Mash out sparge question

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.
W

Wellshooter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
380
Reaction score
5
Location
San Angelo
I have done one AG batch. It seems the consensus that you should mash out by raising the grain temp before sparging to stop enzyme activity. I am wondering why this is a necessary step when draining to the BK and sparging will be completed shortly thereafter. I also don't quite understand why you would want to stop the enzymes from doing what you wanted them to do in the first place. Anyone?
 
Are you doing a batch sparge or a fly sparge? If you are batch sparging, it really doesn't matter at all as you will be denaturing the enzymes soon enough once everything gets in the kettle. If you are fly sparging on the other hand there would be a period close to an hour where the enzymes would still be away at the wort and making it more fermentable. This would dry your beer considerably.
 
I was thinking that a 1 hour mash would convert all the starches, so that at that point the mash out would be irrelevant. What am I missing here?

FYI my first AG batch finished with a FG of 1.010. That is somewhat dry but I was low on my mash temp (148F) so I expected that.
 
It's not about starch conversion at that point. The beta-amylase is capable of further breaking down the longer sugars created by the alpha-amylase. This would not likely be an issue if you mashed somewhere in the mid 150's or higher, but could produce an even drier beer if you mashed at around 150 or lower.
 
With a cooler MT I don't bother with a mash out as raising the temp enough requires putting in water hot enough to worry about leaching tannins. As best I do is start heating the wort when I have collected a few inches in the BK and mash a few degrees warmer in my attempt to counter the effect...until the new kettle comes in and I will be able to direct fire mwoo-ha-ha.
 

Similar threads

F
do you still need to heat sparge water if you mash out at 170 for 20 mins
Replies
13
Views
1K
passedpawn
passedpawn
Gadjobrinus
Sparging in a Herms?
2
Replies
43
Views
2K
Exception13
Exception13
N
Stuck recirculation BM’s Cream of 3 Crops
Replies
10
Views
1K
Niatras
N
G
Long time batch sparger, switching to fly sparging, need some tips
Replies
30
Views
3K
dmaxweb
dmaxweb
A
RO Water - starting with lower pH
Replies
30
Views
1K
jerrylotto
jerrylotto
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top