Acid/Protein Rest with cooler- HELP

First - I have only been a member of HBT for a couple months, and have garnered TONS of information from all the generous contributors! I have since put together a rudementary AG system, and have done three AG batches so far, which I never would have pulled off without hours of scouring HBT forums.

Here is my question:

I would like to make this recipe (see link below), but it calls for a rest at 112* during the mash. I use a cooler for a mash tun. So there would be no way for me to raise the temperature of the mash after this rest if it was in the cooler. Can I start the mash in my boil kettle at 112*, do the rest then directly heat the boil kettle (with the mash in it) up to 158-160*, then pour it into my mash tun (cooler) for the rest of the mash? Then just batch sparge as usual...

Will I scorch the grain, create tanins, etc., etc.,? I will forgo the 112* rest if I have to, but it looks like the recipe is pretty good with it!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/vi...t-place-german-wheat-2011-hbt-contest-240710/

Thanks again for all the help!

Hopefully soon be able to post pics of my future Keezer build!

This is what's called a step-infusion mash. You can do it, you just need to adjust your water/grain ratio. How big is your mash tun? If you start off with a small lbs/qt ratio, then you'll have enough room to "infuse" more water into your mash tun. The key here is to hit all your temps correctly. If you have your mash at 112, and you wanted to raise it to the next step of 152, you'll need to add enough water at a higher temp to raise the entire batch to 152. It sounds tricky, but it's easy once you try it. Check out beersmith or beertools for some handy calculators that will make figuring out your temps/volume a little easier.

I wouldn't directly heat the mash because of scorching...

The other possibility aside from a step infusion, is to do a decoction. After douging in at the acid/protein rest, remove about 1/3 of the thick portion of the mash (mostly grain, a bit of liquid) to a separate pot, and slowly heat it to the saccharification temperature, stirring constantly so as not to get any scorching on the bottom. Leave it at that temp for 15 minutes, then continue heating it to a boil, again stirring the whole time. Once you get to a boil, recombine it with the mash to raise the grain bed temp.

I have to say you might have to do a little trickery there with the calculations and amount to decoct, because going from 112 to 152 is kind of a big step for a decoction...it is usually more like 25-30 degrees so you might need a bit more of the mash. If you use brewing software like beersmith it can help you get to the right temps easier.


You could also step mash like that with the whole mash...just be sure to stir constantly at relatively low heat, and especially make sure you don't get grains stuck on the bottom. If you feel like grains are sticking, immediately remove from heat and maybe add a bit of water to help it get unstuck.