Did I mash? Is this the start to all grain for me?

histo320 · 01-11-2009, 09:29 PM

Last night I made a cream ale, with 2-row. I planned on only steeping then decided, to do a little experiment.

After steeping, I took the wort from the 3gal kettle, siphoned it over my grain bag in a strainer into my sanitized bottling bucket. Then did it again back into the kettle.

From what I have read this is basically what you do with All grain but are very precise on the water temp. This was really just practice because 2-row doesn't need to be mashed but I wanted to see if it worked. I tried a sample and tasted good and the gravity was .004 above what i expected.

Was this the basic method used to mash?

The Pol · 01-11-2009, 09:37 PM

I thought 2 row needed to be mashed... how else will it convert?

steelerguy · 01-11-2009, 09:38 PM

Most barely used for brewing is 2-row regardless of if it's a base malt or crystal or whatever. If it was base malt then it does need to be mashed if you want fermentable sugar. I'm guess you are talking about crystal malt though.

Anyway, no that is not mashing. Mashing is not just moving water of a certain temp over some grain, it is letting the grain sit in water of a certain temperature so the enzymes in the grain can convert the starch to sugar.

The Pol · 01-11-2009, 09:56 PM

Exactly Steeler... the "2row" comment threw me... what is 2 row? Generally most malts are, but you only see it classified as such if it is pale malt.

Mashing needs water, temp and time... time and temp being really important. For complete conversion at 150F or so, you are looking at nearly an hour of contact time.

histo320 · 01-11-2009, 10:47 PM

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't think it was a mash since I know that takes time, this took me about 5 minutes, but was it even worth it?

Do you suggest that I do this method next time or was it a waste of time?

I want to move to all grain but don't have the room (live in apt) or the resources, coolers, etc. I guess I use deathbrewers easy all grain method huh?

The Pol · 01-11-2009, 10:49 PM

Yes, Death knows best....

**rocketman768** · 01-11-2009, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by histo320

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't think it was a mash since I know that takes time, this took me about 5 minutes, but was it even worth it?

Do you suggest that I do this method next time or was it a waste of time?

I dunno. Steeps are usually 30-60 minutes, so 5 minutes seems pretty much like a waste...especially if you're just talking about 2-row pale malt. If it was 2-row pale malt, I expect you extracted some unfermentable starches though which may cause your FG to be a few points higher (and mashing turns those starches to fermentable sugars). Whether or not that's desirable is up to you and the recipe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by histo320

I want to move to all grain but don't have the room (live in apt) or the resources, coolers, etc. I guess I use deathbrewers easy all grain method huh?

Yes, the stovetop method is quite easy, and if you pay good attention to the mash temperature and pH, you will get very good efficiency. I do all grain and the only extra equipment I have is a 6 gallon aluminum boil pot and strainer that I got from Cabelas for like $30. Well, I also bought a Victoria grain mill, but you can obviously buy your grains pre-crushed.

As for your question about what a mash is, you need to read up on it at How to Brew - By John Palmer, but the simplest mash in a nutshell is bring your grains, along with 1.25 quarts of water per lb of grain, to 152F and hold for 60 minutes (adding 1-2 cups of boiling water from time to time if necessary). Then, you do your choice of sparging (which washes the leftover sugars out of the grain and into your wort), the simplest of which is a batch sparge where you bring some water to 185F and put your grains in, aiming for 170F, then hold for 30 minutes and take the grains out. Then you mix the mash and sparge water and call that the wort.

**Bobby_M** · 01-11-2009, 11:28 PM

Gentle suggestion to read my all grain primer...down there in the sig...

steelerguy · 01-12-2009, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby_M

Gentle suggestion to read my all grain primer...down there in the sig...

Definitely do this. It is short, concise, and easy to understand.