kornbread

Recipes 

I may know Just enough to be dangerous. But, if I understand correctly:

Mashing at higher temps give you a less fermentable wort and a sweeter more maltier beer. (Lower ABV?)

And mashing at lower temps will give a more fermentable wort and a drier more attenuated beer. (Higher ABV?)


My Question:

Will the hydrometer reading change as you change your mash temp? Does it "know the difference" between fermentable sugar and non-fermentable sugar?



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menschmaschine

Recipes 

The hydrometer reading (more appropriately, SG) won't change significantly enough to worry about. Think about this, at lower saccharification temps, beta-amylase enzyme is more "active" at converting starches to sugars... at higher temps, alpha-amylase is more "active" at converting those same starches to different types of sugars. So, SG is more dependant (albeit indirectly) on the amount of starches than it is the amount of specific types of sugars. Your mash temp just determines what types of sugars those starches get converted to.

As for your statement on higher mash temps, they will produce a less-fermented, "sweeter" beer, but maltiness and sweetness are two different things. You can have a highly attenuated, "dry" beer that's plenty malty.

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david_42

Recipes 

Nope. Not only that, but it can't tell you the difference between fermentable sugars and starch.

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