Help me not burn my beer again!

[Pheeel]

Re the IPA it might not have been down to flour. When you say it had a funky burnt taste what type of burnt taste was it? It could be an infection

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

The bit I picked up on in your previous post was that you used a mug with holes in it over your element, to prevent the bag from sticking to the element. I use a trivet from an old convector microwave. It keeps the bag raised a few inches above the elements. I'd be concerned that your mug restricts space around the element causing hot spots which end up burning wort onto the element.
I previously bought a biab bag from one of the HBS's and it had a coarser material sown into the bottom, this allowed more flour to escape. I now use a bag made from voile curtain netting.
Last but not least the mash out step if to reduce the viscosity of the wort by gelatising any remaining gums within the grist. You need to leave the bag in while heating the wort to heat up the grist. you could I suppose take the bag out during heating steps but you would need to put the bag back in to extract more sugar suspended in the grain, and since the bag will have cooled down by being removed, you would need to extend the mash-out time to say 15 rather than 10 min's
PS Power City has a graveyard just inside the door, usually there's a good few discarded microwaves sitting in the crates, you could try there for a trivet or at your local recycle centre if you don't have one lying around.

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

This is similar to the trivet I use


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[redshift]

Is happened to me twice when I was doing biab. I traced the problem (I think) to a combination of malt flour escaping through the bag and the high watt density kettle elements I was using.
I switched to a single 4kw low watt density element and never had any problems after that.

[darren996]

I have two peco elements in a boiler and This only happened to me when I did biab wheat beers. You need to get those elements spotless after this happens. Bar keepers friend is great for this, make a paste out of it and rub it into the element, leave for a bit and then scrub, they will come up brand new

[WaterWolf]

the elements had a build up of carbon after celery brew.

Celery brew? Dear God nooo!

I would suggest tryi a lower alcohol recipe with more modest grain bill & try get somebody to crush the grain for you using the method I outlined.

I'll try reducing the grain bill a bit for the upcoming IPA. I get my crushed grain from thehomebrewcompany.ie so I don't really have any control over it. I received the grain I ordered with the new element today, 5kg of Minch Pale Malt. I can see the flour sitting at the bottom of the plastic sack already. This time I'll just make sure I spent a good amount of time shaking the grain in the mesh bag so that I get most of the fine flour out - previously I'd just been dumping it in the mash as it is.

Just as a note,  with biab,  you use the full volume of water during the mash,  ie mash + sparge volume (in this case 29.5l).  Sounds like you need a bigger bag.,

Yea, I might just try doing it this way next time - the second infusion was certainly extracting a good bit of extra sugar from the grain (I measured the S.G. after doing it) but it's more awkward and time consuming so I want to see if I keep the same efficiency just doing it all in one go.

The bag is reasonably big, just not quite big enough to fit all the way around the rim (it does fit around the rim of my narrower fermentation bucket). I can stir the grain okay, so it's not a major issue but, yea, ideally a bigger one would be better.

When you say it had a funky burnt taste what type of burnt taste was it? It could be an infection

It's not quite the cigarette ash taste of the wheat beer but it's still a bit burnt as in a kind of smokey flavour. The fermentation temperature was higher than I would have liked as well so I think it's a combination of both aspects. Fermentation temperature will be easier to control at this time of year!

The bit I picked up on in your previous post was that you used a mug with holes in it over your element, to prevent the bag from sticking to the element. I use a trivet from an old convector microwave.

Yea, I still haven't really worked out the best solution for this yet - I would have thought the PECO boiler would have come with some kind of false bottom by default... Anyway I'll keep an eye out for something less constrictive - I have a stainless steel mesh splatter screen for a frying pan that could work if I found a way to hold it in place above the element.

Bar keepers friend is great for this, make a paste out of it and rub it into the element, leave for a bit and then scrub, they will come up brand new

Can you get this in shops in Ireland or only online? Also if using citric acid to clean the element, what concentration do you use?

[darren996]

Most hardware shops should stock barkeepers. don't know if citric would be strong enough for scorched wort, I have never tried it

[Shanna]

Most hardware shops should stock barkeepers. don't know if citric would be strong enough for scorched wort, I have never tried it

Can confirm citric won't shift burnt wort.

Shanna

[WaterWolf]

As requested, here are some photos of the burnt element. Note that some of the burnt layer is flaking off now, but there's still more underneath! There's also a photo of the cutlery drainer I was using to keep the bag off the element.

I think I'll stick the element in the freezer to see if it causes any of the burnt stuff to flake off. If I got it totally clean again it would be handy to have as a backup.

[WaterWolf]

Okay, the forum won't let me post any more. That's all you get!

[Leann ull]

Fooking hell man how the feck did you manage to do that!
Why won't it cos your not a full member

[molc]

Sweet jesus that's some layer of crap! I'd be betting on the mash sugars and crud building up with that, as you've caramelised a load ofaterial of some sort on the element.

[Leann ull]

With a knife try and chip the black off, don't go at it aggressively if it's not coming go and get some drain cleaner from hardware store *nb very aggressive acid and treat with respect it will burn you. Submerge the burnt bit and leave 24 hours, it should reminder off

[Shanna]

As requested, here are some photos of the burnt element. Note that some of the burnt layer is flaking off now, but there's still more underneath! There's also a photo of the cutlery drainer I was using to keep the bag off the element.

I think I'll stick the element in the freezer to see if it causes any of the burnt stuff to flake off. If I got it totally clean again it would be handy to have as a backup.

Get a short strong knife & use the back of it to scrape the outer shell of burnt carbon off. As CH said don't go too aggressively. Then use the bar keepers friend & a stainless steel scouring pad to work the rest of the material off. I am guessing that is from several brews. You will need to pay more attention to cleaning after each boil in future. Might be best to ditch that element & buy a low density element instead. Build ups on the element reduce its efficiency & increases the risk that the element will burn out.

Shanna

[Leann ull]

Issue was by using the cutlery cover you create a localised hot spot that the heat can't dissipate away quick enough from the elements, the net result being carbonation like that.
Look at a way of suspending your bag off the bottom by tying it or using one of those bungee cords, but dump the cutlery cover