Mash Out?

I have made a couple of dozen AG batches now and I had a question regarding mash out.

I predominately brew from recipes I find either on this site or recipes from Jamil. Many of the recipes I find have no mash out step, others do. What is the advantage of the mashing out step and what am I missing by skipping that step?

Frankly it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on my efficiency but mine is only in the mid 70's anyway so maybe I just haven't gotten to the point where the process will have a visible / measurable impact.

I have read George Fix's Principles of Brewing Science and managed to understand some of it so I get that I am stopping enzymatic activity I just don't clearly understand the point of stopping that activity.

Any help would be appreciated...

Palmer's How to Brew provides simpler explanations IMO....

"What is Mashout?

Before the sweet wort is drained from the mash and the grain is rinsed (sparged) of the residual sugars, many brewers perform a mashout. Mashout is the term for raising the temperature of the mash to 170°F prior to lautering. This step stops all of the enzyme action (preserving your fermentable sugar profile) and makes the grainbed and wort more fluid. For most mashes with a ratio of 1.5-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, the mashout is not needed. The grainbed will be loose enough to flow well. For a thicker mash, or a mash composed of more than 25% of wheat or oats, a mashout may be needed to prevent a Set Mash/Stuck Sparge. This is when the grain bed plugs up and no liquid will flow through it. A mashout helps prevent this by making the sugars more fluid; like the difference between warm and cold honey. The mashout step can be done using external heat or by adding hot water according to the multi-rest infusion calculations. (See chapter 16.) A lot of homebrewers tend to skip the mashout step for most mashes with no consequences."

I only do a mash out for a recipe with high contents of other grains, like oats, corn, rye....

I find that a mash out step does increase my extraction on the order of 1 brix. I run a RIMS, so it only takes a moment to do a mash out. Its worth it to me. Since it doesn't hurt and you want to raise the wort temp to boiling anyhow, the minor mash temp increase is a step in the right direction.

If its not too much a PITA for your system, its worth doing a mash out step.

Most homebrewers don't do a true mashout. They simply raise the temp at the end of the mash with an infusion. Most of them do it to equalize the run off volumes between mash and sparge. I used to do that, but got tired of the extra step. Now I mash with a higher ratio that eliminates the need for the pre mash run off addition. Then I sparge with 180-190F water. That water accomplishes the same thing as a hot infusion at the end of the mash, which is to complete gelatinization and conversion of any remaining starch. Same results, easier procedure. My efficiency averages 83-85% with that method.

mabrungard said:

I find that a mash out step does increase my extraction on the order of 1 brix. I run a RIMS, so it only takes a moment to do a mash out. Its worth it to me. Since it doesn't hurt and you want to raise the wort temp to boiling anyhow, the minor mash temp increase is a step in the right direction.

If its not too much a PITA for your system, its worth doing a mash out step.

Click to expand...

Martin, with all due respect, 1 Brix would seem to be within the margin of error of measurement.