Why Double Decoction Mashing?

Can somebody tell me why you would want to perform a double decoction mash over a stepped mash?

I was looking at Chucks Brewing Gold Book and he had a recipe for a Dunkelweizen with a Double-D Mash. I though this would be a good since I want to do a wheat and I like dark brews and it calls for Nugget hops which I have a lot of fresh ones from last fall.

Just curious why you'd want to do this.... - Thanks!!

The reason for a double-D is to mashout above 170 so the enzymes stabilize. This is unnecessary if you are going straight from MLT to kettle.

However, the other reason is that boiling the grains give the beer a nice color and add a certain flavor to the beer.

Thanks! Toot.

It's also good to get your grist up to 170 to help dissolve the sugar that you've produced. I favor that aspect over denaturing the enzymes. But decoctions are good for their flavor and efficiency aspect. If you have the time, go for it! I'm going to be doing them (at least for mashout) much more often.

Usually, doing decoctions is based on history and tradition. Czech/german pilsners and some other german styles, i.e. hefeweized and dunkelweizens historically use decoction, therefore some homebrewers like to do them as well. There is a character that is supposed to result from decoction mashes that you cannot acheive with stepped infusion mashes. Some blind tastings have claimed no differences. I did a decoction once, I thought it was fun, I might do one again sometime when I have the time.

Matt

So, does decocotion generally add flavor/complexity to whatever your brewing or is it a technique reserved for certain styles?

I finally read Chucks book TNCJOHB. He states it is an old process for getting the maximum extraction and in many cases just tradition. He says very few breweries even do it now a days.

In a nut shell, he stated it was developed before they had thermometers where you can add boiling water to to raise the temp step by step like one does in a step mash.

Just thinking, if I was to make the dunkelweizen I might call it. "Black Lacy 44-Double-D"

:rockin: