Grey scum in wort

[Scotty]

Yesterday I done my second AG (over a year since the first ). When the wort was starting to come to the boil, a grey scum was forming on the surface of the liquid.

Has anyone experienced this and know what it is? Is it anything to worry about?

[EoinMag]

Yesterday I done my second AG (over a year since the first ). When the wort was starting to come to the boil, a grey scum was forming on the surface of the liquid.

Has anyone experienced this and know what it is? Is it anything to worry about?

That'd be your hot break material. You can skim it if you want, I tend to skim myself. If you skim you'll be removing a load of stuff that might later lead to hazes.

[Eric]

That happens for me, sometimes worse than others such that I look out for it and can always find some. I put it down to how clear the collected wort is. Never had any problems and if it amounts to much I've scooped it off as it can't be sugar or any other wanted product else it would dissolve. Good luck.

[Scotty]

I've never seen it grey before when brewing at Garth's. Could it be something to do with my water?

We skimmed a little bit of it but once the hops went in, it nigh-on disappeared.

[EoinMag]

I've never seen it grey before when brewing at Garth's. Could it be something to do with my water?

We skimmed a little bit of it but once the hops went in, it nigh-on disappeared.

The greyness can be as a result of your water composition or treatment, soft water would not produce as much.
I get it very grey when I throw some gypsum into the boil.

[Scotty]

Funny that, I used CRS to reduce the mash water to 28 mg/l CaCO3 from 68mg but I didn't bother treating the sparge as too many things were going wrong and my HLT isn't big enough to cope with 60l brewlengths, I thought that I would probably get an average of around 50mg/l which is ok for a pale ale.

I did however treat all water with campden tablets accordingly. I also used DLS/DWB in the mash and into the copper at the start of the boil.

To be fair there wasn't a lot but having not seen it before, it was slightly worrying.

[gnorwebthgimi]

The boil is done for this reason (among others), to get rid of this stuff, it's almost certainly fine.

You could always taste the wort (after cooling). It won't taste nice but it should taste sweet at first then bitter (depending on the hops used in the boil). I wouldn't worry if it doesn't taste good, I would worry if it tasted repulsive (which I really doubt it will).

[Scotty]

cheers for the replies chaps, my mind is at rest.

[Horden Hillbilly]

I made a pale ale a while ago link here, & I had a fair bit of grey foam on that brew when it came to the boil. It was the 1st & only time so far that I had used Golden Promise malt & you can see by the pics of the finished beer that it cleared up a treat, nor did I skim it.

I'm sure that your brew will be ok Scotty, it sounds normal to me.

[Scotty]

Cheers Dave, the picture of your hot break is similar to mine, although mine was a slightly darker grey. The wort was really clear when Garth and I were recirculating.