Skimming boiling wort?

[SmokeyMcBong]

hey all,

so, some may know but others won't, that I'm a chef and the other day while making stock I got to thinking. Whenever we (cooks) boil stock and the proteins coagulate and foam, we just skim that crap right off the top. It makes for a clearer stock or sauce.

when i boil wort, my natural instinct is to grab a ladle and skim that crap and ditch it into the sink. can someone tell me why I shouldn't do that and/or why the coagulated proteins are left in? all my cooking experience tells me to get rid of that stuff as it forms on the top.

thanks for the insight in advance!
ipe:

 

[Yooper]

You can skim it if you want. What happens is that you'll get a "hot break" and it will stop foaming and then you can start your hop additions.

When you brew, especially all-grain batches, that hot break happens and then the minute particles of proteins sort of coagulate. The wort then looks a bit like egg drop soup (same principle). Once that occurs, the break material will not redissolve back into the wort, so it doesn't matter if you skim it off or not- it won't be able to cloud your beer. It will fall out with the trub in the end.

The same is true of when you chill the wort, and get the "cold break". The cold break is comprised of bigger chunks of those coagulated proteins and will also not redissolve once formed.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

thanks Yooper.

Isn't it these same proteins that are responsible for protein haze in chilled beer? would the complete removal of them at the beginning reduce the haze? or are there different proteins involved?

 

[Yooper]

thanks Yooper.

Isn't it these same proteins that are responsible for protein haze in chilled beer? would the complete removal of them at the beginning reduce the haze? or are there different proteins involved?

Generally, it's the cold break proteins that impact chill haze. (pH is a big factor as well).

Removing them by getting a great cold break helps, but even if you leave the cold break in the fermenter, the break material won't redissolve and create chill haze. Clear wort tends to create a clear beer, so if the wort is clear above the break material it won't matter. I hope that makes sense- I know what I'm trying to say but maybe not expressing it very well.

 

[signpost]

I used to skim. But I got lazy and stopped doing it. Turned out the final product was just as clear as when I skimmed.

Unless you are doing a super quick brew to bottle, you probably don't have to worry about it. It will settle out just like the rest of the trub.

That being said, if you feel like skimming, go for it. It might reduce the trub you have to deal with when the batch is done. And, who knows, maybe you will notice a difference in the final product that I didn't notice in my experiences.

 

[FarmerTed]

I usually skim, but mostly because I'm standing around with nothing else to do other than monitor the boil and make sure it doesn't boil over. It's awesome to throw in the hops, and then collect some of the foam that is loaded with green hop dust and taste a little bit of it (did that to my 3 year old once, and it was pretty funny).

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Thanks for the replies. I guess that time was what I wasn't taking into consideration. when cooking, liquids don't sit around for weeks so suspended solids can settle out! I just finished making a batch and didn't bother to skim. I did strain the wort into the fermenter though.

 

[LovesIPA]

I did strain the wort into the fermenter though.

I don't think it's necessary. Because all those proteins coagulate and don't dissolve back into the wort, they will all settle out into the bottom of the fermenter. Same with hop debris from the kettle.

Worst case, you could forget to sanitize or not clean the equipment well enough for the sanitizer to do its job and end up with an infected batch.

Best case... you won't notice a difference. It's really not worth it IMO.