Help Me With My First Decoction Mash

I have read some threads here about decoction (I also read portions of Noonan's book and watched all three parts of Kaiser's video on decoction) and I wanted to make sure that I know exactly what to do.

Dough in at 100F with a grain/water ratio of approx 1.75 + an additional buffer amount of water (20 min)
Remove approximately enough grain and mash water to a second vessel on a stove to make approximately 3 gallons of decoction. Heat slowly to approximately 158F (up to 162) and let it rest for 10-20 minutes.
Bring decoction to a boil.
After (10 minutes?) add decoction to main mash until temperature reaches approximately 153F (sacchrification rest for 45 minutes)
Any remaining decoction? Let it cool and add it at the sparge
Begin process of boiling wort.

You'll see from the question marks that it STILL is not completely clear to me.

I assume you are only doing a single decoction on purpose? Usually decoction mashes start around 95-100F as an acid rest and then moves into a protein rest around 122F then 148 and 158. It isn't necessary to do the acid rest or the protein rest if you are using regular malted grains (unless you want to). If you're just trying to hit 153F it's probably unnecessary work to do a decoction mash. I don't know if you can even do a 53F degree rise without having to pull most of your mash and denaturing too much enzyme. (I'd check in beersmith but I don't have access to it at the moment.)

You really don't need to add more than 1.25 qts/lb of water. You need to know exactly how much water and grain you have because the volume of the decoction has to be calculated based upon the volume of the mash and the temperature to be raised.

You don't want mash hanging out that isn't converting because that's basically wasted grain. You want to pull exactly enough for a decoction to raise the temperature of the entire mash. The entire decoction comes out and goes back in at once. Then stir for several minutes to equalize the temperature. Then let it rest for the desired timeframe.

I think you need to figure out what exactly you want to do with the decoction mash before any more specific of an explanation can be given.

My intention was to increase the maltiness of the brew. Most of what I wrote above is from watching the Kaiser's videos on decoction mashing.

The single decoction mash was decided upon after watching Kaiser's video (where he states that more than one is not necessary) as well as threads on this board stating the same.

I have BeerSmith and selected a single decoction mash for the mash but it was not terribly detailed. It DID indicate how much grain/mash water to decoct and I can follow those directions but basically it is recommending close to 3 gallons (specifically 11 quarts) to decoct.

Your post has left me more confused -- when you say "You don't want mash hanging out that isn't converting because that's basically wasted grain" are you referring to the mash remaining in the mash tun while the decoction is boiled? If that is the case, what am I to do about that mash in the tun?

maltoftheearth said:

My intention was to increase the maltiness of the brew. Most of what I wrote above is from watching the Kaiser's videos on decoction mashing.

The single decoction mash was decided upon after watching Kaiser's video (where he states that more than one is not necessary) as well as threads on this board stating the same.

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Well I am hardly in a place to disagree with Kai about decoction mashing (or anything else for that matter). It's been a while since I watched his videos but I don't think he means you should go from 100F to 153F in a single decoction.

I have BeerSmith and selected a single decoction mash for the mash but it was not terribly detailed. It DID indicate how much grain/mash water to decoct and I can follow those directions but basically it is recommending close to 3 gallons (specifically 11 quarts) to decoct.

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Beersmith should tell you how much water to dough in with. You would pull a full decoction based on what it says. I have never found beersmith to be wrong in its calculation of decoction for temperature rise as long as you pull the thick part of the mash. Here's the problem though. If you're pulling three gallons that's a huge amount of your mash. You're not going to get a lot of the great benefits from a decoction mash with that big of a decoction (IMO) and you might denature too much of the enzymes necessary for conversion.

Your post has left me more confused -- when you say "You don't want mash hanging out that isn't converting because that's basically wasted grain" are you referring to the mash remaining in the mash tun while the decoction is boiled? If that is the case, what am I to do about that mash in the tun?

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No, when you boil the decoction you will denature the enzymes in that grain that you use to convert starch to sugar. When you add the decoction and you reach conversion temperatures the enzymes will convert starches to sugar. Well if you leave some of the decoction out of the mash then the starches in the grain left behind from the decoction won't have a chance to convert so you will get less sugar and then you'll add starch back into the runnings which will make it hazy.

OK, today is brew day so I am going to set aside decoction mashing and go with a typical mash with sparge. It sounds like I have too much to learn about this before I undertake it.

After tasting some great Hefeweizen in Munich and hearing JZ's
podcast on Bavarian Hefeweizen, I am determined to try this as
my second all-grain batch. JZ recommended a decoction mash.
I am confused about boiling the mash. If its above 170 degrees
won't tannins emerge? Rookie question...