Hot break

[Brewno]

I was reading a post in the beginners section and didn't want to hijack the thread, but I have a related question.

The poster said he only heated his wort to what sounded like a simmer and never came close to a boil over. He was told in the replies that if it didn't almost boiled over he probably never had a hot break and that he should have had more of a boil going.

I have had to lower the heat or remove the pot from the heat on all of my brews (all 4! ) Except this last one; it never tried to boil over. I had a rolling boil going for most of the boil with what looked like volcanic action in the center. At times I lowered it to a "still rolling, but less intense" boil until it started erupting again. But it was going pretty good for 90 minutes. But no boil overs or even close with 2.5 gals in a 22 qt pot. All my other brews almost went over and they used only 1.5 gals; same pot/same boil. The only difference was that this time I did an extract late adding half my extract at the start of the boil (3.3 lbs) and the other half 15 mins before the end.
Could that have had an effect?

 

[Drunkensatyr]

Hot break is not an issue with extract. It has already been boiled

 

[Brewno]

Hot break is not an issue with extract. It has already been boiled

Duh!


Makes sense...thanks

 

[beenjammin]

Hot break is not an issue with extract. It has already been boiled

sorry, but what do you mean by "not an issue?" i always have a hot break on my extract brews....my last 2.5 gallon boil boiled over a 7.5 gallon pot....

 

[Drunkensatyr]

In my experiences, AG will produce 10 fold the hotbreak of malt extract. If you are almost boiling over 2.5 gal in a 7.5 gal pot...... you may want to turn the heat down a bit, scorching may soon be an issue. Extract does have a hotbreak, but I personally feel that it is no where near the concern many people give it. Turn your heat down a bit, and keep a bottle of cool tap water in a sprayer beside you. I no longer brew extracts so by no means am I an expert on extract.

 

[Brewno]

I was just curious about the lack of a hot break on my last brew and if the late addition extract may have had anything to do with it.

What you said about extract having already been boiled made sense to me though... the way I interpreted it. I thought you meant that, in an AG you would naturally get a hot break but in an extract it already had one at some point, so another "might" happen but isn't important to the beer itself, since there was a hotbreak in the original boil.

 

[the_bird]

Yeah, I never really saw a true hot break until going AG. *Most* of the break material is removed in the manufacturing process, but there's still some that remains. You should see some, though.

 

[TexLaw]

Yes, there most certainly is some hot break in extract, and you do want to get that mess out. Extract is boiled, but a very low temperature and low pressure to reduce volume but minimize any cooking that may occur.

Remember that boiling temperature is not fixed (i.e., affected by pressure, concentration of soluents) and may be reduced below the threshhold for certain reactions. You cannot assume that, because extract is boiled, it is boiled at or near 212F.


TL

 

[newguy]

Yes, there most certainly is some hot break in extract, and you do want to get that mess out. Extract is boiled, but a very low temperature and low pressure to reduce volume but minimize any cooking that may occur.

Remember that boiling temperature is not fixed (i.e., affected by pressure, concentration of soluents) and may be reduced below the threshhold for certain reactions. You cannot assume that, because extract is boiled, it is boiled at or near 212F.


TL

MAN! now that was a well put together couple paragraphs! I bet you make some absolutely freakin out-sight beers huh?

 

[beenjammin]

thanks for the heads up on the scorching drunkensatyr...i will be turning my heat down in the future...

 

[CodeRage]

I was curious about this too. My extract brews do have some kind of hot break but it kind of looks like egg drop soup. What I dont understand is you will never get the wort any hotter than 212.... So if you can sustain a light boil at 1k BTUs but crank it up to 2k BTUs you're waisting 1k BTUs of energyin to boiling. Unless of course the goal is to reduce the volume. Am I wrong?

 

[TexLaw]

Virtuous: You are not wrong. You are pretty much dead on. All you need is a rolling boil. Anything more than that, and you are just reducing volume and possible scorching.

newguy: Aw, gee.


TL

 

[JacktheKnife]

Gentlemen,

I've brewed extracts for 14 years,
and always have a point where the wort is reaching the boiling point
and at that point in time,
if you are not standing right there watching it,
it will boil over.

First I heat my water before I dump in the D.M.E.
Then turn off the heat and stir, let it sit for half an hour
and stir the wort every time I pass.
Let it get totally disolved & wipe the bottom of the kettle with a hop sock on a long spoon to make sure there is nothing stuck to the bottom,
then reheat.

When the wort gets nearly to the boiling point,
I stand and watch it.
When it begins to boil and the wort looks like it is about to boil over
I take it off the stove. Back on the stove and off again till the wort is boiling along.
The brew kettle is never full till after the hot break occurs,
when the hot break has happened and the wort is boiling along,
I add water and fill the kettle to dern near the top.
Boiling over is not likely to happen,
so I relax and have a homebrew or two,
adjusting the fire till I achieve:
'just barely' a good rolling boil.
And give it 45 minutes before 'flavor hops,'
'whirl floc tablets' and 'aroma hop' additions.
When brewed...
I cool it in the sink full of water
and when the lid goes back on after no more steam
it goes in the freezer to cool further.

Saturday is my first brew day of the season ya'll
I'll fill my three 'world famous' primarys'


J. Knife