Decoction Mash Question.

[Speyedr]

Don't you mean S.M.A.R.T. system??

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

S.M.A.R.T. ass...

Better than bein' a DUMB ASS

Hehehe...

[hopbumpingbrewer]

Rob,
Well my Decoction went great. I really enjoyed doing the step mash as well. Overall a great brewday. A long brewday. But a great one none the less.

I only made one mistake. I panniced a little bit when I saw the mash go to 180 when I returned the Decoction to my mash tun.

I then proceeded to cool it down with filtered cold water. That was great until I ended up cooling it down too much. It went to 158. I was able to bring it back to mash out at 168.

I am worried that the temperature drop nullified my Decoction. Do you know if it had any affect?

Thanks,
Carlo

[Speyedr]

Hey Carlo,

Glad it went well!

The actual "decoction" is the process of taking a portion from the mash and heating up to boiling. When you boil it you "burst" some of the enzymes (as I've seen it referred to,) which adds a malty flavor that you can't get from specialty grains.

When you add the boiled mash back to the main mash you are only using the heat to bring your entire mash temp up to the desired level. In this case you overshot the mark, but the actual decoction sounds like it went just fine.

I would ask how long you were above 170f as that can cause some astringent flavors by releasing tanins from the grain husks. As long as it was not above 170f for too long ( a few minutes should be OK) you will not have a problem.

Did you REALLY overshoot, or did you not stir enough? Just curious. I have had my wife monitor my Temp Guage on my B3-1000 and she goes "154... wait it JUMPED to 170... OK back to 156..." while I'm stirring I find if I stir it long enough (at least 5 min) I can get a better reading.

Let me know how it truns out!

Rob

[hopbumpingbrewer]

Rob,
The temperature did not stay high more than a couple minutes. Or high as I may have thought it went.

I think that you are correct about the high temp. I did not wait and stir the mash for very long before beginning to add cold water. The digital thermometer sometimes has a delay on it. I think my being over nervous about the process was the reason for my haste.

I am pretty sure that everything will be just fine.

My fermentation is going very well. I pitched at 48 and I have temp control to keep it there. I grew up two viles of WLP833 to about a 1200 mil thick slurry. My last starter pitch was 3.5 gallons and when it fermemted out I had a ton of very vibrant, healthy yeast.

My lag time was 12 hours at 48 degrees. I think that will help in the quality of the lager more than anything.

Sorry to be so loquacious on this post but I have a really good feeling about this Maibock.

I will let you know how it comes out,
Carlo