Coagulation of protein and albumin -- how to ensure clean hot break

The amount of hot break achieved is a function of boiling wort pH.

“Below a pH of 5, the coagulation of proteins decreases. (Hot break, the light-colored flakes that form in your kettle during the boil, is coagulated protein.) Above a pH of 5, the amount of protein coagulated is constant, but the break material looks different at different pH levels. At a pH of 5.2, hot break is seen as relatively large, fluffy flakes floating in otherwise clear wort. In some cases, these flakes may even clump together into larger “globs” of break material. The farther you move away from a pH of 5.2 (in either direction), the smaller hot break particles become. A few tenths of pH point away and the wort may simply look cloudy. So, you can use the presence or absence of big, fluffy hot break flakes as an indication of whether or not you are in the right boil pH range.”

http://beerandwinejournal.com/proper-boil-ph/

Cheers!

 

I use a mash pH of 5.3-5.5 and have never seen a kettle without a big, fluffy hot break. Skimming the hot break sounds like something I'd like to try. Thanks for the idea.

 

Yes, that plus a thick foam on the surface in the beginning of the boil.

 

would this also hold true for extract brewing?

 

To a much smaller extent. Your extract has already received a professional quality step mash, lauter, hot break and cold break before it was condensed to extract. You may see a little egg drop soup, but don't worry if you don't.

 

I do not know what brand of pH strips you are using but they are only accurate to ± 0.2 pH units or so.

If you are using colorpHast strips there is also a reading bias of about 0.3 – 0.4 pH; below is the conclusion of a Kai Troester analysis on this topic.

“While the colorpHast strips can be read with a precision of +/- 0.2 pH units, which is sufficient for checking mash pH, they exhibit a systematic error of 0.3 - 0.4 pH which needs to be taken into account. If a proper mash pH is considered to be between 5.3 and 5.7 when measured at room temperature the pH read with the strips should be between 5.1 and 5.3 as this will place the actual pH around 5.5 which is in the middle of the acceptable range.”

http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...st_strips_for_pH_measurements_in_home_brewing

Cheers!

 

Skimming has come up before and I am always puzzled. Why do you skim the hot break? What is accomplished by this practice?

 

Old Sock asks: Do you skim off the foam as your wort comes to a boil?

 

Hot Trub: Formation and Removal
http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue1.4/barchet.html
Republished from BrewingTechniques' November/December 1993.

 

My only comment on acidulated malt...how much acid are you really adding? With lactic acid (88% or whatever), you pretty much know exactly what you're adding. With acidulated malt...who knows really? I mean, it's malt sprayed with lactic acid. How precise could that be?

 

When you say clears quicker, do you mean in the bottle/keg? How much quicker are we talking about? Have you ever experimented with this, i.e. same beer but skim one batch and don't skim another?

 

Average Hot Break Composition
- Proteins (50-60%)
- Tannins (20-30%)
- Hop Resins (15-20%)
- Ash (2-3%)
NOTE: Particle size 20-80µ (microns)

Some factors of protein coagulation and precipitation include:
- Boil intensity
- Calcium content of your wort
- Boil length (to a much lesser degree than intensity) since a very long extended boil can actually break the coagulated proteins back up and allow them to go back into solution.
- The amount of protein / tannin (polyphenol) complex coupled with the amount of denatured protein in your wort
- The amount of isomerized alpha acids in your wort
- Kettle fining usage (affects break material amount at the end of the boil)

 

Are the true benefits of skimming hot break purely anecdotal? I mean if there were clear cut stark differences to the results either way in finished beer, wouldn't everyone be doing it.