NO hot break??

[beerman77]

OK Im not a total noob but still fairly "green". (Only been doing this about 2 years) Did an all grain recipe a few weeks back... everything went smoothly, good yield off my mash and then I set it to boil. I waited for the hot break, spray bottle filled with cold water in hand to control the foam over and.... nothing. It slowly came to a boil and did its thing. No foaming whatsoever. I was almost disappointed even though I hate cleaning off the sides of my brew pot. So has this happened to anyone else? It there a potential problem? I racked to my secondary last night and took a taste. It tastes fine... actually seems to be on its way to being a pretty awesome holiday ale. Thoughts anyone?

 

[Hammy71]

I've had brews with a hot break and then I've done the same brew a couple of months later with nothing.... Happened today as a matter of fact. Wouldn't worry about it.....

 

[beerthirty]

I could be completely wrong but when I get a fast hard boil it looks like egg drop soup. When I have a slow soft boil I dont get much break material. Also the hard fast boils seem to produce clearer beers. Either way the beer is always drinkable. RDWHAHB

 

[JesseRC]

Ever since I got my KAB6 burner, its been egg drop soup for me. Man I might have to start leaving brewing more to make up for the break material I leave behind. Or I will have to include it to reach my target volume. I'm assuming its good to get hot break right?

 

[beerthirty]

Both hot and cold break are proteins of different types. The amount of break material(protein) possible in a recipe is dependent on the recipe. While a certain amount is good for head retention, overdoing it does have its own set of problems. Unclear beer, a head that wont drop even in an oily glass(no I have never drank from an oily glass). Normally with a good hot and cold break beer comes out clear with good head retention and lacing without forcing you to suck foam all the way down.

 

[beerman77]

OK well that makes me feel a little better. Just got worried since its a first for me. Ah the paranoia of brewing beer...

 

[whahoppened]

I started brewing a few months ago and have done four brews, all extract. Have not observed a hot break with any of them. At first I was worried I was messing something up, but the three I've bottled have no issues with clarity, head or flavor.

Any insights on why I haven't been getting major foam-ups during my boils? Would my brews benefit from adjusting whatever to cause a hot break?

 

[KhellendrosXS]

I did my second all grain yesterday and it was the same recipe as my first. On my first batch I got the nice 'egg drop soup' but on this batch I did not.

The differences in procedure were the first time I started the kettle on the flame while I was still doing my final sparge so it would be getting hot. This second time I waited until I had collected all my wort to start the pot on the flame. First time heated very quickly and this second time took much longer to get to a boil.

Either way Im not too worried....its all going to be beer.

 

[Gremlyn]

Visible hot breaks are going to be most dependent on how quickly your wort is heated, as Khellendros observed. I only ever get a very mini hot break foam because I am doing electric stove top with a heatstick.

Just because you don't see it occur, however, doesn't mean that it didn't occur. A hot break is proteins denaturing, coagulating, and falling out of solution due to heat. This will occur throughout the course of the boil no matter what, and I'd be inclined to believe you'll always reach the point where the 'hot break' has completed whether you see it or not.