I've been looking for a good reference that discusses mash schedules for the homebrewer. I've been using Randy Mosher's "Brewers Companion" which has some excellent information about various mash schedules. However, the schedules described in that book seem best suited for a commercial brewery using underconverted grain (a 4.35 hour decoction mash, for example). Even the simple British 1-step infusion mash schedule described in this book takes about 3 hours from dough-in to sparge.
- Is such a long mash really required for proper enzyme activity & conversion with the highly modified malts we have today??
- With the limited means of termperature control available to most homebrewers, perhaps it would be even better to mash high modified grains a shorter time with more temperature accuracy?
- How does the water:grain ratio (mash thickness) affect things?
What type of mash schedule do you usually use?