Cause of Hot Break?

BigTexun said:

I have a question... what causes a hot break and, other that just lowering the heat input and stirring like crazy, is there a way to control it?

Since I've gone to all grain, the foaming prior to the hot break is noticeably wilder and crazier than it was with extracts. It lasts a lot longer also.

Since I only have a 10 gallon pot, on my last batch, I intentionally took my first runnings to hot break before adding my sparge collection. Then, after adding the sparge, I took it up to hot break again before adding my makeup water (note: my make up water contains some sugars because I rinse my grain bed with 140 degree water to get it). At every step, I had another big and busty hot break that took me several minutes to control (each time).

I did all these steps because I thought that by getting some of that "hot break" stuff taken care of before the pot was loaded with 7.5 gallons for my prescribed 90 minute boil, it would be a lot easier to avoid any boil overs. Perhaps it was easier... but, I still had to fight it like crazy.

Just trying to figure out what causes it and / or ways to avoid having foam come over the sides. Thoughts?

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Hot Break-The foam is caused by proteins in the wort that coagulate due to the rolling action of the boil. The wort will continue to foam until the protein clumps get heavy enough to sink back into the pot. You will see particles floating around in the wort. It may look like Egg Drop Soup. This is called the Hot break and may take 5-20 minutes to occur, depending on the amount of protein in your extract. Often the first hop addition triggers a great deal of foaming, especially if hop pellets are used. I recommend waiting until the Hot break occurs before doing your first Hop addition and timing the hour. The extra boiling time won't hurt.

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orangehero said:

Hot break is when the proteins coagulate and fall out of solution during the boil.

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orangehero said:

Boilovers can be prevented by using anti-foam drops (emulsion of silicone; there are brewing specific products, but apparently you can use baby anti-gas drops), using a fan over the pot, and/or a spray bottle of water.

I think a good method is to add enough anti-foam drops as soon as first boilover is imminent to break it up, then do so again after hop addition, as that can cause a boilover too. Adding small quantity of hops pre-boil can reduce boilover as well.

This is what I've picked up from the forums, about to do first AG soon myself.

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BrewVol said:

do you brew on the stove?

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