still manages to turn out fine.
 
I made a new MLT for my first solo brew with a CVPC manifold a couple weeks ago, it worked amazingly well, didn't even have to vorlauf. I pulled 2 pitchers and had zero sediment pull. 3/4" CVPC with holes cut by a dremel metal cut-off wheel (just what I had at home).
 
It's no big deal, stuff settles anyway. But we all forget to vorlauf or add moss or get hop additions mixed up on occasion.

And the funny thing is....The beer still manages to turn out fine.

Exactly. That's the beauty of homebrewing is you can "screw up" and still make great beer. I've had some mighty tasty mistakes over the years. Good work on cranking out 3 batches in 1 weekend!
 
i usually like to take a day off of work and do 2 batches since the wife and kid aren't around.. but this past weekend they both went to pittsburgh to visit family so i had the place to myself, and nothing left in my kegs except for some apfelwein so i knew what i was doing.. i'm also working on building my keezer which i'm looking forward to posting pics once i have most of it done..

funny thing was i wasn't even drinking while i was brewing.. first time i've ever not drank anything but with the temps at 98 i believe it was, i had about a gallon of water..
 
I unknowingly had a giant dough ball in the middle of my mash tun while sparging my IPA a couple weekends ago, which wrecked my efficiency. I now have a 67 IBU 4.2% session IPA. It tastes good, but the bitterness ratio is about 50% higher than I was going for. Just goes to show that you can screw up a lot of stuff, but it's pretty hard not to end up with beer at the end.
 
BIAB brewers can't vorlauf, and as it increases in popularity for reasons I can't wrap my head around, they don't complain.
 
When I first started brewing, it seemed that every time I would bottle I'd get about half of the bottles filled before realizing I didnt prime the batch.
 
You're fine of course. I've actually heard now from two different yeast nerds that vorlaufing removes a large portion of lipids from the wort which are essential to yeast health, particularly in the lag/reproduction phase. A quick google doesn't turn up anything- does anybody have some data or another source for this? It's not an issue for me when I'm brewing at home (BIAB) but it would be nice info to have at the brewery. I've never been particularly interested in getting super clear wort before racking to the fermentor- none of that stuff ends up in the finished beer anyway. Some people think it's really important, though.
 
yeah i always primary for 4 weeks.. hard rule to stick to but i haven't broken it yet in all of my AG batches.. always had crystal clear beers with no added agents.. don't mind some extra stuff added to the yeast cake
 
You're fine of course. I've actually heard now from two different yeast nerds that vorlaufing removes a large portion of lipids from the wort which are essential to yeast health, particularly in the lag/reproduction phase.

That doesn't make sense, because you're pouring everything right back into the mash tun. Are you sure that they aren't talking about some other process? All you do in a vourlauf is draining a few quarts of wort out of the bottom of your tun, till there are no husks, and pouring it back in the top of your tun, back into the mash. How would anything be "lost" if everything is going back in?
 
That doesn't make sense, because you're pouring everything right back into the mash tun. Are you sure that they aren't talking about some other process? All you do in a vourlauf is draining a few quarts of wort out of the bottom of your tun, till there are no husks, and pouring it back in the top of your tun, back into the mash. How would anything be "lost" if everything is going back in?

Larger lipid coagulates could definitely bind to grain material on their way through the bed. Let me go grab the video clip that I saw most recently. Still, I don't know why there would be more lipids in the wort you pull out for vorlauf than in the rest of it. Just something I've heard more than once now from people who really know their yeast.

Edit: here's the BrewingTV episode- the vorlauf bit starts around 7:05 http://www.brewingtv.com/episodes/2011/8/10/brewing-tv-episode-42-kings-coolship.html
 
i never vorlauf anymore, i go straight to the kettle. the resulting beer is as clear as it was when i did vorlauf so i never went back. the bits of grain don't seem to make any difference either so i feel like i'm all set in that department. the old "try it and see" test i guess is what i call it.
 
When I first started brewing, it seemed that every time I would bottle I'd get about half of the bottles filled before realizing I didnt prime the batch.

$hit, I just did something like this a few months ago, but it was with the acid blend addition for my cider. I made up a solution and painstakingly uncapped all the bottles and added in 1 ml of the stuff and recapped...sucked to have to do all the extra work, but the cider turned out great...
 
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