I have an SS brew tech mash tun that I put a brew bag in. For Vorlauf, I use a pump to slowly gently recirculate back into the top of the tun. I typically do this for about 3 to 5 minutes until pumping into the kettle. The tun Is not under direct heat, so doesn’t keep its temperature as I vorlauf. The wort doesn’t have any particular matter when I send it to the kettle, but it’s also definitely not clear, and the very last part is a little sludgy. I’m just wondering what most of y’all do and why? Is there any real reason to vorlauf longer? Thanks.
I have wondered this same question. I have a gravity system. I vorlauf 4 quarts and carefully pour it back into my mash tun. And, like you, there is no sediments in my boil kettle, but the runoff certainly isn’t clear; at least not in the beginning.
I’m curious to read what other brewers do.
I use a Grainfather G40 and don’t vorlauf at all. OTOH, since I recirc throughout the mash, it’s kinda like I vorlauf continuously.
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I recirculate @ ~ .75 GPM at mash temp the entire 60 min mash, raise my SV to mash out temp which takes ~20 min to get there depending on mash temp, and hold it there for 10 min. After the 90 min mash is complete I lauter to the BK @ ~ .4-.5 GPM. The wort in the BK is so clear you can read a newspaper thru it.
I do it this way because I have a HERMS system designed to recirculate the wort via a coil in a water bath. The water is heated with what looks like a hot water element which heats the wort thru heat exchange as it recirculates via a pump thru the coil. To maintain mash temp and raise (or lower) the mash temp I use a PID controller.
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I’m still old school, and vorlauf in a similar way (interesting: Auto correct tried to change “vorlauf” to “flavorful” Hmm..). On my 10 Gallon system, I slowly drain about 2 qts into a container, and then float it on top of the mash using a big spoon to prevent channeling. I do this 3 times or so, and at that point the wort is pretty clear. Along with Whirlflock, gelatin and cold conditioning, my beers are almost always very clear.
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Clear wort is a beautiful thing, but I haven’t found the clarity of wort to necessarily relate to clarity of beer.
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I’m questioning more if a longer vorlauf translate to better taste or more importantly, a shorter one translates to off flavors or astringency?.
I have not found either of those to be the case.
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Your method and mine are the same. Once I have a good grain bed set and I’m not getting a lot of grain “trash” in my container, I am usually finished with the vorlauf. It usually takes a few containers, 3-4. I try to pour it back in the MT as gently as possible, so I won’t stir it up again.
I worry more about my sparge time. I think I push this too fast at times.
I usually sparge to get the proper amount of wort in the BK and go with that, but I probably should do it more slowly.
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I’ll do at least 15 minutes. Maybe even 30 if I really want a clear beer.
I still use the same 10 gallon Igloo that I bought for my first batch. I have a plastic 2 quart pitcher that run the wort into and pour it back in. I do this three times like a ritual and then start to transfer to the BK.
I strongly suspect this has no effect whatsoever on the finished product but I do it anyway because I always have and it adds maybe two minutes to the brew day.
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For what it’s worth, I believe Brulosophy found that clear wort into the brew kettle but ‘truby’ wort into the fermenter is the optimum. I really don’t know but it’s a data point.
Well, trub adds some nutrients to the ferment.
And I agree with Denny about the off flavors. I think that you’d have to let an awful lot of grain into the kettle to get astringency. Anyone want to test it?
A lot of people are doing single-vessel BIAB and AIO systems — your mash tun is your lauter tun is your kettle; so everything “transfers” into the kettle because it’s already in the kettle.
@Drew C.
At the end of a continuously recirculated mash, the wort is typically very clear as the grain bed has filtered out the particulate. If you are careful about removing the grains, or if you run off into a separate vessel first, you can keep all that stuff out of the boil.
I vorloft until wort is clear. The coarseness of the mill will determine how much vorlofting is needed. I batch sparge so only vorloft before transferring to the boil kettle.
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I have inadvertently. PH was fine, so there was no astringency
Yay! Another myth busted.
Cheers!
I brew 10 gallon batches. I vorlauf until my eyes tells me the runoff is reasonably clear, still cloudy a bit but no longer visible bits of grain passing through. That usually is about a half gallon. I then slowly pour that wort back on top of the grain bed. i then runoff the rest into the brew kettle. This works fine for me. I repeat this procedure when I batch sparge. When I start the batch sparge vorlauf, I start the fire under the brew kettle.
This is old guy’s 1990s brewing, but I have no complaints about the results.
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Been brewing the same way as well. Rubbermaid cylindrical coolers, copper manifold, 15 gal crab boil pot , and……my whirligig. Not a brew day without that little squeak during fly sparging.
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