Hot Break

Brewing Processes
1

Thinking back to my brew this weekend, I had a question about hot breaks.

  1. Are they even necessary with extract brews?

  2. I certainly had one when I added DME at the front end of the boil. I had a late addition of 6# LME which I didn’t see any hot break. I’m guessing this is because the boil actually stopped for a while after adding the LME.

2

Necessary aside, I do think you’ll get a hot break with extract. How long did you boil after adding the LME?

3

Thought I remembered reading that with extract, the hot break was achieved during formation of the extract and that you are not likely to see a significant hot break when using extract. Just what I remember reading, only 5 extract batches in my history and I know I did not know what to really expect during those boils.

4

I get hot break when I make starters with DME

5

15-20 min.

6

I get a little bit of hot break when I do an extract batch to test hops, but nothing like an AG batch. As said, most would’ve formed during the extract making process.

7

You don’t have anything to worry about.

8

I still get hot break with my extract recipes though not as aggressively as an all-grain recipe.

9

I always had a nice hot break when I brewed with extracts.  As others have said, not as big as my all grain batches but there was always a hot break.

Paul