Hey All,
I have been all grain for a while now and after mash time, I typically send that straight to brew kettle. I read a little about I should recirculate the mash a bit before sending to brew kettle? If true what is this doing?
thx
Z
I think that is about setting the grain bed so it filters better. I don’t worry about it, I filter the wort coming out of the MT with a fine mesh bag.
There are lipids and other constituents that you don’t want getting into your kettle and subsequent beer. It is highly recommended that you recirculate your wort until the discharge is clear. Turbid wort is a no-no.
+1
What is the consequence to the beer if this is not done?
Among other things, lipids lead to rapid oxidative staling and are detrimental to foam. Bits of husk in the boil contribute to astringency due to excess tannins, which also lead to rapid oxidative staling and haze. These are just the big bullet points. In short, clear wort is essential to fresh tasting, clear beer with good foam and mouthfeel. The same goes for wort post-boil going into the fermenter; trub should be separated. I’m sure someone will elaborate.
I use a fine mesh bag as well. The wort doesn’t get any cleaner between the moment I open the valve to recirculating fornever.
I lauter the conventional way with a false bottom. I have to recirculate very briefly before it runs clear. Many European breweries now filter the wort into and out of the boil. I guess you guys with fine mesh are doing the same thing. As long as it runs clear, that’s what matters.
What about people who Brew in a Bag? There is a mesh bag, perhaps fine or perhaps not, but not really any chance to see whether the wort is running clear or not. Same question applies to automated brewing systems which have metal mesh inserts for the grains.
To me, this inability to guarantee crystal clear wort seems like a potentially fatal flaw in these systems. I’ve never considered using them, but I guess you’d have to weigh your goals, wort/beer quality vs. some other considerations, unless you can somehow get clear wort in these systems. (Frankly I can’t understand the apppeal of these things. Conventional setup is cheaper, faster, and easier to clean up in my experience, and gives high quality and high efficiency. But that’s me.)
^^^
(THIS * 2) + infinity
I do BIAB with a bag. There are no husks in my wort. Not sure about lipids.
I find very fine husk particles make it through even a well set grain bed. They collect at the bottom of my “grant” (bucket the tube from lauter tun goes into) so I can carefully run the clear wort off into the kettle leaving them behind. If your mesh bag is fine enough it might exclude them. Other substances are fine and light enough they might squeeze through. But they are also most effectively left as “top dough” on recirculation and excluded from a lautered wort. Again, I don’t know how effectively they might be filtered by a bag. (Thise “malt pipes” would worry me.) You can always sample your wort in a glass. If it’s clear, good. If it’s at all cloudy, not so good.
I don’t own one, but, Grainfather and Robobrew recirculate. I have seen videos with people remarking about how clear the wort is.
Whatever gets the job done. Recirculation, filtering, whatever works, clear wort is what matters.
So we are really just talking about vorlaufing with a pump right? I recently went from vorlaufing with a false bottom to using a mesh bag inside SS Brewtech and using the false bottom as well. I still Vorlauf with filling containers and pouring them back in. But I do have a pump and just realized I can Vorlauf by recirculating with the pump. Currently, when I move wort to the kettle there are no particles but it is still cloudy. I guess I should be vorlaufing much longer. I will start using my pump now.
How long are you guys recirculating before moving wort to the kettle to make it not cloudy?
I vorlauf with my pump. For typical mash I start recirculation at about 45 min in. I recirculate a couple minutes just to ensure it’s not terribly stratified and then I pull a small sample to verify I have reached expected °P. I only recirculate long enough to get clear runnings. Usually always have clear runnings by the time I read my refractometer (couple minutes).
Continuous recirc with HERMS step mash here. I used to use a sight glass to watch the wort clear. Since it always ran gin clear, I gave up the sight glass as another thing to not have to clean.
The mash uses a basket that is perforated and my recirc is with a locline halo below the top of the liquid in the mash. Brewtan B assures me of clear beer, too.
Thanks for all the answers fellas. I am using a ss brewtech mashtun which has a real fine mesh false bottom. After reading, I think I will recirculate after mash time and I also use a fine mesh spider when pumping into brew kettle. Hopefully this will do a good job.
Z
I don’t use a pump, just fill a pitcher and gently retjrnnto the top. You only need to recirculate (ok vorlauf if you like) until the wort runs perfectly clear. I have virtually zero dead space under my false bottom, so it’s only a few quarts. Your tun design, your grist, and other things will affect it, so there’s no magic number for time. Just whenever it’s clear. (I think a pump might make this harder. Too fast a flow will keep drawing material down through the bed. Gravity will allow the flow to set its own optimum.)