comet909

Recipes 

I've been reading up on turbid mashes for lambics and other belgian brews. Instead using water additions to hit all of the steps after pulling off some starchy wort and heating it, couldn't you just do a Brew in a bag kind of thing and directly apply heat to raise the temps.

It seems that 5 hour boils to boil off all that excess water would be something I'd like to avoid. Just curious if anyone's tried something like this.

SethMasterFlex

Recipes 

Boiling for 4+ hours is what helps create a dextrinous wort for for microbes/brett to slowly eat over the course of fermentation. The turbid mash is designed to do the same thing. Your pulled portions will be raised to temps that stop enzymatic activity, leaving unconverted sugars as part of your final wort composition. If you did this with BIAB you'd just be doing a step mash. I can't recall what conversion temps a turbid mash goes through off the top of my head, but you would probably end up with a more converted wort if you fired by direct heat.

smokinghole

Recipes 

Direct heating is not a replacement for turbid mash. It's not just the rest temps that are the point of turbid mashing. The denaturing of the amylase enzymes in the boiled portions is what creates the starchy wort. So if you're doing direct heat you will be missing out on the denaturation steps.

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Guess42

Recipes 

Unless of course you pull off some of the starch at the various steps. This could retain some of the starch.

In other words dough in full volume at a low rest. Draw off some wort and heat to a boil. Raise the mash to the next temp and repeat through all your rests.

comet909

Recipes 

Yes. This is what i was thinking.

Guess42

Recipes 

After all the rests it might be a good idea to do your mash out at like 190f. To simulate the hot sparge.

This may not give you the exact same wort as a true turbid mash, but I think it would be better than a step infusion. Someone may chime in why this won't work or with a better idea.

comet909

Recipes 

It's worth a shot. I suppose I'll try it and let you guys know how it tastes in 2 years.

bradjoiner

Recipes 

I just did something like this yesterday, so now we will have two batches to look at. What yeast did you use?