Grains getting into kettle

[MickeyD]

I have grains escaping from my mash tun into the boil kettle. I vorlauf approximately a gallon before I start letting the wort flow into the kettle. My mash thickness is ~1.5 qt/lb. I start the flow slowly then increase it to a reasonable rate. Could it just be that the mill setting is too narrow at my LHB, where I get my grain and crush it?

Also, what negative effects should I anticipate from having grain in the boil kettle? It isn't a whole lot of grain, but mainly small particles much smaller than the size of the pores in my false bottom. I have heard you can extract tannins and other undesirable compounds, but will a small amount of grain effect the taste significantly?

Cheers

 

[Ricand]

Nah.. won't affect your taste, embrace them and call them flavor granules ;-) You didn't mention what type of mash tun you were using and whether your were using a false bottom or a braid. We might be able to help you better if we knew how they were bypassing the grain bed.

 

[MickeyD]

Ah, true. I am using a 10 gallon cylindrical cooler with a false bottom.

 

[devilishprune]

I have the same thing happen, looks a little like sand at the bottom of the BK.

I haven't had any issues from it, and don't expect to. All of that stuff is going to get left behind in the trub at some point in the process anyway, so I wouldn't (and don't!) worry too much.

 

[Ricand]

How tight does the false bottom fit to the cooler? Normally a vorlouf will set the grain bed so the wort comes out pretty clean, at least it does on my system. You might want to do it a bit more if you want to keep it out of the BK. That being said, the general consensus of this board would be a small amount of grain doesn't matter at all.

 

[Lariatbob]

Don't sweat it. Let it settle out a bit before transferring to the fermenter. Won't be an issue.