Vorlauf clarity

[telemorris@gmail.com]

Hi,

I'm new to all grain brewing having done my first all grain last weekend. I did the vorlauf step but gave up on getting the clarity that I expected from the descriptions after pulling off three or four gallons of wort with no real change in the pieces that I saw in the run off.

I'm seeing some bits of hull go by - they're fairly small which makes me question the milling process. And I'm seeing is a lot of the dust, sometimes called flour, that comes from the milling process. I'm grinding my flour at my local brew supply store and their mill does seem to generate quite a bit of flour in the milling process. How do I deal with this? Should I just shake out the dust somehow before mashing? Should I buy a mill and increase the milled grain size so there's less flour?

The brew is for a Dark Mild and clarity is not really much of an issue, but who wants to drink all that sediment? Sure most will settle out during fermentation, but I'd rather not have it in there in the first place and had assumed that vorlauf would take care of any issues like this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

if you stir before the vorlauf its hard to clear, Whirlfloc Tablets will help settle everything to the bottom after the boil and the Vorlauf isn't primarily just for clarification its also the way to remove sugar from the grain

 

[jeffpn]

I think you're worrying about sediment too much. I've gotten to the point where I'd rather siphon trub than sacrifice volume. It will settle out, as you say. Some batches will be clearer than others. I've had some that are amazingly clear. RDWHAHB

 

[mpmccann]

Vorlauf is a good practice, so don't give up on it. It helps to remove a lot of the grain that gets under or through your filtering process. It can not and will not stop everything so don't expect that either. Just keep doing what your doing, all grain gets better with practice.
Cheers...

 

[PZ]

Congratulations on your first all grain batch. The vorlauf step is supposed to establish the grain bed, which filters out the bad stuff and leaves you with gorgeous, clear wort. I think the main reason is to avoid tannins. There are several variables that affect how quickly the wort clears, including the fineness of the crush, the depth of the grain bed and the rate of the run off. I've found my own balance between recirculating a lot, leading to temperature loss (with an unheated mash tun) and stuck run offs, and cloudy wort which (I've heard) contributes to astringency. I promise you will figure it out. Kettle fining like Irish moss and whirlfloc remove different stuff, and I find they work well. Good luck. I'm betting your beer will taste great.

PZ

 

[Nosybear]

And don't worry about the few bits that get through. You're not looking to completely clarify at vorlauf, just to screen out most of the fragments of grain and get a reasonably clear wort. It will clarify in later stages and in my experience, most of the gunk will settle out. Some gunk is even desirable - I've read that beers made with no "trub" tend to be cloudier at the end of the process than those with some gunk in the fermenter. Someone has already said it but I'll repeat, RDWHAHB. The grains could produce some starch haze but won't affect your beer's flavor.

And if you're really concerned about those bits of grain, go to Wal-Mart, buy a box of the cheapest knee-high hose you can find, size really doesn't matter, and use them as a screen on your run-off tube. That'll get almost every particle that makes it through the grain bed and screen.

 

[Hogarthe]

your shop might be milling a bit too fine. I'd wait to see how your first one comes out, if its good, don't worry about it. If there is a problem you can ask the store to grind a little coarser.

 

[artbreu]

The primary issue with allowing grain to pass through the boil is tannin extraction, not finished beer clarity. You can always clear the beer with time or fining, but the tannins will remain.

That being said, if it's a negligible amount compared to your wort volume, you won't detect anything.

You can always filter through a muslin bag at the end of your hose. I use high heat cooking rubber bands for that.

 

[Nosybear]

I use cheap knee-high hose from Wal-Mart, cheaper and finer mesh than most muslin, and a clothes pin. A bit more redneck but still, works fine! That is, when I can be bothered to filter out those bits that come through after a good vorlauf.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the plus side to having a big system is I basically volauf during the whole mash by recirculating so when done its crystal clear and the grain bed it perfectly set for sparging