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#1 johnpreuss

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 11:45 AM

So I hit low on my strike temp today.. only 144. So do you think 144 for 30 min and 155-158 for another 30 would work?

#2 Brauer

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 12:26 PM

Should work fine.



#3 johnpreuss

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 12:52 PM

Haha this turned into a bit of a decoction... pulled 3 gallons ofash and boiled it for 20 min and hit 158 on the mash. This is why I love this hobby... hmm screwed up, how can I fix it
Bingo!

#4 positiveContact

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 01:18 PM

Haha this turned into a bit of a decoction... pulled 3 gallons ofash and boiled it for 20 min and hit 158 on the mash. This is why I love this hobby... hmm screwed up, how can I fix it
Bingo!

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#5 Brauer

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 03:22 PM

Haha this turned into a bit of a decoction... pulled 3 gallons ofash and boiled it for 20 min and hit 158 on the mash. This is why I love this hobby... hmm screwed up, how can I fix it
Bingo!

I'm not convinced that decoction has any major benefit for beer flavor, but it sure is a great tool in the toolbox to accomplish what it was intended to accomplish: raise the mash temperature. I've used it for that purpose many times, myself.



#6 Steve Urquell

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Posted 29 November 2015 - 04:42 PM

I'm not convinced that decoction has any major benefit for beer flavor, but it sure is a great tool in the toolbox to accomplish what it was intended to accomplish: raise the mash temperature. I've used it for that purpose many times, myself.

I'm here with you on that. Haven't noticed a change doing it from my regular step mash schedule. I just decocted my house lager(domestic well-modified malt) for an overnight mash for no other reason than to get it up to 165F so it wouldn't fall too low sitting for 8hrs. The beer finished at the exact same FG it always does when using the yeast I used.

Seems to me like yeast has more effect on attenuation than mash temp/schedule in the 150-157F range with the lagers I brew.

#7 Brauer

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 04:03 AM

Did you expect that the decoction itself might change the FG, or raising the temperature to 165F? 



#8 Steve Urquell

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 04:53 AM

Did you expect that the decoction itself might change the FG, or raising the temperature to 165F?

Eh, more rambling than clarifying in that post. I had issues with my digital thermometer. Didn't figure it out till the mash was going for ~2hrs sitting at 145F'ish. Think I raised it to 155F for a half hour or so with boiling water before going to 165F.

By all the standard wisdom that beer should have finished up extremely dry but, nope, 72% attn.--exact same as always with M84 yeast whether the mash was done at 154F 60min(my standard temp) or step mashed at(144F(30min), 158F(30)).

I guess I'll say I step mash mainly to get higher efficiency. 75-80% with single infusion vs 90-92% with a 3 step infusion mash. I like to do a short protein rest with floor malted bopils to knock out some gunk in the mash too.

I like the German and Czech beers that I brew using a step mash and will continue to use my regular 3 step mash schedule on them because it's not a problem to do so. I kinda liked the overnight mash though so I may run thru my standard lager recipes overnight mashing them and noting the difference. It's just hard for me to change something that I know works so well.

#9 johnpreuss

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 08:40 AM

Speaking of gunk in the mash, I had a very little hot break yesterday. Normally it's quite the battle. The only differences was the step mash and I was using the Avangard pilsner vs my normal Rahr two row or pale.


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