Mash Schedule help please

Brewing Processes
1

Planning to brew up this Belgian IPA this coming Saturday and had a question regarding Mash schedule as this is the most Pilsner malt I’ve used in a recipe. The recipe is below and I am not sure if I should do a single infusion at 152 or a step infusion like 122 for 30 minutes and then raise to 152 for 30 minutes and then mash out. I batch sparge as well. Appreciate the input!

Recipe Specifications

Boil Size: 9.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.00 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.25 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.074 SG
Estimated Color: 8.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 67.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 81.2 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:

Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
6.25 gal              Chicago, IL                              Water        1        -           
11 lbs 8.0 oz        Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)            Grain        2        63.4 %       
3 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)          Grain        3        16.5 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)              Grain        4        8.3 %       
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM)              Grain        5        8.3 %       
10.1 oz              Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)                Grain        6        3.5 %       
0.75 oz              Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60. Hop          7        25.6 IBUs   
1.00 oz              Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min  Hop          8        15.9 IBUs   
1.00 oz              Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min    Hop          9        12.1 IBUs   
0.31 tsp              Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)              Fining        10      -           
1.00 oz              Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min  Hop          11      7.5 IBUs     
1.00 oz              Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min      Hop          12      4.9 IBUs     
1.50 oz              Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)      Spice        13      -           
1.00 oz              Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min    Hop          14      1.8 IBUs     
1.0 pkg              Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) [12 Yeast        15      -           
1.25 tsp              Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days)        Other        16      -

2

No need for a protein rest with today’s modified malts…

Dave

3

That’s kind of what I thought but I have seen a lot of recipes using large amounts of Pilsner employ one, hence the question. Anyone with other thoughts please chime in…

4

There is no need, but IMHO there is also nothing wrong with doing a protein rest when using that much Pilsner.  I would keep it closer to 130-131 and for only 10-15 minutes to help and not hurt head retention.

Dave

5

I would agree with Dave that you don’t need to do a protein rest but in this case it really won’t hurt either.  Personally I would skip it, but if you were to do a protein rest, personally I would limit it to 5 minutes or no more than 10 minutes for sure, as a longer protein rest will indeed hurt your head retention.  In my experience, 5 minutes should be all you really need to notice an effect, whereas 30 minutes would basically kill all the body and head retention characteristics of the beer.  In a Belgian, not such a terrible thing necessarily, as they like their beers “digestible”, but since this is more of a Belgo-American thing being an IPA, you probably wouldn’t want to do it.

6

Thanks for the replies, I’ll probably just skip it since it really doesn’t appear to be necessary.

7

For a Belgian style beer, with Pilsner malt, mash low and slow. ~148* and for 90 mins. Don’t worry about the protein rest, but like the above posters said, it wouldn’t hurt if you want to try it. just keep it short.

8

I always do a rest at 130F for 10 minutes when brewing a Belgian-style beer, then ramp up to whatever sacch temp I am shooting for - usually 150F or less. I feel it helps my efficiency.

9

I, too, am doing a Pilsner heavy Belgian Specialty Ale and I was wondering the same thing. Using 5oz of Columbus @ 17.5% AA, so it will be borderline IPA.

12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 85.7 %
1 lbs Abbey malt (Castle Malting) (22.8 SRM) Grain 4 7.1 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 5 7.1 %

So I think just mashing @ 148F for 90 minutes seems to be where I’ll get my best efficiency? This is the largest grain bill I’ve tackled yet, but I’m pretty confident that it will be fine.

Any suggestions?

Mouse

10

148F is often chosen to maximize fermentability, but it isn’t optimum for efficiency, since it can hinder conversion (depending on other variables).  When I mash at 148F, which I often do, I infuse hot water part way through the mash to get the temperature up over 155F, but below 162F, to maximize my chance at getting efficient conversion and a good overall mash efficiency.