Hotbreak?

[ILOVEBEER]

Hello,

I was cruising the site and came across someone who actually removes their hotbreak in the BK. Is this a common practice with some of you?

I have never done it but have only brewed 80 gallons of beer with no recourse by not removing hotbreak. If it is recommended can someone explain why?


Thank you
Joe

 

[TipsyDragon]

i often whirlpool then siphon off of the break material in the BK. i have heard that to much break material in the fermenter can lead to soapy flavors in your beer. i have not personally experienced this so i don't know how true it is.

 

[the_bird]

He's talking about hot break material, not cold-break material. Not sure, haven't heard of too many people skimming off the hot-break material.

 

[suprchunk]

If I'm standing there with a spoon and see it, I'll scoop it out sometimes. I don't make a concerted effort to remove it. It's more of a "hey, look at that cool stuff floating, let me scoop it to look at it" kind of thing.

 

[TipsyDragon]

break marital is break material its all just coagulated proteins and lipids. the lipids are what would turn to soap.

 

[suprchunk]

I guess, if I was adding sodium hydroxide to my beer it would.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

Like I said I have never done it and never had any off flavors or anything...just curious.

Thanks
Joe

 

[Adam78K]

I've seen a guy with a water spray bottle spray the hot break down when it boils. He claims it works, who knows.

 

[Revvy]

It's one of those "different brewing strokes for different brewing folks" kinda things like so many things in brewing. there's a ton of different ways to do things, and they all ultimately make beer.

At Natl Homebrewday, one of HBT's Michgan Mashers did it on his brew.

no big deal. Not something I would do...but like anything in here, it has it's adherents.

 

[swankyswede]

I used to skim off the foamy stuff that develops leading up to the boil, but found that if I leave it in, I get better head retention in the finished beer. Head retention is mainly controlled by the proteins in the beer, and removing hot break removes those proteins, from what I understand.

 

[BuzzCraft]

The only reason I've come across for the recommendation is that you may get better hop utilization if you skim the hot break (I think I read this in Al Korzonas' book).

 

[springer]

I've seen a guy with a water spray bottle spray the hot break down when it boils. He claims it works, who knows.

works rather well

 

[Bensiff]

I have done it and not done it without much difference in the results. Removing it does seem to help mitigate boil overs though. However, if the head retention statement above is correct then it opens up some interesting thoughts. If you want a good lawnmower beer maybe removing it would help making the beer lighter on the palette.

 

[mojotele]

I've seen a guy with a water spray bottle spray the hot break down when it boils. He claims it works, who knows.

I always have a spray bottle of water at the ready just as a last ditch effort to prevent boil overs.

It doesn't remove anything, it just packs the foam down temporarily.