Beta and Alpha Amylose

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Nightshade

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Today in brewing I decided to play with my mash a bit so I mashed in at 142 for 15 minutes then stirred while adding water to bring it to 152 for another 10 minutes then stirred and added until it got to about 155 and let it rest until recirculation.

I suppose my question is this, in doing this I should have been able to extract a good amount of both Alpha and Beta for my wort, but is there a specific timeframe that the mash should rest or is my 15 minute method enough to extract them fairly well?

Total time for mash was 45 minutes then 15 minutes of recirc.
 
A mash schedule like this will do nothing to extract additional starches.

It will however, extract amylase enzymes to break down the amylose present in the grain.

:D

As for the duration, 60 minutes is typical at the desired rest temp but it is entirely possible that a mash can, and does, "finish" sooner. Look up starch tests done with chalk sticks and iodine for a visual method of testing.
 
Hmm, interesting.

I must have misunderstood the difference and the process a bit in that case because if I am reading your post correctly you are saying that it would be a 2 hour (total) mash at the temps desired to get the results I am looking for.
 
Hmm, interesting.

I must have misunderstood the difference and the process a bit in that case because if I am reading your post correctly you are saying that it would be a 2 hour (total) mash at the temps desired to get the results I am looking for.

In retrospect, I think I am the one who misread your post skipping the details for generalization.

What, exactly, are you trying to achieve with your mash? What results are you looking for?

Enzymatic activity does not behave "digitally" in that it's either on or off. Enzymes are extremely analogue in that they still perform outside of their target parameters just in varied degrees of efficacy. At least up to the point of denaturization.

Take the seed for example. Both the Alpha and beta amylase perform their function at temps well below those that we use so that it may release the necessary foodstuffs for a plant to grow from an earthen mash.

What we are doing is simply amplifying the conditions to speed along what they do natuarlly.
 
The end result I am looking for is the finer line between sweet and dry, as opposed to just one or the other.

I may be misunderstanding this completely though so I am going to be doing some re-reading over the next week to see if I did misunderstand how these play into the effect.
 
OP - I do a similar, simpler schedule for the purposes of wort fermentability. I will start the mash at 146-147F+/- for say 20-30 minutes and use boiling water to increase the temp to 154-155F for the final 30-45 minutes. You can also flip-flop the timing for a dryer beer depending on what you are brewing. I usually start with a mash consistency of 1.25Q/lb and never go above around 1.4Q/lb after final addition.

It is my goal to have a good balance of simple sugar and longer sugar chains (dry/sweet) to get a wort that will have good attenuation as well as good body. So far I have been successful as in my FG is always at or higher than the listed average % of attenuation for a given yeast.
 

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