So I'm brewing up a Weizen and figured this would be a good time to bite the bullet and try a decoction mash for the first time. Here's the grain bill:
4.75 lbs Pilsener (~47%)
4.50 lbs Wheat (~45%)
0.50 lbs Munich (~5%)
0.31 lbs Acidulated (~3%)
So I created a mash schedule using ProMash, and here's what the numbers came up to:
Glucan Rest 97*F Infusion, Temp 99*F, 18.00 quarts, 1.79 qt/lb ratio
Protein Rest 122*F Decoction, Temp 212*F, 4.81 quarts, "decoction thickness" 1.0
Amylase Rest 154*F Decoction, Temp 212*F, 7.86 quarts, "decoction thickness" 1.0
Everything starts of pretty well; I mash in for the protein rest just fine, hit numbers for temp dead on. After the rest, I pull off the (approx.) 4.81 quarts, boil it and dump it back in to the mash tun. BUT, I only hit 118*F instead of the expected/desired 122*F. No biggie, I RDWHAHB on that one, but decide that I'll just pull a little more for the 2nd decoction.
So I pull a full 8 quarts after the protein rest, boil it, dump it into the mash tun. This time, after a good stirring, I'm only hitting 150*F (at best...). I figure I'll pull another quart...I quickly boiled it in the microwave, then add back to the mash...still barely at 151*F. Pull another TWO quarts, quick boil in the microwave, and I finally settled to ~152-153*F. At this point I call well enough alone, and that's where I stand now...I'm about a half hour from sparging.
To recap, I ended up adding a total of 11 quarts of boiling wort to the mash to hit my amylase rest temp, and the calculations said I needed only 7.8 quarts...
So here's the question(s):
- Why did I not hit temps with the calculated numbers?
- Is this just a quirk of my own setup that I need to learn to deal with?
- Is there some faulty assumption or input in the software that gave me wrong numbers?
- Are my temp measurements off? (I don't think they are, I used both a digital thermometer and a glass/alcohol thermometer, and they are correlating pretty well...)
- What exactly is the "decoction thickness," and how does it affect things if it is altered (I used the default, which was "medium," and was noted as "1.0")
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any advice from those more experienced with decoction!
4.75 lbs Pilsener (~47%)
4.50 lbs Wheat (~45%)
0.50 lbs Munich (~5%)
0.31 lbs Acidulated (~3%)
So I created a mash schedule using ProMash, and here's what the numbers came up to:
Glucan Rest 97*F Infusion, Temp 99*F, 18.00 quarts, 1.79 qt/lb ratio
Protein Rest 122*F Decoction, Temp 212*F, 4.81 quarts, "decoction thickness" 1.0
Amylase Rest 154*F Decoction, Temp 212*F, 7.86 quarts, "decoction thickness" 1.0
Everything starts of pretty well; I mash in for the protein rest just fine, hit numbers for temp dead on. After the rest, I pull off the (approx.) 4.81 quarts, boil it and dump it back in to the mash tun. BUT, I only hit 118*F instead of the expected/desired 122*F. No biggie, I RDWHAHB on that one, but decide that I'll just pull a little more for the 2nd decoction.
So I pull a full 8 quarts after the protein rest, boil it, dump it into the mash tun. This time, after a good stirring, I'm only hitting 150*F (at best...). I figure I'll pull another quart...I quickly boiled it in the microwave, then add back to the mash...still barely at 151*F. Pull another TWO quarts, quick boil in the microwave, and I finally settled to ~152-153*F. At this point I call well enough alone, and that's where I stand now...I'm about a half hour from sparging.
To recap, I ended up adding a total of 11 quarts of boiling wort to the mash to hit my amylase rest temp, and the calculations said I needed only 7.8 quarts...
So here's the question(s):
- Why did I not hit temps with the calculated numbers?
- Is this just a quirk of my own setup that I need to learn to deal with?
- Is there some faulty assumption or input in the software that gave me wrong numbers?
- Are my temp measurements off? (I don't think they are, I used both a digital thermometer and a glass/alcohol thermometer, and they are correlating pretty well...)
- What exactly is the "decoction thickness," and how does it affect things if it is altered (I used the default, which was "medium," and was noted as "1.0")
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any advice from those more experienced with decoction!