What is the "hot break"?

[pineknot]

I am pretty new to the brewing process, so, please forgive me if this question is elementary. What is the hot break? And, how do I recognize it?

 

[JohnnyO]

Hot break is the material that happens when your wort hits a rolling boil. When it is building up to that point, you see a thick foam develop on top of your wort. Once it hits a rolling boil, you see material floating around in your wort that you did not put in there yourself. That is hot break material.

 

[ArcaneXor]

There's usually not much of a hot break with extract brewing, unless you used lots of steeping grains or did a partial mash.

 

[pineknot]

Thank you JohnnyO! Is the hot break an indicator that I should start or stop something? What is the purpose of watching for it?

 

[Cranny04]

Hot break is what will boil over if your not careful

 

[two_hearted]

Thank you JohnnyO! Is the hot break an indicator that I should start or stop something? What is the purpose of watching for it?

Its an indicator that your boil has begun once it breaks. Once the proteins fall to the bottom of the kettle, I throw in my 60 min addition and start the timer (unless your doing a 90 min boil).