Infusion question

Up to this point I've been using a single infusion with a double batch sparge. I came across a recipe that suggest using a multi rest mash, and I was considering the possibility of doing a decoction method. After reading on about decoction over the past week, to me at this time it seems very time consuming, so I was wondering if I could try a different method.

My MLT is too small to allow for multiple infusions, and is a cooler so direct heat is out of the question. I was wondering if I could Vorlauf/Lauter/Boil enough wort to increase the grist to the desired rest temp?

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Raising the temps this way is definitely feasible. I've done it in an emergency before when I was already filled to capacity in the MLT and had missed by mash temp by a few degrees. I was only heating the runoff long enough to reach a boil and then dumping back in. I imagine pulling some runoff and boiling for 15-30 min could give you some of the same results as a traditional decoction.

This is an interesting idea. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I'm in the same boat with the cooler situation. I'm gonna try it in the near future.

bootney said:

I was wondering if I could Vorlauf/Lauter/Boil enough wort to increase the grist to the desired rest temp?

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Any portion of the mash you heat past ~170 degrees is going to have its enzymes destroyed. The enzymes are soluble and mostly exist in the liquid portion, so decoction boils are as thick as possible: you want to maximize the amount of grain boiled for gelatinization, but minimize the amount of liquid boiled to keep the enzymes intact.

Thus, I would worry about destroying too much of the enzymatic power with this method.

Corax, you make an excellent point. Well that pretty much shoots down the idea. I was thinking you boil the grist so what's the difference but I didn't take into consideration the thickness of the decoction boil.

Grizzlybrew said:

I imagine pulling some runoff and boiling for 15-30 min could give you some of the same results as a traditional decoction.

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Nah, you have to actually boil the grains for that.

indigi said:

Nah, you have to actually boil the grains for that.

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I wondered about that - you know, the thick and the thin mash decoction... Why don't you extract tannins when you boil the grains? Or do you? Is that a characteristic of decoction mashing?

Anyway, you would still have some caramelization of the runoff you're boiling - so I would say that is some of the character of decoction, right?

Grizzlybrew said:

Why don't you extract tannins when you boil the grains? Or do you? Is that a characteristic of decoction mashing?

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Tannin extraction is only a problem at higher pH.

(Which is why I think recirculation is a waste of time, but that's another topic.)

corax said:

Tannin extraction is only a problem at higher pH.

(Which is why I think recirculation is a waste of time, but that's another topic.)

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True. Forgot about that.