Hot Break - Take It Or Leave It?

[Aviary]

Hello all,

I've started doing extract brews with a 60 minute boil.

I understand what the hot break is but I wanted to know what to do with it.

Should I skim it off the surface of the boil? Should I leave it? Or should I be using kettle finings?

Thanks for your help.

David.

 

[Brooksy]

I'm still relatively new but I boil my extracts and kits for 30 - 45 mins rather than 60.

The crack will settle to the bottom of your pot and you can pour off the clear wort after cooling.

I filter my wort through a hop bag supported over my fermenter which catches any sediment (hops & crack) that gets carried over when I pour off the wort.

 

[discoloop]

Hate to take this thread down another path, but I have been wondering about the hot break recently too.

Since its purpose is to allow the proteins to coagulate and drop out, and protein content is part of what gives beer its head, would a less thorough hot-break help with head retention?

 

[tommy cooper]

this is a very good point since i have been doing KK for a while now i have not bothered to much about hot break and what i do is pass the sweet wort threw a conical straining funnel atop my fermenter and the grist and bits usually catchs the bits but there would be enough protein in the liquid still to acheive a good head retention once brewing is completed .
i would not wory to much about it just pass the wort through something like your hop sock or a conical funnel and you should be ok as the proteins you dont want will be filtred and the proteins that help with head retention are still in liquid state in the wort as i understand there is solid proteins and liquid proteins .
put simply i do realy understand why but if your KK brewing is working and the beer is retaining a head and taste great then this shoulldn't really bother you to much.with the small amounts in KK brewing.
you would IMO only be wasting your money on whirfloc tablets for a small amount of grain used and most of the specialty grains are simple sugars with more fibros particle than proteins as most of the proteins are already conveted in the malting process.

hope that helps anything i have missed guys. please fell free to add to that.

tc
:beer:

 

[Aviary]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys.

Any other insights into hot breaks?

Thanks, David.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I doubt boiling a kit would achieve anything, except maybe darken the beer...and hellp with hop additions etc..

The hot break process has already been done at the factory...

Hot break should not be confused with protein scum that most get confussed with

 

[discoloop]

I understand the hot break has been done with hopped extract kits, but what about when using unhopped tins or dry malt?

 

[Pandreas]

I haven't had alot of experience with brewing, but after boiling DME and LME for about an hour I have never experienced any 'proteins' forming in the wort which need to be strained.

All I have achieved is to darken my wort beyond what I wanted to.

Is a hot break only needed for AG brewing??

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Have a look here

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...586&hl=skim

Cheers