No you are right, sorry i should have posted that. I created this mash schedule in Beersmith and it just defaulted to 10 pounds of grain. Good point though, the actual recipe will have much more grain (i do add corn sugar usually).
You know, i might be up for an experiment and tasting. Maybe one batch could be decoction and the other i can just pour out the mash from the cooler and heat it up on the stove, then dump it back into the cooler. I might do this actually, it would be a great way for me to learn about mashing and taste profiles.
Malts today are vastly different than they were “back in the day”. The mash steps that were required then are not required today.
Before you decoct, plot your single infusion mashes, Mash temp vs. FG for similar recipes with the same yeast. (Ideally the same recipe).
First learn how mash temp impacts your beer on your system.
Decoctions can be emulated using grains, but they promote a rich maliard reaction and are typically a few points more efficient at sugar extraction from the malt.
Basically all of the crushed malt is mixed (infused) with hot water to achieve a mash temperature of 146-158F, depending on the style of beer being made. The infusion water temperature varies with the water-to-grain ratio being used for the mash, but generally the initial “strike water” temperature is 10-15·°F above the target mash temperature. The mash should be held at the saccharification temperature for about an hour. The goal is to achieve a steady temperature.
Oh okay thanks. And thanks for the tip on single infusion. So you all are saying just infuse the grain to one desired temperature, let it sit for about an hour (holding the same temp), then mash out? If that is the case then i agree, i was making it way to complicated.
So Bonjour, a better experiment would be the same recipe mashed at two different temperatures?
When I brew Belgians, (which are my favorites) I only do a single step infusion at 148-150*. I add 1.5 qts water per pound, and figure adding water at 16-18* higher than your mash temp, to account for heat loss when adding to cooler temp grains.Grains will absorb water, and my experience is 1/10th gallon per pound. So if you have 10lbs grain, you’ll likely lose 1 gallon water to absorption.
;D This is really funny actually. I thought my single temperature mashes were too simple so i made them more complicated thinking it was better. Now i see i should go back to the single. Full circle I do, however, understand much more than i did before. Besides, my “single step” varied about 10 degrees while i was doing it on the stove. Not exactly repeatable.
This has been a great learning experience. I am excited. I have a recipe that has been quite successful in the past but i will try two batches at different temperatures, just so i understand this process and the end product better. This will be my second attempt at all-grain. The first time i was in over my head and it didn’t turn out well so i went to partial mash/extract. Now i have a much better understanding of what i am doing, or plan on doing when i get back to it.
There are lots of reasons to dough in at 104. If you are decocting, it lets you decoct a lot. It lets you fix mash pH before you get to the more important part of the mash. Malt doesn’t gelatinize at 104 so you can dough in without stirring and breaking up dough balls. As Charlie Bamforth said on The Sunday Session a few months ago, it is cheap insurance against malt that isn’t quite as modified as you think it is (as it will continue to break down beta glucans). It’s one things to say “today’s modified malts” but how many of you take a sample from your bag of grain and observe the length of the acrospire? I do, and you would be surprised at the variation from bag to bag.
So lots of benefits, admittedly minor, and no downside. I wouldn’t recommend it for people doing infusion mashes in coolers, but it is easy on my system and I do it each time.
This whole “today’s modified malts dictate that you should always do single infusion” argument is kinda crap isn’t it? German brewers have always step mashed and still do today. English brewers have always done single infusion, even hundreds of years ago. If something changed between 1980 and 2010 such that everyone should have been step mashing in 1980 and everyone should be single infusion mashing today, the pros never got that memo. Low temperature rests aren’t just about proteolysis (according to Bamforth in the aforementioned interview, proteolysis doesn’t happen at appreciable levels in mashing anyway).
So I’m all on board with the theory that proteolysis isn’t typically required or desired in mashing but I think that does not imply that there is no reason to dough in at lower temperatures.
i did some more reading and now i am wondering about pH. i heard from my lhbs that they don’t worry about pH very much. do you all adjust it? if so how
I do now, but I brewed award winning beers for 10 years before I really worried about it. If you’re just starting AG, you’ve got other things to deal with. Get the basic methods down, then worry about pH.
Denny’s pretty much right - don’t worry about it too much. Water is the last thing to master - get your mashing and yeast management skills right first. Mash pH will usually adjust itself. Just make sure that your water is fit for brewing: no off-flavors, chlorine removed. If you want to experiment, there’s no harm in buying some pH test strips; just resist the urge to monkey with your water unless you’ve got serious pH or ion level problems.
The exceptions are if you’re dealing with really alkaline water (i.e. high carbonates, bicarbonates and/or magnesium) or extremely pure water. In the first case, you might need to add some food-grade acid to get your mash pH in the right range. In the latter case, you might need to add some calcium to react with the phosphates in the malt to get the pH to drop.
I do, however, understand much more than i did before. Besides, my “single step” varied about 10 degrees while i was doing it on the stove. Not exactly repeatable.