Do I need to worry about hot side aeration if i filter my wort pre-boil?

BigFloyd said:

I'm trying to think of a good reason to filter pre-boil. Hmmmm, I'm drawing a blank. You're going to get hot break anyway regardless since it doesn't even form until the wort reaches near-boiling temps.

The way to deal with the kettle gunk (and get more clear beer) is:

1) bag your hops

2) use Whirlfloc at 10 min.

3) chill fast

4) After chilling, cover the kettle and let the gunk settle about 15-20 minutes then be careful to leave it behind when you transfer to the fermenter.

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MuddyCreek said:

How do you transfer from your Mash Tun to the Brew Kettle? If you simply drain from the Mash Tun spigot, you could simply put your muslin over the drain valve and shift it as it clogged up. Then you wouldn't have significantly more aeration than you normally do. Perhaps a bit but certainly not enough to lay awake night in a cold sweat.

Well, unless you like that sort of thing...

At the volumes that Homebrewers generally produce you just shouldn't have to worry about hot side aeration. At a commercial level where you're brewing 7 or 10 bbls or more, aeration become a more significant concern that you want to limit as much as possible.

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secondratemime said:

Well in addition to the coagulated proteins formed during the hot and cold break, there is a significant amount of particulate matter left over from the mashing phase. I guess if I was using a mashtun this would naturally get filtered out during sparging but as it's BIAB it's all in the same vessel.

I've considered recirculating by pouring jug-fulls of wort back on top of the bag, but wasn't sure if it was going to end up being more of a faff than just draining the preboil wort into the FV through a muslin and then putting the strained wort back into the boiler. I realise this wont have any effect on the hot and cold break, but I think these are made worse by particles left over from the mash.

James

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secondratemime said:

It's BIAB, so it's all the same vessel. I'll see how bad it is after the mash tomorrow and if it looks worth it I'll try doing it like that. I figured hot side aeration would be difficult to do anyway, but as this beer is going to need to condition for a while, I didn't want to introduce anything that was going to cause it to go stale.

Cheers!

James

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BigFloyd said:

I do electric BIAB, so I can appreciate what you're describing. The first batch I did on my rig after I built it, the wort (a Vienna/Amarillo SMASH) looked like mud going into the fermenter. That was probably because I wasn't yet used to the system, didn't give it the 20-minute rest after chilling and ran the pump too wide open when transferring. However, after fermentation and a 5 day cold crash, what went into the bottling bucket was nice and clear. I was both surprised and relieved.

What kind of bag are you using? I bought two of the MoreBeer bags and now double them up (one inside the other) each batch. That seems to help contain some of the goop. Also, if you are milling the grains really fine so that you have lots of flour, your efficiency will be good, but you'll get more goop.

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RM-MN said:

How long were you planning to condition? I have a stout that has been in bottles for about 2 years without any degradation and I didn't filter out any of the particulates that made it through the bag when I BIAB brewed it.

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secondratemime said:

There's a pretty limited range of commercially available BIAB bags over here in the UK, so mine has a fine mesh on the sides with a coarser grade on the bottom to aid with drainage. I don't have the facility to mill my own grain so I buy it crushed from the HBS so it's not too fine. The culprit is probably the coarser weave on the bottom, so I'll recirculate a few times with a jug and see what it looks like. If it's still full of particles I'll run it into my fermenting bucket through a muslin and then pour it back in to the boiler if hot side aeration shouldn't be a problem.

James

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RM-MN said:

You could buy a sheer curtain (Swiss voille) and make your own bag or even just use a small piece cut to fit the bottom of the bag you already have to improve the filtration.

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