German Brewing

Took a little over 2 weeks to get here. I'll probably throw it in at mash along with smb and a little more at the end of the boil and see what happens.

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Just brewed my first Helles batch with this stuff and not impressed. I followed Wyeast guidelines for the amounts in mash and boil and it looked fine until I chilled. Usually my wort is crystal clear in 15-30 min post chill, this looks like orange juice!

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Not sure on the boil PH, had 5.4 for mash. Not many reviews of this stuff but a few mentioned the wort runs very clear to the fermenter. I didn't use whirlfloc like usual but even without it i get a better break. Wort still smells and tastes great, very maltomeal like so maybe it'll be OK?

Brewtan is allegedly also supposed to sequester copper and iron salts... I wonder if the copper chiller is causing the clarity issue? Check your cold break?

I am trying to get some to play around with. A local brewery promised to buy some - they are exploring alternatives to filtering for their ales after a couple of chill haze issues. AND they have a Wyeast account. I asked for a pound - happy to share if they remember to buy it for me.

My understanding is that in the mash, it causes polyphenols to settle into the mash bed. In the boil, it does the same, but increases trub coagulation, resulting in a clearer run off, and acts a bit like isinglass in the fermenter, increasing electrical charges and molecular mass for better clearing - especially chill haze. The reaction with copper is more interesting to me, especially if it acts quickly and falls out. I have a $300 copper counterflow chiller that I would prefer avoid replacing... but it is on the list.

I haven't read anything about impact on pH, etc.

"My take is that Brewtan is made of tannic acid/polyphenols (PP) and when added in the presence of proteins/lipids of opposite charge they combine and precipitate but if PP are added and there are no excess proteins/lipids they would cause haze"

Someone in another forum mentioned this and I think this may be the cause of my haze. I bet the recirculation of my Braumeister is stripping a lot of the haze causing protiens in the mash and I'm adding haze back into already clear wort? Maybe I'll just try it in the mash next time.