Scorched Wort?

[brianbrewed]

Did my second all grain batch with Get 'er Brewed Mad Cow Stout Kit.
I've noticed that the wort had a smoked smell.
Also the heating element was black which I originally put down to the colour of the wort ie. Black

Have I burnt the wort and if so how will this affect the flavour of the stout?

[Shanna]

Did my second all grain batch with Get 'er Brewed Mad Cow Stout Kit.
I've noticed that the wort had a smoked smell.
Also the heating element was black which I originally put down to the colour of the wort ie. Black

Have I burnt the wort and if so how will this affect the flavour of the stout?

It's burnt malt and yes it will probably affect the smell of the beer but not necessarily in a bad way. I have heating elements that scorch in the same way especially with 90 minute boils and > 7% beers. If you have this black colouring you need to remove & clean your elements. If its carbon I would suggest a scouring pad or the back of a sharp knife to scrape it off. You probably also need to clean them straight away after every brew using a tooth brush. It's a good chance this wi reduce the build up.

Shanna

[brianbrewed]

Thanks for the advice, shanna

[wallacebiy]

As Shanna says scorching adds a bit ( some Americans don't brew with electric because they can't scorch and caramelise wort with a 110v )

Cleaning your element is crucial as the protective coating will fail and the element will start tripping . If I had my time over I'd use a descaler every few brews ..

[RichC]

Dry it off, squeeze fresh lemon juice onto it liberally. Leave for an hour and wipe off

[brianbrewed]

Thanks guys for the advice.
Any tips for preventing this happening in the future?

[biertourist]

As Shanna says scorching adds a bit ( some Americans don't brew with electric because they can't scorch and caramelise wort with a 110v )

Hahaha, awesome!

[Will_D]

As Shanna says scorching adds a bit ( some Americans don't brew with electric because they can't scorch and caramelise wort with a 110v )

Not really true if it can boil water it can scorch wort! Its not about voltage - what temperature do you think a 3 volt torch bulb filament is?

About 1500C

[Shanna]

Dry it off, squeeze fresh lemon juice onto it liberally. Leave for an hour and wipe off

This will only work on bin carbinised wort that is soft. I have used lemon juice, acetic acid & even sodium hydroxide on a layer of burnt on wort accumulated over several brews (Russian imperial porter, Baltic porter & Scotch Ale). It simply did not work despite using 80C water also. The carbon from burnt on wort is pretty non reactive + I have only had success removing with a metal implement & a scouring back on a sponge. I suffered tripped elements & burnt flavours with the carbon. Now I manually clean element post brew with a plastic brush, & soak in oxy & 60C water. That appears to work for me so far. The trick is to remove any scorching asap & don't let it accumalate.

Shanna