I was starting my boil in the garage the other day. While tweaking the temp so it wouldn't boil over and arrive at the hotbreak I thought why not use my wet/dry shopvac to vacuum off the foam as it rose? Is that foam necessary for the wort/beer? Wouldn't it help with a clearer beer in the end if it were vacuumed away? Any thoughts??
Vacuum hotbreak
- Thread starter randy2479
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Opinions vary. Some say that clearer wort equals clearer beer. I think Brulosopher did an experiment in which he poured everything (break, etc) into the fermenter and actually ended with clearer beer. So, either way has it's proponents. I don't see any difference either way, but none of my brews are cloudy. Sometimes I strain the wort into the fermenter, sometimes I skim the hot break, sometimes I just pour it in.
I might be worried about that sticky goop in my vacuum though.
I might be worried about that sticky goop in my vacuum though.
GenIke
Well-Known Member
Seems like a good idea to me, but the vacuum and tube would get nasty.
beergolf
Well-Known Member
I am from the just pour it all in school.
After fermentation, the junk just all compacts at the bottom of the fermenter. A careful racking to the bottling bucket or keg produces very clear brews.
After fermentation, the junk just all compacts at the bottom of the fermenter. A careful racking to the bottling bucket or keg produces very clear brews.
dinnerstick
Well-Known Member
indeed opinions vary. there was a basic brewing radio collaborative experiment on this, where people split their cooled wort into 2 fermenters, one got clear wort and the other got wort + all the trub at the bottom of the kettle. then they compared the beers blind. well why take my word for it... http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2012
feb 23 episode.
but in some cases the 'trub' beer came out clearer.
feb 23 episode.
but in some cases the 'trub' beer came out clearer.
GenIke
Well-Known Member
Dude, nobody wants to listen to a podcast to find out what happened. How about you just tell us? pretty please?
alane1
Well-Known Member
He's not talking about trub/cold break, the op was talking about hot break.
I have found that the forming 'hot break' helps insulate the wort and produce boil conditions quicker, but that being said, I think I may skim off the forming hot break on my next batch and see how it impacts clarity . . . A little less protein working itself out through the boil must at least result in a little less trub and suspensary material in the fermentor - and thus, resulting product.
Thanks for your ideas. Surely someone, somewhere has tried this. I have an IPA boil coming up this weekend and I will try it. I will use the old wet/dry vac and vac up a little clear water at the end to help clean out the hose. I'll post results.
alane1
Well-Known Member
A ladle or a serving spoon works for me...but have at it!!!
dinnerstick
Well-Known Member
err cuz i can't remember? what i do remember is that there was no obvious correlation between cloudy wort and cloudy beer in the various participants' beers, and that some of the people had clearer beer from the cloudier wort.
I'm thinking about my shop vac and I don't want any of the dust or anything else that I used it for prior to brewing in my wort.
tracyk
BrazoriaBrew
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2012
- Messages
- 416
- Reaction score
- 80
I think you will find that you will need to wash the living crap out of the vac hose, as all kinds of sticky wort will stay in the ridges on the inside and grow all kinds of nasties. Post back to let us know how it went though. I usually just skim it off with a stainless steel strainer as it starts to form. Easier to clean.
Just a horrible idea...
Cheers!
Cheers!
VApatriot
Well-Known Member
I brew 5 gallon batches in an 8 gallon kettle. I usually collect ~6 1/2 gallons of wort so there's not a lot of headroom to prevent boil overs.
What I do is watch the heat on the burner and adjust down as necessary. At the same time I use a very large stainless steel serving spoon (got mine from Moorbeer.com w/ my brewing kit when I bought it) to constantly stir the hotter wort from the bottom of the kettle to the top in an upwards motion while it's getting ready to kick over to full boil. Once it kicks over to full boil I adjust the flame on the burner up as necessary. I haven't had a boil over since I started this process.
As far as clear beers go, I always use a healthy teaspoon of irish moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil and pour every last bit of wort, trub and all, into the primary. I always have very clear beers. Works every time.
What I do is watch the heat on the burner and adjust down as necessary. At the same time I use a very large stainless steel serving spoon (got mine from Moorbeer.com w/ my brewing kit when I bought it) to constantly stir the hotter wort from the bottom of the kettle to the top in an upwards motion while it's getting ready to kick over to full boil. Once it kicks over to full boil I adjust the flame on the burner up as necessary. I haven't had a boil over since I started this process.
As far as clear beers go, I always use a healthy teaspoon of irish moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil and pour every last bit of wort, trub and all, into the primary. I always have very clear beers. Works every time.
