First AG today, question..

[galaxian]

Hi folks,
Been brewing kits since the early 80's and eventually today I did my first all grain.
A few silly mistakes along the way, but hopefully I will end up with something drinkable.
In the fermenter what I assume is cold break has floated in great clumps to the top - will this eventually drop and how would I minimise it next time?

Thanks
Colin

[AnthonyUK]

It will all drop out but a few questions to help.

What are you reasons for wanting to minimise it?
What is your cooling method?
How are you transferring from boiler to FV?

[edgearsenal]

It could also possibly be yeast starting off.

[galaxian]

Thanks for the replies.

What are you reasons for wanting to minimise it? - I dont want to transfer any into my bottles.
What is your cooling method? - Copper coil immersion chiller
How are you transferring from boiler to FV? - run out of the tap in my boiling bucket into glass carboy

Maybe its normal, as I have not seen an all grain being made before. I dont think its the yeast, but I could be wrong, it was there about half an hour after I added the yeast.

This morning it was churning away fermenting and the deposits had all broken up and were swirling around the FV. Maybe it will be fine , will see after a few days when the fermentation has slowed up a bit.

[BenB]

Cold break in the FV isn't an issue. If it was no-one would use plate / counterflow chillers as there all the cold break material ends up in the fermenter. It will compact down with the floculating yeast and as long as you don't stir the hell out of it when transferring to the bottling bucket it will all be fine. Equally, haven't ever heard of cold break surfacing during fermentation- are you sure that's not a normal krausen forming?

[AnthonyUK]

The break material normally settles in the bottom of the boiler and the hop filter stops a lot of it so at fermentation temps it is unlikely to be break material.
I tend to have a period post boil where I let the hops stand where pretty much everything drops out.

Rest assured than none of will make into your bottles.

[galaxian]

It looked like lumps of wall paper paste - should have taken a picture, anyhow it has all broken up and swirling about the carboy, here's hoping it will all drop to the bottom in a few days.
I plan another batch when this one is out of the FV, if I encounter something similar I will make sure to take some pics.

[orlando]

It looked like lumps of wall paper paste - should have taken a picture, anyhow it has all broken up and swirling about the carboy, here's hoping it will all drop to the bottom in a few days.
I plan another batch when this one is out of the FV, if I encounter something similar I will make sure to take some pics.

Can I assume you used kettle fining such as Irish Moss? If so what you are looking at is the hot break coagulating as it cools, it will settle down with the rest of the trub so nothing to worry about.

[galaxian]

I used half a whirlfloc tablet.

Lots of lessons learned with this first attempt.

Thanks guys.

[gnorwebthgimi]

I think it's the yeast too. There is just a lot more for it to feed on and get stuck too with all grain compared to kits.

[Capped]

Mine does that every time, looks like dirty cotton wool balls just under the surface. It's just yeast and a sign that it's having a GOOD TIME in its new home.

[galaxian]

Thanks for all the advice, it looks as if I was being a little to worried, the vigorous fermentation has reduced and the beer is starting to clear, cotton wool balls is exactly what it looked like.
This brew was really to test my equipment, but if it tastes as good as it smells I shall be very happy.

The malt was given to me by another homebrewer, all i know is it is malt for pale ale and it contains more than one type of grain.

So I brewed the following -

3.5 kg of the grains mashed for approx 80 mins in 10l of water at 68 c
topped up to 20l in the boiler, 28g of northern brewer for 60 mins, 15g styrian goldings at 15min and another 15g at 5mins before end of boil, I was left with approx 17 L in the FV.

I hope it turns out ok, as I have roughly another 8kg of these grains to play with.
Have also 250g of the following -
chateau black of black
chateau chocolate
carapils
flaked barley,
and 500g of medium crystal.
northern brewer, styrian goldings and some fuggles hops

I reckon I could get some sort of brown ale and maybe a porter using this lot ?

20L brew may just about be possible in my setup.

[galaxian]

This brew will be out of the fermentor soon, so on to the next one
I will be trying my hand at brewing this Dark Mild next as I have all the ingredients to hand and it looks fairly simple, not to mention ready to drink in a short period of time too.. Anyone on here tried it ?

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=52776

[charliemartin]

Hi galaxian,
Just read this thread. You say that you topped up to 20 litres in the boiler.
Did you sparge the grains with hot water to achieve this, or just add water to the initial batch of wort?
If you didn't sparge you will lose a lot of the available sugars from the grains and your wort will be very low gravity. What was your OG?
By the way, welcome to the wonderful world of all grain brewing.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[galaxian]

Yes, I sparged with approx 8l of hot water, I had misplaced my new hydrometer and test jar unfortunately, so no idea of OG.
Opened a bottle 7 days after bottling, quite dry and a little too bitter for my tastes - hopefully it will mellow in a week or two.
It was basically a test for my boiler and mash tun, so I am pleased they all work , no leaks etc. Not a great first beer, but the Dark Mild looks and smells better, will have a taste this weekend when I keg.
Will order some supplies for another brew, but cant make up my mind from all the great sounding recipes on here, lol.