Burned Wort

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

I accidentally did this a couple of weeks back, Fell asleep during a late night brewing session. Definetly can be burnt....... I Fermented it, and it tasted like ****, but it was clear wort - crystal clear It ended up as crystal clear lawn food.

 

[manticle]

I'm not following BD.

Do you mean under normal circumstances with full volume? eg 30-ish litres for 60-90 minutes?

 

[Yob]

:icon_offtopic: sorry for the tardiness.. Ive been putting the STC together... oh the joy to see the light!!

Back OT.. I think its more to do with uneven heat distrubution on the bottom of the thin based BigW pot, the stove plate only covers about half the surface area of the pot, maybe a switch to gas will be on the cards.. <_< slope something slippery?

was extract and spec grains with 10g POR @ 60 min, following the bittering I split the batch for the 15 min and 5 min additions respectivly with chinook (so the notes say) and cascade, both brews suffer from the affliction.. unfortunatly..

there were scald rings on the bottom of the pot and in fact took some removing with the elbow...

I assume this to have happened before the rolling boil, ive not stirred it once it gets to that point.. as pointed out it's rolling.. I believe it was a distinct 'lack' of movement which caused it.

Its not the worst beer ive made.. (close though) but it is the worst for some time and a dent to the pride is ok...probably inevitable as I push my boundaries... drinking my problem will encourage me to not bloody do it again..

ive not thrown a full bottle for some time though ive deliberatly not finished a few

im not afraid of my shame and I will drink it all the same, just not enjoy it as much or let anyone else drink iit...

 

[browndog]

I'm not following BD.

Do you mean under normal circumstances with full volume? eg 30-ish litres for 60-90 minutes?

Yes normal circumstances you cannot burn wort. You can boil it down to toffee and set fire to it if you have a mind to.

 

[speedie]

one can certinly burn mash
if the conditions are right ie too much heat without stirring a mash that is well lets say stiff
in my very earl days i burnt mash in an urn that had too much grain for the vessel volume
and it was as stated put in the garden
a les B) son well learnt

 

[Nick JD]

one can certinly burn mash
if the conditions are right ie too much heat without stirring a mash that is well lets say stiff
in my very earl days i burnt mash in an urn that had too much grain for the vessel volume
and it was as stated put in the garden
a les B) son well learnt

I can burn farts. No matter what I do I can't set relevance on fire.

 

[manticle]

one can certinly burn mash
if the conditions are right ie too much heat without stirring a mash that is well lets say stiff
in my very earl days i burnt mash in an urn that had too much grain for the vessel volume
and it was as stated put in the garden
a les B) son well learnt

Maybe if direct heating. Not if using an insulated vessel without direct heating.

Original post was about wort rather than mash though.

 

[pbrosnan]

Caramelisation/maillard reduction type thingys are lovely but you most certainly can burn wort.

I've over caramelised my reductions before and it's stinky, black, crusty and burnt. I think Scruffy once reduced his entire pot to black crust after falling asleep and letting the boil go 8 hours.

Yes but barring falling asleep, having long sex sessions etc wort won't caramelise during a 90 minute boil. That is unless you drop white hot rocks in or something.

 

[manticle]

Yes but barring falling asleep, having long sex sessions etc wort won't caramelise during a 90 minute boil. That is unless you drop white hot rocks in or something.

Full volume no. However OP was talking about extract and therefore possbibly/probably not referring to full volume. In smaller volumes, I have noticed burnt crust on the botton of a thin walled pot.

In my full volume AG brews - no.

 

[Yob]

not referring to full volume. In smaller volumes, I have noticed burnt crust on the botton of a thin walled pot.

correct both counts Mants...

Ive reported what I suspect was responsible for the failure of the brews based on my observation, rightly or wrongly seems to still be in question,

Ive since used the same pot, been very careful with bringing it to the boil and had good results with no 'extra' scalding rings on the bottom, though admittedly Ive not replicated the brew or the same experiment.. yet.

With regard to the 'crust', on your brew with the thinner pots, im interested in your opinion of the effect it had on the brew and the taste..??

you certainly do have a finer pallet than I in that regard

:icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

My allegedly superior palate notwithstanding, it's been a long time since I've done anything but full volume and a long time since I've used my thin walled pot.

What you suggest makes sense - if I cook a napoli or sauce and burn the bottom and keep cooking, I can taste the burnt flavour. If I transfer the sauce straight away, ad cook in a diferent pot ot clean the first and transfer back, it is fine so my theory is that burning early and continuing in the same vessel = burnt flavour.

I have reduced wort in a separate pan and added back to the boil with no resulting burnt taste, despite some burned bits at the bottom of the pan. However if my above theory is correct, those burned areas probably happen right toward the end with no effect on flavour. Certainly it's only at the very end of reduction that any burnt areas might show and I do monitor the wort throughout.

A lot of conjecture above and it may not be helpful but my guess is - if you are tasting a flavour that relates to burnt wort and noticing burnt wort when you make the beer, then burnt wort is the culprit. Try reducing the heat once you hit the boil and giving a gentle stir every so often throughought the boil.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Yob]

Thanks Mants..

with regard to the above, ive found that not using the stove on "high" and paying close attention to the wort ie: stirring till boil and keeping it moving.. that the taste Ive found with that brew has not been replicated. My conclusion is as observed above.

My solution could well be to move in the direction of

a: a decent freakin pot
b: gas burner
c: combination of gas and existing equipment
d: BIAB setup..
e: 10,000lt brewery and brew pub


slip... slide... awayyyyyyyyy......

 

[Nick JD]

I have been using the BigW 19L pot for yonks and boiling 1.065+ wort has never gotten close to burning with a 2300W element under it on full noise.

 

[Yob]

well arent you special?

10 f*%ing points for most helpful post ever.. :blink:

maybe I should come and use your effing stove....

 

[pbrosnan]

OP was talking about extract

Ah, I see the problem now.

 

[Nick JD]

maybe I should come and use your effing stove....

It's not the stove. It's the yob who turns the dial up too high.

 

[katzke]

So is this about burnt extract and not burnt wort?

It is easy to burn extract if you dump it in and do not stir like a mad man. Even if you drizzle it in and do not stir well you can end up with pure extract on the bottom of the pot and burn it.

That said I have had extract bun on the bottom of the pot and still had drinkable beer. I have seen extract burn and seen floaties of black chunks in a brew. I do not remember if I ver found out how the beer turned out.

I have had all grain batches with brown spots on the bottom of the kettle from burnt or hot spots. The beer turned out well.

I would guess if you torched a batch that it could be bad. I would also think that if it was not drinkable it had to be from a bad ferment or some kind of infection. After all stout is made from burnt grain.