Burned Wort

[j1n]

Maybe you will. I'm far too cheapskate to buy a robot!

Dont worry, it will be available for everyone. maybe you can get an Obama Bot.

 

[tomash1]

Hey Minky

Thanks for your advice, loading up on too much bittering hops may have been an issue as we did add stacks of Chinook at start of boil. I think about 88g (10 gallon batch though)

Do you think that this could have caused the strange ash tastes?

 

[Minky]

Hey Minky

Thanks for your advice, loading up on too much bittering hops may have been an issue as we did add stacks of Chinook at start of boil. I think about 88g (10 gallon batch though)

Do you think that this could have caused the strange ash tastes?

I think it's likely. I haven't used Chinook a lot, but it is said to have a smoky character to it. It has a fairly high alpha acid content (usually in the 12-14% range), so it wouldn't be difficult to overdo it. 88g is a little over 3oz., so you'd need a pretty solid malt backbone to balance it.

Most of that delicious hop character comes from the later additions anyway.

 

[tomash1]

Hi Guys

We have started brewing again and to try eliminate the ash taste we thoroughly cleaned the caked black prongs from the previous brew and as a secondary measure used hop bags to suspend from a coat hanger rather than throwing directly into the wort to avoid scorching on the prongs.

After chilling and taking reading we transferred the wort into the fermenter. We noticed that the prongs were black again and when trying the wort there was a hint of ash flavours again. This leaves no doubt that the issue is now the black burned prongs.

How do we avoid this from happening again and quite frustrating dumping litres of beer after a hard days brew?

We also spoke with the brew shop where we bought the boiler from and he suggested we thoroughly clean the prongs, we did that though the problem is they blacken during the 1hr and 10 minute boil and release the burn flavour into the wort.

Any suggestions?

 

[skunkfunk]

Is the boil pretty vigorous?

 

[tomash1]

Hi Skunkfunk

The boil is very vigorous. To give you an idea we start off with 23 litres and it boils down to about 17 (we add back chilled water to make up the losses)

I was thinking, once achieving a rolling boil I should turn one of the prongs off for the boil duration. What do you think about that?

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Tomash

 

[skunkfunk]

Hi Skunkfunk

The boil is very vigorous. To give you an idea we start off with 23 litres and it boils down to about 17 (we add back chilled water to make up the losses)

I was thinking, once achieving a rolling boil I should turn one of the prongs off for the boil duration. What do you think about that?

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Tomash

That's a pretty normal boil-off rate. You might try it sometime just to see if it fixes the issue, though. Have you tried stirring until it gets rolling?

 

[tomash1]

I have not tried stirring though from what I have read others have suggested stirring every 3-5 minutes during the boil process.

I will definitely try the stirring and turning one kettle element off once vigorous boil has been achieved.

Thanks for the advice

 

[skunkfunk]

I have not tried stirring though from what I have read others have suggested stirring every 3-5 minutes during the boil process.

I will definitely try the stirring and turning one kettle element off once vigorous boil has been achieved.

Thanks for the advice

My thought is that it may be scorching before the boil has it agitating. I believe you should stir the wort once you turn on the burners, until it begins boiling. After which, my gut instinct is you don't have to stir any more.

 

[IslandLizard]

Can you post a closeup picture of the prongs? I doubt they are ULW density, which have a smaller surface so hotter per sq. inch.

How many batches did you brew with it before the 2 (now 3) ruined ones?