Kunze is about $250 the last time I checked. Well worth the money.
I don’t think it’s verbatim text passages but all the material, save maybe the graphs of yeast characteristics, is straight from BLAM in one form or another.
I can’t remember the last time I spent that much on a car.
It’s much less expensive than that! More like $250.
Sorry guys too many zeros.
THIS^^^^
I have, at this stage, read a ton of books on brewing, articles, etc.
By far the two most valuable resources for me have been Kunze’s text and BLAM. Both are filled with what seems like an inexhaustible amount of good information.
BLAM is a much more reasonable price for me.
IMHO for a BGSA: Pilsner Malt, Sugar, Saaz hops. 90 min sac rest at 149*F. 90 min boil.
OG: 1.072 (17.5 °P) FG: 1.007 (1.9 °P) IBU: 32 Color: 3 SRM Alcohol: 8.5% ABV
I get all my info from books and internet searches and I find this works well with T-58 yeast.
Those Monks aren’t single infusing. 
Aye aye Cap!
I imagine that’s true. I’m just a homebrewer reading about styles I drank while in Europe. I fall into the “the simplicity of single infusion far outweighs any possible benefit from step mashing, even if it makes a difference. To each their own” camp.
If interested ck out: It’s all in the Details by D. Jamil Zainasheff in Brewing Classic Styles. He specifies a 149*F single infusion.
…and in Brew Like a Monk, in the recipe Vinnie Cilurzo’s Strong Golden Ale, Mash: 151-152° F is specified.
Then of course there’s information like this: Step Mash vs. Single Infusion | exBEERiment Results!
…resulting in quotes like this:
If you have the ability to step mash using a controlled, direct fired system then that’s the way to go. If not, then there isn’t really much of an option.
With a Hockhurz 2 step mash you get in and out in an hour and the benefits are innumerable.
I don’t doubt you. But I do doubt Monks use/used Hockhurz. I say that that because in BLAM I read “The number of rests, resting temperatures, and time at each stop may vary by a small measure (you’ll find those that monastery breweries were willing to reveal in Chap 2.) The mash at Brewery Ommegang in New York would fit right in. Ommegang begins at 113° F (45° C) for 15 minutes, is raised to 144° F (62° C) for 35 minutes, then 158° F (70° C) for 25 minutes, and 172° F (78° C) for 5 minutes.”
I also see multiple steps in this article: https://www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.6/mosher.html
But I revert to this statement in BLAM: "Ryan said a brewer limited to single-infusion can do just fine using the same Belgian malts. “Almost every malt sold in North America is well modified,” he said. “If you want well-attenuated beer, then do a long conversion about 146° F (63° C). You don’t mash off hot, never let it get over 163° F (73° C), and you’re not really going to end conversion. You’ll be converting all the way into the kettle, until you denature.”
ALL the Trappists are step mashing. Hockhurz is merely a modified step mash schedule that eliminates the protein test which is useless and detrimental given how well modified the Malts we get are.
The second paragraph about a single infusion at 146 °F is bad advice as well. That’s prime LOX territory and I would want to be sitting there for 60-90 minutes.
You can brew a fine BGSA, one that compares favorably in a side by side against some of the better known commercial examples, with a single infusion mash.
I know this not because I’ve read about it in a book, but because I’ve actually brewed and tasted the beer.
It was by no means a dig at anybody or how they do their thing.
No. I’m going to have to call BS on this one. I can only assume that the references recommend a 1C/min rate to avoid local overheating of the wort. If you have a bottom-fired or jacketed mash tun, then I’ll agree that the rate is appropriate. If you run HERMS or RIMS, then the wort can go directly to the targeted step temperature with no detriment. Of course, this assumes that your HERMS or RIMS has proper process controls to avoid overheating the wort. The temperature sensor controlling the heating system must be immediately downstream of the heat source.
My 4500w RIMS wort circuit can step my wort directly to next temperature and I’ve never observed a problem with conversion or attenuation. However, I can point out that I DID have attenuation problems in my previous RIMS when I didn’t have proper PID-control on the wort heating circuit. Created several ‘worty’ beers during that time. Overheating your wort will create the problems that the 1C/min recommendation is trying to help you avoid.
If you have the right equipment, the rate doesn’t matter. Hit your target wort temperature and let the rest of the mash rise as the pulse of hot wort makes its way through the grist.
If I can achieve 99% of the same result by an easier method, that’s what I’m gonna do.
Touché Martin. I have not seen problems with my triple decoction and they jump directly from one temp to another when I use to step mash in a cooler. Which, before you two say anything, it is far from lodo brewing methods.