Beer Forum

I plan to brew a batch of Wit soon and am gonna need to mash at 122F for 15 minutes and then raise the temp to 154F for the rest of the mash. Should I use half of my strike water for the first infusion, let that rest for 15 minutes, then slowly add the second half to get it up to 154? My mash tun is a picnic cooler with a bazooka screen, so I obviously can't heat it directly.

Try using a mash ratio of 1 qt/# for your first rest. Then boil about 3-4 gallons of water and slowly add this to your cooler when the first rest is done. Keep adding water, stirring well and taking the mash temp until you hit your final rest temp. Beware that it always takes more boiling water to raise your mash temps than you think.

+1 on doughing in thick. I've gone as low as .75 qts per lb to avoid overflowing my mash tun.

Have you considered a 131F protein rest? 131 is at the upper range of protease activity and its not as big a jump so its easier to get up to saccharafication temps.


Regardless, if you miss low and/or run out of room in your mash tun, you can do an emergency decoction in a 2nd pot by pulliing 1/3 of the grist (not wort, but the grist itself with just enough wort make loose) and bringing it first to 150F for 10 mins then bringing it all the way up to a boil. You must stir constantly so that you don't scorch the grains. Return that a bit at a time to the main mash and you will be able to increase the temp without overflowing or applying direct heat to your cooler.

I would go ahead and lower my expectations for this batch. Changing temps in a cooler is very tricky.

brewinhard wrote:Try using a mash ratio of 1 qt/# for your first rest. Then boil about 3-4 gallons of water and slowly add this to your cooler when the first rest is done. Keep adding water, stirring well and taking the mash temp until you hit your final rest temp. Beware that it always takes more boiling water to raise your mash temps than you think.

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. I will give that a try and I'm sure it will work out great! Thanks for the input!!!!!!

BDawg wrote:+1 on doughing in thick. I've gone as low as .75 qts per lb to avoid overflowing my mash tun.

Have you considered a 131F protein rest? 131 is at the upper range of protease activity and its not as big a jump so its easier to get up to saccharafication temps.

I have not considered that. I am only going by JZ'z BCS recipe. Do I need to look further into this??

Protein rests ruin good beer. Skip the protein rest altogether, and don't worry about stepping the mash.

I've had no issues step mashing in an igloo cooler for the last 2 years. The few things I can suggest that made things easier for me were to split your infusions into even volumes. For example if I were doing a rest at 122, 145 and 155 and I needed to use 12 gallons of water for the mash. I would use 4 gallons at X temp to get to 122, 4 gallons at Y temp to get to 145 and 4 gallons of Z temp to get to 155. Generally speaking Protease enzymes work better in a thicker mash and Amalyase enzymes work better in a thinner mash, however with that being said the aforementioned method proved successful for me. It definitely helped to simplify the mashing infusion volumes with round numbers so I wasn't attempting to try to measure out 4.37 gallons or some odd amount like that.

The other thing I would recommend would be to overshoot your infusion water temperature by a degree or two and stir the mash/keep the lid off until it cools down to the desired mash temp. I've found it a lot easier to come down in my mash temps versus trying to raise the temp. If you're concerned about overshooting your mash temps too far, use a little Calcium Chloride or Gypsum in the mash because the Calcium can help to protect the enzymes from unfolding in too warm of an environment.

A protein rest in a Wheat-based beer isn't a waste in my opinion. Sometimes you want the Protease enzymes to break down the protein into FAN to achieve certain fermentation characteristics and flavors. Not to mention you will have plenty of protein left over from the abundance of wheat in the grain bill.