Scorched but good?

[bstacy1974]

I recently converted my brew system to electric. With this new feeling of unlimited control, I decided to perform a mash with a protein rest. Everything went well. Temps were all spot on. The only thing that was a bit off was my my volume.
But after the boil, I drained the boil kettle to find my heating elements were complete covered in black, charred malt sugars. I thought for sure that this batch was a goner. But I persevered and followed through with fermentation and dry hopping.
Now this beer is very young, but I'm not getting any charred or burnt flavors at all. Pleasantly surprised that this beer turned out ok. Has this happened to anyone else? Every post I've read about charred elements ended with a dumped batch of beer.

 

[cod3ck]

I recently finished my first batch with similar charred element results as you described. The beer wasn't a total goner, but there's definitely an off flavor...

Never showed up until after fermentation though. The sweet wort must have masked the baconized beer [emoji13]

 

[augiedoggy]

when doing the protien rest you have to stir the wort up real good to knock of the proteins and solid that settle on top of the element at that point... if your system doesnt allow this that its a flaw in the design and you might want to come up with a work around... This assumes your using an ULWD ripple element and not a higher watt density element which is more likely to scorch and less forgiving to begin with. I have scorched a couple beers with my first rims design and I can second the bad flavor came through after fermentation for me so if you dont have it you got lucky.

 

[BrunDog]

More details on your system would help us help you. Like AD said, assuming a certain element type...

 

[cod3ck]

when doing the protien rest you have to stir the wort up real good to knock of the proteins and solid that settle on top of the element at that point... if your system doesnt allow this that its a flaw in the design and you might want to come up with a work around... This assumes your using an ULWD ripple element and not a higher watt density element which is more likely to scorch and less forgiving to begin with. I have scorched a couple beers with my first rims design and I can second the bad flavor came through after fermentation for me so if you dont have it you got lucky.

Do you mean stir the wort off the element? Or just keep a steady flow over the element since it's in a RIMS tube?

 

[bstacy1974]

I appreciate the offer of help, but I knew after that brew day this was a flaw in my system. I'm not looking for help really, just curious if anyone had scored their elements and still finished with a decent beer? Looks like I got lucky.

But just to satisfy your curiosity, I electrified my kettle with two HWD 2000 watt, 120v elements, controlled by a Mypin TD4 PID. All I wanted to do was get away from propane, as my brewing area is in the garage. Winters are really cold, so I keep doors shut during winter brew days.

I never intended to do step mashes or protein rests while building this system. It was literally a "game time" decision to give it a shot. Big mistake on my part for throwing my entire process out the window at the last second on the very first brew day with a new equipment set up.

The idea, at the time, was to do a full volume recirculation through the cooler mash tun, using the kettle elements for heat. It worked surprisingly well actually, except for the scorched elements. As AD said, my circulation rate was not sufficient to keep the proteins from sticking to the elements, compounded by the HWD nature of the elements themselves. I could possibly make this setup work with lower watt density elements, but that is for another day.

I'm happy to report however, that beer #2 went amazingly well using the boil kettle as intended. Only a light yellowish coating on the elements after an hour long boil, that easily sprayed off with a water hose.

 

[BrunDog]

You need low density elements. Not sure the combo to get the power you want though.

 

[augiedoggy]

Do you mean stir the wort off the element? Or just keep a steady flow over the element since it's in a RIMS tube?

I was commenting on the OP's post . in a rims the hwd elements can still scorch if the flow isnt high enough to avoid boiling... you already know my opinion is to go with lower flow and longer contact time with gentler heat for even scorch free heating and less channeling and chance of stuck sparge.

Bstacy, The HWD elements can work ok if you just take care to not let proteins settle on it while off. lots of people here use them sucessfully but the LWD ULWD are really more accident proof .

 

[golfindia]

"Cooler mash tun"

I constantly had problems mashing in a cooler, lost count of the number of stuck mashes and resulting smokey beers. I sort of fixed the problem by putting a stainless scrubbie under the false bottom around the pickup tube, and putting the false bottom in a paint strainer. I moved on to a SS kettle mash tun, and have never had another scorched batch.

 

[augiedoggy]

"Cooler mash tun"

I constantly had problems mashing in a cooler, lost count of the number of stuck mashes and resulting smokey beers. I sort of fixed the problem by putting a stainless scrubbie under the false bottom around the pickup tube, and putting the false bottom in a paint strainer. I moved on to a SS kettle mash tun, and have never had another scorched batch.

Not that this topic has anything at all to do with the OP's issue but..

The material the mash tun is made of should have no real bearing on this... Its the engineering and design of the false bottom and surface area, filtering along with the flow amount which contributes to stuck sparges...
Realistically a cooler mash tun can have an advantage as far as consistent temps...
I went from a cooler to a larger stainless kettle as a mash tun myself for more space and ease of cleaning as well as bling factor so things matched better but my cooler mash tun worked very well...

I realize the sounds insensitive but I dont know how else to put it out there.. Realistically everyones setups and understanding of how things work can vary which often explains why some have better or worse experiences with the same or different combinations of equipment. golfindia when you went from a cooler to a stainless mashtun the false bottom design changed, Since its likely bigger in diameter with a lot more surface area and possible even different sized holes its likely more forgiving as to how much your trying to pump from it thats why you had better luck with the scrubbies which aided in filtering.
To generalize that cooler are poor mashtuns because you had stuck sparges from your setup is really not a fair or good statement.

I used a simple bazooka screen in my cooler for a year and it worked great with the flowrate I was using.

 

[BrunDog]

I agree. Flowrates, crush, false bottom and vessel shape affect mash stickiness... not material.

Slight tangent... there is something to be said for a non-insulated mash-tun: in overheated situations, they cool down to target temp faster and let the PID do its job. Anyway, minor point as you could always add some cool water.

 

[golfindia]

Not that this topic has anything at all to do with the OP's issue but..

The material the mash tun is made of should have no real bearing on this...

It was never stated that the material the mash tun was made of had anything to do with it, if that was inferred, sorry. I agree it's related to the shape of the cooler and filter design, 100%

I think a Titanium mash tun would probably work pretty well, though.