Anyone ditch the Vorlauf?

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BWE

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Alright, so I'm watching episode on youtube and there is a part in here where this King guy says he doesn't Vorlauf. Not just for the experiment he's doing, but makes it clear that he doesn't practice it on ANY beer.

After he makes his point about not Vorlaufing (something about Lipids) a screen comes up Stating KING'D, as if he said something very profound. The guy is a manager of a Northern brewer store, and a brewery contacted him to isolate some local yeast, so I would imagine he does have knowledge about brewing.

Just wondering, is there really anything to this? What are the BIG Pros and Cons on Vorlaufing? The biggest issue I could see would be off flavors from grains that make it through. Just wondering if it's enough to make a difference.
 
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Interesting. I'm curious to hear some expert's responses.


Roed Haus Brewery
 
I only pull about a 1/2 gallon and that is all, only becuase I want to catch any loose pieces of husk that may make it through
 
I don't like grain in my boil or my plate chiller. It's easy enough. I just run my pump until it goes clear. Then I transfer to the BK. I also whirlpool before I transfer to my fermenter. With less trub, I lose a lot less beer during the transfer to keg that way. I still finish my beer in 4 hrs, so I'll keep the extra steps
 
I am not going to change my routine. I am making some pretty decent beers and would rather stick with what I know works instead of potentially having a batch turn out less than satisfactory because I was inpatient.
 
I do it, but not much. Maybe 3-4 liters. Although, if I had a pump I would probably run it through until clear.
 
I forgot to vorlauf one batch a few years ago and didn't notice any difference.

I agree I don't want husk in the kettle but I hardly see any get through my SS braid anyway.

I own a pump but I always vorlauf with a plastic pitcher. My two fears are: (1) a stuck sparge and (2) running wort that hasn't been boiled yet. Maybe just paranoia.
 
Vorlauf is limited to 10 minutes for reason of stripping lipids at temps around 170F. The idea has been around longer than the guy has been on the planet.
 
I don't understand the argument about stripping the lipids. Isn't vorlaufing just recirculating or redistribution the wort? How does it functionally differ from simply stirring the mash tun? Essentially until you start sparging the mash tun is a sealed system, vorlaufing doesn't add anything to the system. You are just taking liquid from the bottom and adding it back to the top. How does/can that change the chemistry of the solution.

This article say it can "strips out fatty acids" (aka lipids) but how. Do they get filtered out by the grain bed? How effective is the grain bed at filtering?
 
My understanding is that the lipid deficiency fear was pretty much bunk, and in practice there are ample barley lipids to supply your yeast with even extended vorlauf (not that I understand why anyone would vorlauf longer than they had to anyway). I think there's even a suggestion that an excess of those lipids encourages staling?

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue4.6/miller.html

Anyway, I'd rather put clear wort in my fermenter, and minimize protein. Who wouldn't? Maybe the scales are different in a 10bbl batch depending on equipment or something but at 5-10 gal skipping vorlauf entirely seems like a lot of cloudy crap to leave in your beer, starches and husk matter. Assuming you want clear beer, that can't be good.

You can make beer a lot of ways and it will be fine, the fact that the guy above has success without vorlaufing doesn't mean it's preferable. I have success with vorlaufing, doesn't mean that's preferable either (at least not by itself).
 
I find that the filter bed sets up better and I get a faster lauter when I vourlauf. I don't like husk in the boil kettle either, just my preference
 
Great article fearwig. I agree with everyone one here on the husks and all. I honestly wont change my practice either, as I haven't been having issues. But definitely some good food for thought.

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