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NO HOT BREAK?
I just finished my second All Grain batch, a cream ale, and didn't get a hot break? It was at a rolling boil, I did get some little chunks, but nothing like my first batch that looked like egg drop soup. I didn't know if it had somthing to do with the malt that I had, or if sometimes, you just don't get a real strong hot break. I boiled for 90 minutes. Here is the malt bill for a 10 gallon batch.
15lbs 6row american
2lbs honey malt
.5lbs dingemans biscuit
1lb cara-pils dextrine
1.5lbs clover honey
og was at 1.52
sorry, I just realized this was on the wrong thread, but hook me up anyway.
could be the 6 row. It is not as well modified as 2 row, and is usually recommended to have a protein rest for 30 min at 122, then ramped to sacc rest temps. Not sure if you did that or not. I have never used 6 row before because of that, so I can't really comment on what the boil looks like, just a guess.
hmmm, interesting, I thought it might have been the dextrine. I thought 6 row was a better yeild because of the fuller grains, I had no idea that they modified 2 row and 6 row differently. Now that you say it, my last batch was a Belgian with 2 row Belgian as a base. Good to know, i'll read up on the 6 row next time.
bruguru wrote:
hmmm, interesting, I thought it might have been the dextrine. I thought 6 row was a better yeild because of the fuller grains, I had no idea that they modified 2 row and 6 row differently. Now that you say it, my last batch was a Belgian with 2 row Belgian as a base. Good to know, i'll read up on the 6 row next time.
6 row usually has lower yield of sugar and higher yeild of enzymes. Think of it this way, the plants capacity is to create and store energy (starch) is about the same in but 2 row and 6 row varieties. So the 2 row variety is putting all its starch into 2 rows of kernels while the 6 row is putting all the starch into 6 rows. The 6 row spreads its starch into 3 times the number of kernals as the 2 row. Interestingly, even though there is less starch each kernal has more enzymes than 2 row. This is because there is less starch taking up space.
Regardless, these differences are insignificant in the modern agricultural world.
6 row when its malted may be slightly under modified than 2 row, but the difference is insignificant I believe. There are no brewers out there demanding poorly modified 6 row. Case in point, think about the major users of 6 row.... Bud Miller and Coors. Are they really interested in buy a product that would have lower yeild than 2 row. 2 row is refered to as WELL modified, but in reality 6 row is practically just as well modified.
I suspect your lack of visible hot break is just a function of the grain bill and recipe overall and its likely not something to worry about.
Yes, that's what I thought about the 6 row, and I wanted to use somthing that would be an american Malt. It had nothing to do with price, I just remember that all of the big breweries used the 6 row, and papizan said that the 6 row was a fuller barley that had more yield. It wasn't until I read Thirsty's thread yesterday that I read up on 2 row, and found that in europe they never use 6 row for brewing. I could have easily bought the american 2 row, but the 6 row was right in front of me when I walked into the LHBS so I got that.
That being said I wanted to keep this a cream ale, although I know this looks a little wack for a cream ale, and might fall out of catagory in the contest. I didn't want to use corn as an adjunct, and I thought honey would ferment out just as cleanly with some nice aroma. Be that as it may, it's finished now, I'm going to dry hop with some liberty, and call it strong side cream ale. It's at the end of the og scale for a cream ale at 1.052, and strong side is a football term so I have a double entendre there. (sorry, attempting to be funny here).
might as well post the recipe while i'm at it.
for a 10 gallon All Grain batch og 1.052 fg n/a
15 lbs 6 row american pale malt
2 lbs honey malt
.50lbs dingemans biscuit malt
1lb cara-pils dextrine
1.50lbs clover honey
1oz centennial @ 9.9 alpha 60min
1oz liberty dry hop
white labs WLP080 Cream ale blend with 2 liter starter
20 min mash @ 135f
60 min mash@ 155f
mash out @ 178f 10 minutes
collect 12 gallons of wort, for a 90 minute boil, add centennial cool to pitching temp. I split this batch but used the same yeast. I came out with exactly 10 gallons of wort and used a liter of starter in each 5 gallon batch.
Yes that recipe is a little wack for a Cream ale, but it will probably be an interesting good drinking ale none-the-less.
My Cream ale is usually a 50/50 split of pilsner malt and two-row, with a pound of flaked corn and a pound of sugar. I shoot for 1.052OG. I use liberty hops exclusively in the recipe last time I brewed it and it was quite good. However I have also gone all Saaz and that was good too.
Actually, here is a link to my recipe and my buddies partial mash version. They are different but both quite good.
Cream Ale Recipes
Sound good, I like the dry yeast too, although i've never tried repitching it, because it's so cheap, That's somthing I have to try, and I like the splitting of the malts, pilsner malt in there would be real nice, and I probably would have gotten a hot break
Ok, here we go again, this time I used 20lbs Marris otter english pale ale 2 row malt. I had a rolling boil, but no hot break, what the hell? I would think that my heat source was inefficient, but I have had a hot break before with the same equipment. This is the second batch in a row now without a hot break. Any explanations?
Was there any other malts in there to darken it up making it harder to see? I boiled 15 gallons last night for a porter, had 25# of marris otter, and my buddy said the same thing, where's the hot break? It is there just harder to see, I think? Usually a real pale grist or like an all pilsner will really show it off, but when some darker crystal or roasted malts join the party they can hide it.
That could be it, as my only light source was a 100 watt bulb in the garage. I used 2 lbs of Munich, and 1lb crystal, so it was pretty dark. I'll make sure my boil is going in the daylight next time.
I started the brewday at 9am today, but had setbacks, and my buddy didn't come with the propane, long story short, I didn't get to the boil until 4pm. Don't ask, long long day, setting up the Plate chiller wasn't tough, but I wanted to make it easy, and simple, so there you go. the good news is that PLATE CHILLERS KICK ASS. The best part of my day was taking the temp of my fermenter, and not believing it, I had to check to make sure I didn't have it on Celsius
Hey Thirsty, empty out your message box, I'm trying to ask you if your hopscotch IPA recipe that is posted is the one that I tried last year. ha ha.
I have done about a dozen AG brews now and have never seen "egg drop soup" in my kettle, beef barley at the very best. I guess I never thought much about it, but the beer is always good.
I'd say that as a general matter, if your boil is a good rolling one, don't worry too much about seeing the hot break. Visible or not, a solid boil always will do the trick.
How did the October no-hot-break brew come out? If it was good, then I wouldn't sweat it this time, either.
Yea, the Cream ale I made in October was great, entered in the Sam Adams Patriot brewing contest. The only difference was that I used 6 row instead of 2row, and the consensus was the malt could have been under modified.
Either way i'm sure it will be fine, it just gets you thinking, maybe i'll make some kind of pilsner next to be sure to get a hot break.
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