Pressure Canning Wort Question

I'm getting ready to brew up a 5 gal all-grain batch of 1040 wort dedicated for yeast starters. I'm an experienced canner so understand steam pressure canning. I haven't canned wort yet so my question is...

Is it necessary to boil the wort after mashing before filling the hot canning jars or can I just skip that step & fill the hot jars direct from the mash pot since the temps will reach 250 F during the pressure canning?

Thanks in advance for a quick reply

I've just filled the jars directly from the mash tun and canned without preboiling. You'll get some nice break material in the jars but it won't hurt anything. I'm about due to do another batch myself.

Thank you very much! I'm just getting ready to grind the grist & fire things up.

You're welcome. Have fun!

Next question...I ended up doing a ten gallon batch instead of five. The canner I have holds 19 quarts & the first batch is almost done. It takes about 3 hrs for this canner to cool down enough to unload. The remaining wort is sitting in my brew pot & has been for about two hours & is around 140 F right now. Since I'm going to pressure can another 19 quart batch later tonight will it be safe to leave the wort there for another 3 or four hours? I didn't boil; just transferred from the mash pot to the brew pot for storage.

Thanks again...

GREM said:

Next question...I ended up doing a ten gallon batch instead of five. The canner I have holds 19 quarts & the first batch is almost done. It takes about 3 hrs for this canner to cool down enough to unload. The remaining wort is sitting in my brew pot & has been for about two hours & is around 140 F right now. Since I'm going to pressure can another 19 quart batch later tonight will it be safe to leave the wort there for another 3 or four hours? I didn't boil; just transferred from the mash pot to the brew pot for storage.

Thanks again...

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It might start to sour slightly at 140, if held then a long time. Can you fit it in a fridge, or a place that is warmer? 140 is sort of a "danger zone" for food and I'd be a little concerned. Not paranoid concerned, but a little bit. I'd want it colder or hotter.

How about bringing it to a boil for an hour or more till the canner cools enough for the next batch. Boil jars in clean mash pot & proceed?

GREM said:

How about bringing it to a boil for an hour or more till the canner cools enough for the next batch. Boil jars in clean mash pot & proceed?

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That makes me feel totally comfortable.

how about you?

I would say not even to boil for an hour- just a few minutes. Boiling will kill any lactobacillus you picked up from the grain, and then even letting it sit for an hour or two wouldn't bother me since it would be pressure canned. It's just that lactobacillus is totally covering the grain, and 140 degrees is a perfect growth temperature. I'd think bringing it up to a boil would pasteurize it and then it could easily sit for a while. I hope that makes sense!

I'm on the same page. I went ahead & brought the wort to a boil for about 10 min then killed the heat shortly after your first response. The second batch is canning away with 15 min left to go. The 15 lb weight is "wiggling" twice a minute & the guage is reading a steady 14 lbs. I added two hops pellets to each quart for preservation & nutrient before canning.

It's been a long day but very well worth it. I shot video of the whole process; so with any luck I can share my experience in the video section...

Yep...I'm comfortable...Thanks!!

Since the canning will take care of any isms in there, I suppose the primary concern here is sourness? How long would it take for the wort to develop a sour taste because of lacto? What I've been doing is a 5 gallon batch and running it into the jars at 165-170F from a single batch sparge. Lightly capped the jars while I can in batches. I left my jars out on the counter before canning for quite a few hours without ill flavors. I'm thinking that sparge temps held for a few minutes would pasteurize it enough to hold it for a while and of course the canning will destroy anything in there anyway.

jsguitar said:

What I've been doing is a 5 gallon batch and running it into the jars at 165-170F from a single batch sparge. Lightly capped the jars while I can in batches. I left my jars out on the counter before canning for quite a few hours without ill flavors. I'm thinking that sparge temps held for a few minutes would pasteurize it enough to hold it for a while and of course the canning will destroy anything in there anyway.

Click to expand...

+1

This was my experience exactly. I canned for 10 hours all told, the last jars in the batch are just as viable as the first.

Thanks for the feedback. It was a long day but well worth it. All 38 jars sealed & ended up quite a bit darker with a bunch of cold break material in the bottom of each jar. Here's a video of the first half of the day...

Part Two...