What type of break material was it?

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riromero

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I started a Hefewiezen batch yesterday. Usually I call the foam scum that forms on top of the boiling wort "Hot Break" and skim it off. I call the stuff that solidifies during the cooling period "Cold Break" and usually just pour it into the primary with the rest of the cooled wort since the amount is minimal. This time I tossed in 1 tsp of Irish Moss with 10 min left in the boil and break material formed almost immediately and circulated around for the remaining boil time. It sank to the bottom pretty quickly but was probably a good inch or two thick in the bottom of my kettle. I poured it all in the primary since I was caught off guard and didn't have a handy method for removing it. Question is, would this material be considered "Cold Break" even though it was obviously created in the hot wort? It's my understanding that cold break isn't as bad as hot break and can be safely left in the primary.
 
Question is, would this material be considered "Cold Break" even though it was obviously created in the hot wort? It's my understanding that cold break isn't as bad as hot break and can be safely left in the primary.

This is from the Wiki:

"Hot break is the protein that coagulates as foam on top of the wort before the boil starts, and as it reaches a boil it "breaks" due to its collected mass and falls out to the bottom of the kettle."

"Cold break is when protein in boiled wort coagulates and falls out of solution. This happens during the rapid cooling from boiling to fermentation temperature."

Having stated that, Yes it is okay if the "break" material goes into your fermenter. It has been shown to be healthy for the yeast. There is an argument that Break Material can lead to off-flavors, but in my experience I have yet to notice off-flavors from the break material.

Sometimes I get a better cold break when cooling my wort, and leave more of the break material behind in the kettle, other times I get very little cold break and all the break material ends up in the fermenter. Either way, the beer has been great, honestly I have made the same recipe twice and have gotten both good and poor cold breaks, I can't tell any difference in the finished product.

Hope this helps!:)
 
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