Testing Your Conversion
The brewer can use iodine (or iodophor) to check a sample of the wort to see whether the starches have been completely converted to sugars. As you may remember from high school chemistry, iodine causes starch to turn black. The mash enzymes should convert all of the starches, resulting in no color change when a couple drops of iodine are added to a sample of the wort. (The wort sample should not have any grain particles in it.) The iodine will only add a slight tan or reddish color as opposed to the flash of heavy black color if starch is present. Worts high in dextrins will yield a strong reddish color when iodine is added.
Bugeaterbrewing said:----- Forget the iodine test and do a mash of a consistent length at the proper temperature and everything will be fine. There are places to cut the length of the brew day, but the mash isn't really one of them.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
Enter your email address to join: