Step mashing

I am planning a bavarian weizen for this weekend. In the Jamil Z. podcast on bavarian weizens he brushed over doing a step mash at 50-60-70 celsius. Any one had any experience with this? Should i just do a single infusion at 152? If i were to step how long of a rest per step?

Thanks

Here you go.

Protein Rest: 122° F for 20 minutes
Beta Sacch’ Rest: 149° F for 30 minutes
Alpha Sacch’ Rest: 158 F for 30 minutes
Mashout: 170° F for 10 minutes

or

Sacch’ Rest: 152° F for 60 minutes
Mashout: 170° F for 10 minutes

Better yet, do both and compare after to see if there is a difference.

What volumes are you using for each each step for a five gallon batch and about 10 gal of grain.

I'd say 1-1.25qt/lb. Depends on your rig and if you can boil your mash tun. Check this page out.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/07/all-grain-decocted-hefeweizen-recipe.html

I cant boil it i have a ten gal cooler

Well i guess i could use my pot on my propane burner...

I don't think you'd have enough water volume to bring the grain bed up in temp on the steps in a cooler. Might be worth trying a new technique on the stove. Now, most people say this technique is not necessary with modern grains, so it's up to you. Maybe the two-step mash I mentioned in the 1st post is easier.

I think i will probably just do a single infusion with a batch sparge which looks a lot like what you suggested in the 2 steps.

I did that exact weizen recipe this Spring using Weyermann malt and used this mash schedule:

112F (0.75 qt/lb), hold 20 min (ferulic acid rest)
Step using boiling water to 153F, rest 60 minutes - ended up with about 2qt/lb
Decoct 1/3 of the mash (thick but with enough liquid to not scorch), 20 min
Combine (results in about 160F mash) and rest 15 minutes for any conversion (starch test)
Drain, batch sparge

Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen, pitched about 6 million cells/mL of wort

Pitch at 56F, Ferment at 62F (30C Rule-of-Thumb)

100% RO water, CaCl2 addition only for 40ppm Ca, ferulic acid rest pH = 5.72 at room temp, added acidulated malt during step infusion for pH 5.41 room temp @ 15 min into mash.

The beer tasted amazing. Got this comment from an experienced brewer:
"I am not a huge fan of German wheat beers, but this thing blows me away. The color, fermentation, and carbonation are spot on. What sets this beer apart is the perfect banana flavor. The hops are done so well that I don't detect any bitterness, but the sweetness is balanced. I could drink this all night. I think you need to enter this this beer into competition."

Thanks dsmith. That may be what I do, with the exception of the decoction. I was thinking about a decoction but i heard a podcast with JZ, John Palmer, and Denny where they talked about it, and Denny had done some extensive testing which showed decoction made little to no difference.

Stepping from 110F to 153F takes more boiling water than any calculator determined. I'd suggest mashing-in very thick (0.75 qt/lb), boiling twice the water that you think you'll need and save the leftover hot water for preparing sparge water.

I used this one to mess around with a "decoction" step to go through the mechanics with any risk, probably little gain too. It wasn't a decoction because the decocted portion didn't need to convert. An iodine test showed I had complete conversion at 153F and incomplete conversion after the "decoction" was returned (new starches introduced from boiling the grain). Resting at 160F for another 15 minutes after the "decoction" was returned to the mash tun resulted in an iodine test showing complete conversion again.

The other thing you could do is mash in your boil kettle, do your steps via direct fire, and then use your cooler as the latter tun. Just dump the mash in and drain. I used to do this when I moved into an apartment and was forced to do small 3 gallon batches on the stove top. The 10 gal cooler was just too big for that volume. I mashed in the pot, and just used the cooler to lauter.

Thats a good idea too. The more i think about it i may do a single infusion at 152 and see what results i get. Later I can add steps and then a decoction and compare taste notes

That sounds like a good plan. Start with simple an get a baseline.