Partial Mash Cold Break & General Procedure Critique

[ubermench]

Hi all,

I've been brewing sporadically for about 4 years now, but in delving through the backlogs of this great forum in troubleshooting a troublesome recent brew, I've been reevaluating my procedure and am hoping for some friendly critiques, as I'm hoping to really improve the finer points of my brew. Sorry in advance for any of this which may have been answered already!


I tend to brew partial mashes, with a partial boil of ~3 gal, and use bottled spring / mineral water - should my water source be changed? I normally get a nice hot break, which I've never skimmed, but left behind in my kettle before racking to primary. At/right before flameout, I'll add any extra DME / etc as needed, to let it pasteurize at boil temp.

I use an immersion cooler, stirring gently with the cooler until the wort is below 90F, then stirring and whirlpooling more vigorously with my boil paddle down to below 70F, at the same time slightly oxygenating my wort. The total cooling process takes 10 minutes or so. I let the kettle sit uncovered (to avoid DMS reflux) for about 10 minutes for the break and trub to collect, before carefully decanting into my primary.

I tend to end with a few cups of hot/cold break, but seem to have far less than some of the more impressive examples out there. Obviously there is variation in the amount of break based on protein content of the grain bill, extract vs all-grain, etc, but is this too far below average? Is the 10ish minutes to cool from 212 --> 70F not quick enough to get an effective cold break?

I know that hot break negatively impacts the final beer flavor, but hear conflicting reports on the tradeoff between the potential value of cold break as yeast nutrient vs chill haze. Should I not be as aggressive in forming a cold break? Or is there a better way to remove hot break, but leave some cold break to help feed the yeast during lag phase?

Once the chilled wort is in primary, I top off with sanitary water to 5 gallons, and measure OG. I'll close off the primary, and shake it while channeling my inner Harry Craddock ("Shake it as hard as you can. Don’t just rock it, you’re trying to wake it up, not send it to sleep!"), to further oxygenate the wort. I'll double-check the wort temperature at this point before pitching the yeast starter I've made ahead of time.

I monitor the gravity and activity in primary until I've hit FG (or close enough to it); by this point, trub and a small amount of break has collected at the bottom. I'll give it a diacetyl rest for 2 days, then rack to secondary for 2+ weeks, to let it further condition and clarify, before kegging.


This is my general process, and it's served me fairly well. I'm starting to reach out more to my local homebrew club and competitions, to get more feedback on my beers / meads, as I'm always looking for ways in which to improve the subtle details, to really take my brews to the next level. How does this general process look? Am I being over/underzealous about my breaks? What all should I change (other than moving to AG, that's in the works)?


Thanks as always for the help!

 

[cswis86]

I don't think you need to worry about having a small amount of hot break. If your wort is clear and your finished beer is clear I think that's good enough! Do you use whirlfloc/irish moss? It tends to cause that fluffy break material that you see in that other post.

The diacetyl rest isn't necessary unless you're doing lagers (maybe you are) and I don't think it's worth the extra effort to transfer to a secondary unless you're doing a high gravity beer or a lager. I typically leave my normal strength beers in my primary for 2-3 weeks then bottle/keg.

As far as improving your process I'd say focusing on fermentation and yeast health will give you the highest return for your effort. Using the proper pitch rate of healthy yeast and controlling fermentation temps will make the biggest differences. Don't know if you already make a yeast start or add yeast nutrient but it's the cheapest way to make better beer.

In summary I think your process is good and you may even be doing more work than you have to!