Cold Break

[TycoRossBrewing]

I seem to have some confusion about the Cold Break process. I use an immersion chiller and it drops the temp of the wort really well, from 200+ to arround 75 degrees in about 15-20 minutes. My question is, am I suppose to see a mass of protein flocculate at the bottom of the boiling tun before I transfer to the primary or does chilling the wort just cause the proteins to settle faster during primary fermentation?

 

[30_Ounce]

If you used Whirlflock or Irish moss you should have a nice layer in the bottom of your boil kettle.

 

[MindenMan]

If you drain it into a double layer of cheesecloth, or a double layer of paint strainer in a screen on top of your fermenter, it will catch almost all of the hot break/cold break, and leave very little trub in the bottom of your fermenter before you pitch your yeast. There is also a lot of good aeration from the screen to the fermenter.

 

[beerisking]

Would you be able to tell the settled protein from all the other stuff at the bottom of the kettle, namely grain particulates and hops? Is there something your concerned about or just wondering?

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

I believe the protein clumps up slightly in a slightly lighter tone than the body of the wort, almost looks like a fog or haze to the beer...at least to my y knowledge. My main concern is do any of you see a mass of material seperate out or not...someone said on here that the proteins settle to the bottom. I usually lauter my hot wort directly after flame off so I dont have a lot of hop material in my cooling tun.

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

I usually use about half a teaspoon of irish moss per five gal yield, but that gets filtered out during lautering...would that layer be made of flocculated proteins or were you thinking the proteins plus the plant particulates from the wort or just the settle proteins? Thanks again for your responses.

 

[beerisking]

You can see what you describe clearly if you have your wort in a glass container,and yes it is a hazy, lighter colored material but not sure if you will notice it in a BK looking down on it. I see it when I pour my hot starter wort into a 2L measuring cup to cool and can look at it from the side. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Why are you draining it hot? Do you use a CFC or an immersion chiller or something else to cool your hot wort? My last few batches I have been draining everything with no regard to what comes through (after whirlpooling and letting sit of course). Any hops or hot break material that enters the primary doesn't seem to hurt it. I usually rack to the secondary within a week or two to minimize any of flavors that may come from that material.

 

[TycoRossBrewing]

I usually strain the wort throgh cheese cloth directly after the boil unless I am adding spices like rosemary or something similar at fame off. But my normal process is to remove the hops from the wort before chilling it, is this not a good step to include? Should i chill it first, letting the hops and proteins fall from suspension and then filter the beer? I think I only filter it first because then I dont have to sanitize the cheese cloth. What Do you think? ?

 

[Yooper]

I usually use about half a teaspoon of irish moss per five gal yield, but that gets filtered out during lautering...would that layer be made of flocculated proteins or were you thinking the proteins plus the plant particulates from the wort or just the settle proteins? Thanks again for your responses.

Irish moss isn't filtered out during lautering, as lautering happens in the mash/lauter tun.

I think you mean that you filter the wort after it's cool? If so, there is no need to do that but you can if you want.

Cold break looks like big globs of goobers (for lack of a better description) like this:

Hot break is finer and smaller, and looks like egg drop soup in your wort.

Irish moss (or whirlfloc) help in the boil by coagulating the small protein particles so they are heavier, and so gravity has them fall out. You can filter it out if you want, but if you don't, it will fall to the bottom with the trub and compact down a lot.

I have counterflow chiller, so all of the cold break ends up in the fermenter. Some brewers prefer to filter it out, but it really doesn't matter in the end either way.

Edited to say that these are NOT my photos! I took them from an image search on the internet, and this is attributed to the Northern Brewer forum.

 

[beerisking]

I guess to help direct you,what do you use to cool your wort before it goes into the

 

[beerisking]

Sorry, I meant before it goes into the fermenter? I use a CFC like Yooper