Thanks for the replies thus far.
The people who have done the same recipe both ways, were they lager recipes?
Just asking if a light lager would show through any taste differences for a step vs single infused mash.
thanks Kevin
I brew quite a few lagers - especially helles, dortmunder, and pilsner. I have done decoction, step and infusion mashes. I have listened to all the podcasts and read many, many posts. I have done as Denny has suggested and experimented with various methods......
All, said and done..... I now do all my lagers with a straight infusion mash. Looking back over the past year or so, I can honestly say that I have brewed the 3-5 best lagers I have ever brewed in my life (based on personal tasting notes as well as competition results, as well as feedback from friends who are both knowledgeable about beer, and others who know nothing about it). Every one of those lagers was a simple infusion mash - 2 helles, 2 dortmunder, 1 pilsner. I have an oktoberfest lagering now, that I sampled yesterday, that I am really optimistic about - also infusion.
One danger, as mentioned earlier, with modern, highly modified malt - a protein rest that is even 15 minutes could leave you with a beer that has no head retention.
Overall, I think the potential reward of attempting step mashes, decoction mashes is somewhere between nonexistent and "maybe" perceived if you are looking for it(but probably not in a true blind tasting). On the other hand, there are a number of very real things that can go wrong in these processes that WILL screw up your beer, in very detectable ways. Plus, they take longer.
All said - I still recommend experimenting with each of the methods multiple times over the years. Decoctions are kind of cool to do if you don't mind taking some extra time. But, for brewing great lagers..... infusion can definitely do the job.