Extra Long Mash

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brewsmith

Home brewing moogerfooger
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
7,172
Reaction score
2,383
Location
Torrance, CA
I'm finally brewing up my belgian dubbel in the morning and I'm going to try a new technique for mashing. I have a total of 13.5 lbs of grain that I'll need to mash in at around 1 qt./lb. to make it fit. Because of the high gravity, I want it to be as fermentable as possible, so I'm going to let the mash sit for several hours, probably close to six. I'm going to do a single step mash, starting at about 150 and then let it sit. I'm going to start the mash around 6:30 am and then do all the normal stuff I need to do on Saturday morning, and then come back to finish the brew after noon.
 
I'm looking at it right now and measuring out the hops...

Belgian Dubbel for 5.5 gallons

12 lbs. Belgian 2-row Pale Malt
0.75 lb. CaraMunich Malt
0.25 lb. Biscuit Malt
0.25 lb. Aromatic Malt
0.25 lb. Special B Malt

1.375 oz. Styrian Goldings 4.2% 60 min
0.75 oz. Czech Saaz 3.4% 15 min

White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale

1 lb Dark Belgian Candi Sugar Syrup (added at end of boil)
 
It holds for a normal mash. The theory behind the long mash is that the enzymes that break down the starches into fermentable sugars make a more fermentable wort at cooler temps (148-150) versus higher ones (154-156). The mash will sit at these lower temps and the length will just ensure that all of the starches and longer sugars get broken down completely. If the temp drops even lower, the sugars are not going to reform into starch. My guess is that it will only drop a few degrees. It normally only drops 1-2 in an hour.
 
I'm a complete dufus!



...so I slept in this morning... :eek:

Therefore, there was no experiment with the long mash.

However, the mash is going right now at about 148 and I'll let it sit for at least 90 minutes, if not longer. I have nothing else to do today, so I'll be really patient with this one.
 
I think that the amount of water in the mash is important to good efficiency, and also quality, isn't it? Too dry is poor conversion, too much is bad for flavor? My readin is that 30 minutes is usually adequite with modern grains. If I had the need for more mash than fit my cooler, I'd just do two 45-60 minute mashs, two sparges, let the first batch sit in the kettle til the second is done. Or get another ice chest, or use a plastic trash bag in a doule layer card board box with a blanket wrapped around it.

Oh, but I think differently because I use a virgin ice chest- no holes in it yet- and sparge in my bottling bucket with a braided hose in the drian. So I just naturally think of mashing separately from sparging. You would probably sparge in your usuall mash/sparge vesel, then dump the grains, refill from the second mash vessel, and sparge again. I guess.

Maybe at 16 batches, it's time for me to buy a dedicated cooler? Nah, I can brew another batch for what a cooler costs.
 
I also normally do only a 60 minute rest. My quest here wasn't as much as efficiency from the grains, but fermentability of the wort. I'm looking for as much fermentables as possible from the mash, and hopefully I'll get an attenuation of somewhere near 80% or higher. Even though this is a big beer, I don't want it to be heavy. It needs to be as light as possible given the large OG, somewhere around 1.075.
 
Brew's done and in the fermenter, and will be the inagural brew in my fermentation fridge! :ban: OG came in at 1.082, the color is a nice deep amber/brown color. The wort is sweet, only a little bitterness, and I can definately taste the candi sugar. I'll post some pics in a second.
 
The fridge with heat lamp inside and below, the hydrometer sample of the Belgian Dubbel.
Fermentation Fridge2.jpg
Belgian2.jpg
 
For what it's worth, I do most mashes at 151-148 for 90 minutes. I have a standard PA recipe that yields a starting gravity of 56.... during one brewing session, some friends stopped by on their way to a family gathering with three kegs of his homebrew. We had a pint of each of his and then a pint of both of the kegs I was serving...

My long-winded point is that my mash sat for three-and a-half hours, and dropped to 146 degrees.... Starting gravity for that beer was still 56. I suspect that any conversion activity is over with in a couple of hours.

I also had trouble with the sparge that time, and I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that the grain had become so soggy, that it just compacted rather than filtered... The beer turned ot fine; it was just less clear than usual.

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples experiences with longer mashes.

cheers, p
 
Right now I have the fridge set at 63 degrees with a 2 degree swing. I want to keep the temp low at first, and then raise it as fermentation finishes to get the Belgian esters out from the yeast. Fermentation was going steady with 3" of krausen at 9am this morning. The temp had risen to about 67, but I switched it to cooling mode now. Tomorrow I'll start raising the temp, probably to 68, then higher in the next few days, up to about 76-78.

I just finished reading the Belgian Ale book in the Classic Beer Styles series and was surprised on how high they let fermentation temps get, sometimes above 80! It's not for the entire time though. They start low, around 62 and hold it down while while prrimary fermentation begins, then slowly raise it as it finishes. My plan is to duplicate this sort of fermentation schedule.
 
perry said:
My long-winded point is that my mash sat for three-and a-half hours, and dropped to 146 degrees.... Starting gravity for that beer was still 56. I suspect that any conversion activity is over with in a couple of hours.
And my point again was not gravity points from the mash, but fermentability. I know what efficiency I can get from my system. I just wanted to give the time for the enzymes to break down the larger sugars into a more fermentable wort.
 
Sounds like it'll be good.

Have you played around with that new Belgian Candi syrup? The one that's basically just all the impurities from when they make regular candi sugar and such? The guys on Basic Brewing Radio were absolutely raving about it. It's pricey, but it sounds really good.
 
Yeah, I bought a 16 oz container of the dark syrup and added it to this brew. It tastes similar to molasses, but not as sharp and bitter tasting (I sampled what wouldn't come out of the bottle) ;). It was a little expensive, like $7 or something like that for the bottle, but this brew wasn't skimping on cost. Just the base malt of Belgian Pale Malt was 12 lbs x 1.59/lb. = $19.08. Plus the specialty grain, yeast, hops and candi sugar, this brew was easily over $35, if not closer to $40.
 
Back
Top