Hello all,
Is there a way to get “the best of all worlds”, in other words, to do something like mash at 148 degrees for 45 minutes (to get “fermentability”) and then to increase the temperature to 155 degrees for 45 minutes (to get “mouthfeel”)? Or, would the latter negate the former.
Is it possible to do both, or does one simply have to settle for an “average” of the two, such as a single-infusion mash of 150 or so for an hour?
Thanks–Bud
I do something similar to this. I brew with a lot of pilsner malt so I like to include a protein rest. Last winter for my lagers I was doing 20:20:20 at 122:148:158. I found this worked great for a Helles, Ofest and Bock, but had too much body for a Ger. Pils. This year I lengthened the 148 step to 30 min and drop the 158 to 15 and my beers are just coming online and so far I’ve been liking the body I’m getting for the more hoppy/less malty pilsner styles
This sounds like a single infusion versus step mash thread 
A mash with separate beta and alpha rests is common, especially in German breweries. Some of the trappist breweries also use step mashes, something like 135-145-158. Varying the amount of time at the beta rest will change the limit of attenuation of the wort.
Whether or not this produces a mouthfeel that is “more dextrinous” or less one-dimensional than a single infusion rest that produces the same FG is up for debate.