Skimming hot break poll

[bwible]

Brulosophy recently reported on an experiment they did--split the wort before the boil. Skimmed half and didn't skim the other. The results of their three way blind tests was the tasters could not tell the difference. After fermentation clarity was the same. So, it doesn't matter if you do or if you don't.

That would be the test to me - clarity. Alot of times Brulosophy serves the tasters in opaque cups - they say so. When they do, that eliminates any test for clarity.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Hot break material is the collection of cloud-like aggregates, most of which are within the liquid wort, not on the surface. It's formed because the heat causes protein denaturation which exposes their lipophilic regions, which then precipitate with the various fatty acid and other lipid products in the wort. It's not possible to remove much of this break material by skimming. After chilling, you can allow it settle and then remove it. The break material is around 50–70% lipids by weight, and therefore removing it does have some potential benefits including improved foam and improved flavor stability. In particular, the oxidized lipid products formed on brew day are responsible for the paper/cardboard flavor that appears during beer aging.

Further reading:
https://brewingforward.com/wiki/Lipids
Cheers