Mini Mash temp question from a pod cast

I was listening to a pod cast http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr11-17-05.mp3 about extract brewing and mini mashing and the guy suggested that when you do a mini mash you should have the temp at 145 for 45 minutes and then raise the temp to 155 for 30 minutes.

What would be the purpose of this??

I think that the podcast is overcomplicating a very simple process. With a mini-mash, you are just trying to convert the enzymes in the small amount of grain you are using but in the end, the extract itself will always be the major supplier of the fermentables.

I remember when I first started brewing the More Beer instructions that came with the recipes said to throw the bag full of grains into your pre-boil water and simply remove it before the water starts to boil. I would certainly NOT recommend you do that but you have to admire their simplistic approach.

I would try to treat mini-mashing just like I would treat a single temp infusion all-grain batch. Using the ratio of 1.25 to 1.35 gallons of water per 1 pound of grain, fill your kettle with the calculated water amount, bring temp to about 150 - 155, add grain bag, and hold temp range for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes is up, remove the bag, add the rest of your pre-boil water, and bring to a boil, add extract and hops as required.

I understand that the podcast is trying to get the most fermentable sugars from the mini-mash and then they are trying to denature the enzymes but is all that really necessary for a mini-mash? I don't think so. Will it make a significantly better beer? I highly doubt it since the majority of the fermentables come from the extract, not the grains.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that I am assuming that the mini-mash is composed of both specialty grains and base malts. If not, then the specialty malts do not require any type of conversion and can basically just be steeped using the process I outlined above.

I'm with bajones on this one. I understand the logic behind the two different temperatures (giving preference to particular enzymatic action at certain temperatures), but I find this kind of 'stepped' mash to be superfluous to the small grain bill of your typical PM. The bulk of the fermentables are indeed coming from the extract.

I've only done one partial mash myself, but my understanding, like these two have said, is that you get the majority of your fermentables from the extract-- the reason you partial mash is to throw some character into the beer.

I'd think one step should be sufficient.

Grinder12000 said:

What would be the purpose of this??

Click to expand...

I don't know the intent, but maybe there is a marginal value to it and s/he suggested it because the PMer is likely to be doing it on stovetop where stepping up temps is trivial if the heat is added gently.

Next time I will try to write an even longer run-on sentence.

Yea - I actually understood the WHY but I could not see if it would do THAT much for a PMer. With 2/3's of the fermentable sugar in the Extract and only 1/3 in the base grain.

Think of it as a very middle of the road Protein Rest and A very low temp mash out.