Intersting question about mashing .

Ive done alot brews , but im on my 5th all-grain . so i always taste my brew during any transfer , and normally ( to me its bitter and all that ) its ok but can tell it needs time . It always turns out great in the long run. BUT this batch is unique lol. Almost every step that is necessary in all-grain started off bad . But long story short , when i racked to secondary it was the best ever lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. still a little hoppy but smooth ,b y the way this my 2nd time at this batch. So the only major difference is i did what i thi nk is decotion mash lol .

9# 2-row
.40 crystal 60
.25 biscuit
.25 chinook @60 min
.25 '' @45
.20 '' @30
.50 '' @15
.80 '' @2
.50 pearle @0

without going into all the details of the mess of the day the question is does decotion mash make that bigg of a difference or what ? im basicly wanting to duplicate this recipe.

im tired of thinking about it lol .

so hard to explain !!!

ill reo\ply to any questions because im all over the board !which that what good home brew does LOL ...

Creepersale said:

without going into all the details of the mess of the day the question is does decotion mash make that bigg of a difference or what ? im basicly wanting to duplicate this recipe.

Click to expand...

Unlikely.... There are a couple podcasts that deal with decoction mashing. Many posts. Some pretty experienced homebrewers have done tests with decoction/infusion mash brewing and the results came back that there was no difference in blind tasting. Personally, i have never noticed anything significant in brews where I have used decoction.

Could just be that you have a good recipe, yeast got off to a good start, good fermentation temps and your beer turned out real nice.

Brew it again, and use standard infusion mash and see...... But, remember, all the other parameters need to remain the same too - ferment, water, etc. or you won't get a trued comparison.

Interesting thanks for the info didnt think about checking decoction vs. infusution post. Guess that since it was my first half ass decoction I thought there was a mystical new process , most people don't use lol. Other conditions could have helped like this was my first time using Wlp 001 and made a nice starter. I'm kinda of glad that the process more then likllikely did help. But will be using washed yeast from the magic batch loll.

Cheers

** ( more then likely DIDNT help. )*** in above post.

In January, 2009, The Washington Homebrewer's Association sponsored a decoction mashing clinic. Some 35 people showed up to learn about the process and why it is used. Three different doppelbocks were brewed using the same yeast slurry generously provided by Baron Brewing of Seattle, (Wyeast 2308), the same hops, German Hallertauer, the same fermenting temperature 48 degrees, (and the same basic malt bill. One used a single infusion mash at 150 degrees. The second used a single infusion mash at 150 degrees but also had replaced about 4% of the base malt with melanoidin malt. Finally, the third used a triple decoction mash schedule at 95, 122 and 140. Each pull was heated to 158 degrees and allowed to rest for 20 minutes, boiled for 10 minutes, and then blended back into the mash tun and allowed to rest for 20 minutes before making the next pull.

The purpose of the clinic and brewing the different beers was to get an idea whether decoction mashing makes any appreciable difference in the outcome of the beer versus an infusion mash. For comparison, melanoidin malt was added to one of the infusion mash beers to see if that resulted in an increase in that character element.

Recipe (10 Gallons) Single Infusion & Triple Decoction

Malt Bill
Vienna Malt 12 lb
Lt Munich Malt 12 lb
Dk Munich Malt 2 lb

Hop Bill
2.75 oz Hallertauer 4.1% AA 60 min
1.00 oz Hallertauer 4.1% AA 30 min

Yeast
Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager Primary Temp 48 Degrees, Diacetyl rest at 62 degrees for 3 days min.

At the National Homebrewers Conference, participants were given the three beers without knowing which was which. They were then asked the following two questions:

1. Which beer was the triple decoction mash?

2. Which beer do you like best?

The results for the first question were:

Single Infusion Mash: 13.89%
Single Infusion Mash with 4% Melanoidin Malt: 40.28%
Triple Decocted Mash: 45.83%

The results for the second question were:

1. Triple Decocted Mash
2. Single Infusion Mash with 4% Melanoidin Malt
3. Single Infusion Mash