At what temp does cold break occur?

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:52 pm

So, I was thinking about it a bit, as I've just gotten a counterflow chiller. My goal is to build/buy a wort strainer to go into my keggle when I'm transferring to primary, to keep unwanted hop/other material out of the primary. But with a CFC, all the cold break will end up in primary.

So I was thinking about that, and wondered: what if I chilled quickly with an immersion chiller to form cold break, and then ran in through the CFC to get it down to pitching temps. But that brings up a question: at what temp does the cold break form?

Ideally, I want to get the clearest thing I can into primary, as I often find 2-3 inches in a carboy when I chill and then just pour straight in. That should help yeast culturing (which I'd like to do soon) and the bottling process (assuming I don't do secondaries). If I were to know that cold break forms at, say, 120 degrees, I could chill to that point before running it through the CFC. If cold break forms at 80 degrees, well, I'm better off just running it straight through the CFC and hoping for the best.

backyard brewer · Post by **backyard brewer** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:59 am

I'm not sure if cold break forms at a specific temperature but I believe it is a factor of how fast you can change the temperature. I do know that if you were to let wort just cool naturally, you wouldn't get much cold break. That's also why CFC chiller users end up with quite a bit of cold break in their fermenter, because the wort is cooled very quickly as it passes through the CFC.

I'll try to remember to look it up in the Fix book I have at home. I seem to remember quite a bit of text regarding break material.

tylking · Post by **tylking** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:29 pm

Begins at 60c and increases with the decrease in temperature. It can be redissolved if the temperature is raised.

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:55 am

Another thing to keep in mind is that the formation of cold break is one thing, but the precipitation is another. You need to give the cold break time to settle so you can end up with clear wort in your fermenter. If you are using a conical fermenter you can dump the trub, but if you are using a carboy or bucket you will need to wait for the cold break to settle before transferring to your fermenter.

Here is a link to an old article in Brewing Techniqueson the subject.

Brad