My recent attempt at a wheat beer turned to disaster when during the boil, the wort burnt onto the electric heating elements causing the whole brew to taste like smokey horrible burnt wood. I've used this boiler twice before with no problems, can't understand what went wrong this time, the only difference is that it was a wheat beer.
Anyone else experienced this??
Post #2 made 11 years ago
I have not had a bad Wheat brew.
Did you do a 20-30 minute Protein Rest??? If not the Wheat gets Gummie and is hard to drain from the Bag, and sticks to Everything, and may be you problem.
Did you do a 20-30 minute Protein Rest??? If not the Wheat gets Gummie and is hard to drain from the Bag, and sticks to Everything, and may be you problem.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America
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Post #3 made 11 years ago
I did a decoction mash but skipped the protein rest, jumped from acid rest to maltose rest. I didn't do protein rest because I used fully modified grain and didn't want a thin watery beer.
Post #4 made 11 years ago
Was it a 100% wheat brew?
I have never gone above 50% (yet), but have never had that kind of problem.
I understand you have done rests, but was the total time long enough? Just thinking aloud.
The only other thing is the bag, but if like you say it hasnt happened with barley then
I have never gone above 50% (yet), but have never had that kind of problem.
I understand you have done rests, but was the total time long enough? Just thinking aloud.
The only other thing is the bag, but if like you say it hasnt happened with barley then
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
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- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Great Britain
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Post #5 made 11 years ago
I think the mash was ok, it was about 2 hours or so in total from dough in to mash out and I got a fairly decent extraction. And the bag I used is good too, if anything its a little too fine, so no problem there.
Not 100% wheat, it was 4kg wheat malt, 2kg pilsner malt.
It must have happened during the boil but I cant understand why it would burn
Not 100% wheat, it was 4kg wheat malt, 2kg pilsner malt.
It must have happened during the boil but I cant understand why it would burn
Post #6 made 11 years ago
Nothing stands out as an obvious cause then
Although is it possible there had been a build up or layer(s) on the element, and it just hit critical mass on this brew?
Although is it possible there had been a build up or layer(s) on the element, and it just hit critical mass on this brew?
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
-
- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Great Britain
-
Post #7 made 11 years ago
That seems to be the only possibility though I thought I had cleaned the elements well.mally wrote:Nothing stands out as an obvious cause then
Although is it possible there had been a build up or layer(s) on the element, and it just hit critical mass on this brew?
I can't believe I'm the only person to experience this
Last edited by sdsratm on 30 Jan 2013, 21:39, edited 2 times in total.
Post #8 made 11 years ago
I've had it happen but traced the cause to recirculating too fast (I used to use a pump to constantly recirculate while mashing). My method caused wort to be drawn from the kettle below the bag faster than it could drain back through, causing an air space around the element and allowing it to get very hot (and scorth the wort).
I can confirm that burnt wort is an absolutely horrible flavor and there is no fixing it.....ya gotta dump it. Lost 3 batches before I determined root cause.
Sorry for your loss,
---Todd
I can confirm that burnt wort is an absolutely horrible flavor and there is no fixing it.....ya gotta dump it. Lost 3 batches before I determined root cause.
Sorry for your loss,
---Todd
WWBBD?
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- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America
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Post #9 made 11 years ago
I can't say for certain, because I don't ebiab. But I do know I havent used that much wheat to grain ratio before
However, I second the idea of stirring/recirc. during temp ramp up. Perhaps there was too much protein floating around. Also, if there was a fine crush there would there be more flour?
I totally understand your aversion to a protein rest but maybe it's necessary...
However, I second the idea of stirring/recirc. during temp ramp up. Perhaps there was too much protein floating around. Also, if there was a fine crush there would there be more flour?
I totally understand your aversion to a protein rest but maybe it's necessary...
Post #10 made 11 years ago
What Todd said...been there, done that.thughes wrote:I've had it happen but traced the cause to recirculating too fast (I used to use a pump to constantly recirculate while mashing). My method caused wort to be drawn from the kettle below the bag faster than it could drain back through, causing an air space around the element and allowing it to get very hot (and scorth the wort).
I can confirm that burnt wort is an absolutely horrible flavor and there is no fixing it.....ya gotta dump it. Lost 3 batches before I determined root cause.
Sorry for your loss,
---Todd
Last edited by lonetexan on 07 Feb 2013, 11:11, edited 2 times in total.
Post #11 made 10 years ago
I have not experienced scorched/burned wort with my EBIAB setup, but I wanted to ask the group if I could be getting a caramel/sweeter tasting wort because of the heat being concentrated along the heating element.
When a propane burner is used, the wattage per square inch is much lower I would suspect.
My Ultra Low Wattage Density (50W/SqInch) element has been working great for me for 2 years, and my beer is always enjoyed by all, but I'm just wondering if anyone has discussed this possibility of the wort being caramelized a bit by the element's power density.
Thoughts anyone?
When a propane burner is used, the wattage per square inch is much lower I would suspect.
My Ultra Low Wattage Density (50W/SqInch) element has been working great for me for 2 years, and my beer is always enjoyed by all, but I'm just wondering if anyone has discussed this possibility of the wort being caramelized a bit by the element's power density.
Thoughts anyone?
Post #12 made 10 years ago
I don't think an ULWD element is going to cause any caramelzation issues. With my element at 100% power (and the water just being added so it is not too hot to stick my hand in yet) I can submerge my hand in the pot and touch the element without it burning my fingers. (do not try this at home!)
WWBBD?
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- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America
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Post #13 made 10 years ago
Thanks for the feedback gents. I've been running my heatstick at full-on during the boil, and I thought maybe I should cut it back to 80% on or so. My experience has been that the boil stops during the time the stick if off. I modified an existing control board to have a 13 second cycle, and my adjustment potentiometer controls what % of that 13 seconds the stick is on.
I'll pass on touching the element, but thanks for the info!
I'll pass on touching the element, but thanks for the info!
