nabs478
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I think it must be similar to the break proteins, in the Urn, the boil breaks through the dirty grey looking foam cap then 'chases' it to the sides where it sticks to the sides and forms a grey brown ring, so I just leave it.
I understand that it is protein in the beer and boil that supports the head and boil overs. So at the beggining of the boil, before all the hot break has broken, there is much more protein in the wort. This is why it is much easier to boil over at the begining. So that scummy stuff is not hot break....yet. But if you leave it, then it will turn into hot break, which is the preciptated protein and will no longer cause boilovers. I dont think it should make any difference to the final beer, but if you want to be a wild man like Pumpy and attempt a 40L brew in a 50L kettle, then skimming should help reduce your average clean up time.
I learnt some good brewing techniques from a friend of mine who always skims. Since I saw him do it I do it if its conveniant and I remember or when I want to make a big batch in a small pot...but usually dont bother.