Yes, you can do a decoction for an ale. In addition to the effects above, you also might get a few more points out of the malt, due to the small starch granuales being burst by the boiling.
With NA malts it is a little overkill.
Fred might chime in on this one, as he sometimes does decoction for his big beers, trying to get everything out of the malt and to make a fermentable wort…
Decocting ales works too… but again try and use a simple, deliberate malt bill, using the decoction to add additional complexity… like an all British base malt English Barleywine… or a Wheat+Pilsner+Dark Munich Weizenbock… or Wheat+Pils Weizen.
I think in a lot of those examples, a decoction can smooth out sharp spots that will eventually smooth out with age.
And Gordon, can I come up with my own name for the decocted ale style? Canadian Hordeum Hootch or something? Or maybe PCDA (pale cascadian Canadian dark ale)
I need to go brew something and stop spending so much time thinking about beer.
I think that’s the best advice I’ve read all day on the forum.
I’d never really thought of decoction as a way to replace specialty malts as a source of melanoidins and the slightly darker/breadier flavor components, that makes some sense. And using the specialty grains in your bill then decocting, I could see where that would be tougher to taste a difference since the specialty grains are probably more pronounced in their contribution, to the point where they might be a little over the top even.
I agree. Adding a bunch of specialty malts to a German Pilsner is just going to taste wrong. According to Weyermann, some of their commercial customers use a small amount of CaraHell, but you really need to keep any of these additions at or just below the taste threshold in a Pilsner.
I’d compare a Pilsner made with just a great Pilsner Malt to a decocted one. If you can tell the difference in a blind tasting, and you prefer it, decide if it’s worth the time.
I’ve never done a decoction. Now that that’s out of the way, let me just say that I found it interesting in Brewing With Wheat, by Hieronymous, that some of the traditional weizen breweries in Bavaria tend to only do decoction mashes when the ingredients call for it (i.e., when using undermodified malt). I found the takeaway point to be that while brewers can manipulate the wort profile with decoction mashing (breaking down proteins via protein rest – when necessary, increasing wort fermentability, etc.), there are not enough flavor benefits to justify performing a decoction mash for every batch. Of course, there are plenty of traditional weizen breweries who still seem to employ decoction mashing as a matter of course.
Just my 2 cents and it don’t account for much but this just blows me away… Denny aren’t you the one who was telling me a few months ago and anyone else who would listen about how fantastic a Decoction Mash was and basically took over the conversation??? Hummmmm… ??? Remember when I was asking why everyone was always asking me why and making such a big deal when I said I stepped mashed and you got into how you have ran all the triple blind taste tests and such… And now you say it’s not all that…
Obviously, Denny can answer for himself, but in the six years that I’ve been acquainted with him online (through both the NB and AHA forums), I have never heard him espouse the virtues of decoction mashing. I have always understood his position to be that he has found no appreciable benefit to doing a decoction mash, but that others should try it for themselves to see if their opinions differ. In other words, his position has been completely consistent with his comments in this thread and others on the subject.
I can’t see why anyone would be against decoction. It works great, but it’s a royal pain in the butt to do.
I don’t think they are against it, many just feel it doesn’t give you the bang for the buck when compared to using specialty grains to accomplish similar results.
+1 In the 2 years I’ve been reading posts by Denny, I’ve learn he is very consistent with the advise he offers. While he has strong opinions on many topics, he will always recommend that you try things for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Nope, I don’t recall saying that. I can’t imagine why I would have.
I can think of a reason you would have 
I’ve never heard Denny pimping for decoction, but @sharg54 it should be easy enough for you to search the forum and find those posts . . .
Nope, never been THAT high.
…or don’t recall being that high anyway.