Big mash, small tun

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Chefencore

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Making a baltic porter today! Yum :tank: My problem is that once I have made all of my infusions, I have reached the capacity of my mash tun, and according to calculations, need 3.5 cups sparge. This is with a 14# grist and mashing in a 1qt/lb. It's a 2 step infusion with mashout 122- 139- 158- 170.
My question is can I do a reverse decoction and use the liquid to raise the mash temp?:confused:
 
Here's what I would do because this is what I always do: Do a single step!

My beers turn out more than fine that way and I use a cooler system. If you really want to do the steps I would start at 139* and then increase to 158*. I never do a mashout. From what I've gathered that is a technique borrowed from commercial brewers that isn't really needed on the homebrew level. The goal is to stop the enzyme activity because on a commercial scale it takes hours to transfer from the mashtun to the boil kettle and then a long, long time to heat that to a boil where it only takes us a bit.
 
I brewed a Baltic Porter several months ago. I didn't do a step mash and still wasn't able to run enough through the sparge to get any kind of decent efficiency. I wound up adding 2lbs DME in order to get a 1.080og. Despite all my troubles, it turned out amazing and one of my new favorite styles (I had never even tried one before brewing it).
 
inhousebrew said:
Here's what I would do because this is what I always do: Do a single step!

My beers turn out more than fine that way and I use a cooler system. If you really want to do the steps I would start at 139* and then increase to 158*. I never do a mashout. From what I've gathered that is a technique borrowed from commercial brewers that isn't really needed on the homebrew level. The goal is to stop the enzyme activity because on a commercial scale it takes hours to transfer from the mashtun to the boil kettle and then a long, long time to heat that to a boil where it only takes us a bit.
Click to expand...

I second this. At the very least, cut your mash out and just fly sparge after your saccharification rest. Use water that's initially at 175 to 180 to get the bed temp up a bit. Then just maintain to about 170 to finish it.
 
First off, nothing wrong with a single infusion mash, many commercial breweries use this approach and you can make a great beer this way.

I'm a little confused as you mention a 2 step mash, but there are 4 different temps listed, it looks likes a 3 step mash with a mash out. Like the other poster mentioned, I'd stick to two temperatures and skip the mash out. That should give you more water to sparge with which is important as baltic porters tend to have a pretty high OG.
 

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