Decoction Mash Video

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Kaiser

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I finally got it done and released to YouTube:

Part 1:
[youtube]_V1zt0mW084[/youtube]

Part 2:
[youtube]I5u_nJhMD4w[/youtube]

Part 3:
[youtube]6VcZRVw2k_o[/youtube]

Let me know if you can actually understand anything I'm saying. I'm not a natural in front of a camera and the accent doesn't help either, though it could be considered an asset in this case ;).

Grab a beer. The total length is about 25 min.

Kai
 
Thanks Kaiser! Any chance of you posting an mp4 version or whatever you first had it in? Thanks man, I'd love to shoot this over to my tivo!
 
Brewing Clamper said:
Thanks Kaiser! Any chance of you posting an mp4 version or whatever you first had it in? Thanks man, I'd love to shoot this over to my tivo!

Where would I host this? I certainly have a mpeg 4 .mov for the un-split version, but it's about 600MB.

Kai
 
Kaiser,

That is awesome. Fantastic work. I can't wait to get your lager yeasts so I can make a double-decoction Marzen.

You're totally stoked me up. Booya!
 
mrkristofo said:
Kaiser,

That is awesome. Fantastic work. I can't wait to get your lager yeasts so I can make a double-decoction Marzen.

You're totally stoked me up. Booya!

BTW, I sent that out on Friday.

Thanks for the support.

Kai
 
Excellent job Kaiser. I thought you were great on camera and I had no problems at all understanding you. Keep up the great work.
 
Fantastic job! Seeing it done by someone who actually knows what they're doing has pointed out the flaws I had in my process.

Thanks for the great videos! :mug:
 
Great job Kaiser, really enjoyed it. It was also nice to see I was doing things somewhat correctly after only reading about decoction and then trying it myself. Anyway, I definitely need to try it again using your better methods,etc. I haven't brewed a lager in a loooong time, but your videos definitely inspired me to brew one again. Sour lager anyone, just kidding.
 
OUTSTANDING videos, Kai! Really professionally done (thanks a ton for translating to °F for those of us who are less Euro-focused ;)). I'm going to be getting to that Pilsner next weekend, this helps a lot (especially seeing how much thinner you're doing these mashes).
 
That was great! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I learned a lot about decoctions, I might even try one. I just have one question: what do you think a protein rest contributes to the wort?
 
Fantastic video!

Please pardon my naivete, as this is the first time I've actually seen this done; but, I kept wondering during the video if boiling the decoction would extract the tannins from the malt husks? I know that I must be wrong to think this. So how does that work?
 
Absolutely fantastic Kai, I have always wanted to see this done and have tried it before but you make it a lot easier to understand and implement. I loved the music and want to go to Germany before my life is done and enjoy some good German beer and food and go to some brewery's and see the masters of brewing at work. What amaizes me the most is that before we had all these fancy measuring devices and labs to find out what is actually happening in a mash the old world brewers had perfected brewing and made fantastic beer. Good work Kai.

:mug:
 
Very nicely done I have done 1 double decoction and Really liked the beer that I came up with but DAMN the time... the time it takes is crazy.
again well done
JJ
 
Kaiser,

Even though I have no plans to do a decoction, double or otherwise, in the forseeable future it was a real pleasure to watch such a well done video and learn how to do decoction mashing. The accent and music really contributed a lot to the presentation.:mug:
 
Thanks, guys.

Iordz said:
what do you think a protein rest contributes to the wort?

Not much these days and mine are starting to get shorter as well. The more I read about that, the more I realize that even European malts don't need them anymore.

Kai
 
Hey, that's my car...! (grey Subie in bckgrd).

Yes, I was at Kaiser's that brew day, and now know all about German beer-making...:D

I want to thank Kai for a very informative session! Honestly, a lot was way over my (n00b) head, but it demystified quite a few concepts.

I just loved the different colors and smell the mash developed during the process... very cool!
 
Awesome video Kaiser. I just did my first decoction (mash-out only) on my house ale. I can't wait to get into lagers and do a real decoction like you did.
 
Great Video.... I always did around a 1.35 qt/pound ratio when doing decoction mashing.. Never thought about doing thinner than that.. Now I want to get another one going, it really is a fun process. Thanks for taking the time to make the video!! :mug:

Mod's- can we make this a sticky? I would really hate to see this video get lost in the forum.
 
Ryanh1801 said:
If anyone was wondering More beer sells a less modified pil's malt.. I think when it comes time to do another decocation I might give this a try.
http://morebeer.com/view_product/17118/102155

When you use this malt (spec) and the munich malts Briess has, you can actually do a triple decoction or do the shown double decoction with a 20 min (122 - 126F) protein rest as it is lower modified (SNR ~ 36 %). I'm using more modified malts from Europe (40%+ SNR) which don't benefit from that rest. Looks like I may have to give Briess malt a try.

Last night, I thought about a twist to this mash that will allow you to boil all of the grain and starch. Dough-in at acid rest in your boil kettle and preheat your mash tun. Remove 40% of the thin liquid on top and place that into your mash tun. Now decoct the 60% left in your boil kettle (holding sacc rest at 170F and maybe even a protein rest at 120 if the malt needs it) . Return to mashtun for sacc rest. Mash-out and lauter.

I thought of that since there was a lot of starch left in the mash-tun after I removed the grain (not that this is a problem) and breweries actually pump the mash from the bottom which gets them all that starch flour. Since amlost all of the starch will be converted to dextrines in the decoction beore it is returned to the mash tun where fresh (beta amylase) enzymes are waiting, you should get a very highly fermentable wort, especially if you rest the mash closer to 150 F. I thought that this would be a great mash for a very strong Doppelbock or Eisbock, where you want to minimize the dextrines so that the beer has a chance to finish in the 1.020s or even upper 1.010s.

Kai
 
Ryanh1801 said:
I always did around a 1.35 qt/pound ratio when doing decoction mashing..

BTW, standard mash thickness for German Beers (Pilsner, Weissbier) seems to be 2 qt/lb. I come across this quite often lately.

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
BTW, standard mash thickness for German Beers (Pilsner, Weissbier) seems to be 2 qt/lb. I come across this quite often lately.

Kai

Well after looking at you decoction I realized how stiff mine really where.
8404-DSCF0359.JPG


Just wondering what does the thinner mash provided? The only reason I did such a thick part of the decoction was I think it was BYO interview a German Brewery and brew master was saying part of not extracting tannins was due in part to the high sugar content of the decoction along with mash PH. Anyways a thinner decoction would make the decoction a lot easier, so I will be trying that. Ok Ill stop rambling now.
 
I just watched the videos and read this http://www.strandbrewers.org/techinfo/decoct1.htm

The only thing I never really picked up was what this does to the finished product vs infusion mashing? At the end there he had all the protein built up on top, assuming that doesn't make it to the beer, does head retention suffer (I suspect not)?
Maltier profile, higher FG?
 
Excellent videos! I almost wish I hadn't watched it though. I was just getting happy with my process! Thanks for posting it!
 
z987k said:

This is basically like most of the other instructions I found so far. They also rely on precisely calculating the decoction volume, which will cause most of the headache when you miss your sacc rest temp.

The only thing I never really picked up was what this does to the finished product vs infusion mashing? At the end there he had all the protein built up on top, assuming that doesn't make it to the beer, does head retention suffer (I suspect not)?
Maltier profile, higher FG?

There is a lot of debate about this. I have done many decocted and non-decocted batches so far and noticed for myself, that the differences must be subtle. I still have to make a good side by side to see for myself what a decoction tastes like. The FG should actually be lower for decocted beers as the beta amylase will have more starch ends (since some of the starch has been converted to dextines) to work on. But that can be compensated for with a higher sacc rest temp.


Just wondering what does the thinner mash provided? The only reason I did such a thick part of the decoction was I think it was BYO interview a German Brewery and brew master was saying part of not extracting tannins was due in part to the high sugar content of the decoction along with mash PH

There is tannin extraction happening. Just not as excessive as it would be when the pH raises significantly. Thinner mashes allow for thinner decoctions as well as for less tannin extraction in the over-all process as you will be using less sparge water.

Kai
 
Great job Kaiser! That's another HBT educational gem. I think some of the probrewers I know would be impressed by that tutorial. Awesome work :mug:
 
wow Kaiser..

what a smart guy.. and a great video.. waaayy over my head..

your accent helps with your credibility though..haha
 
Thanks Kai,

I appreciate the video, really simplified my thoughts on it.... In fact i don't know why i didn't decoct from the start.... Looks like control is easier than other methods....

This is great still trying to figure out when i'll be able to brew my O-fest and Bock...
 
DeadYetiBrew said:
I appreciate the video, really simplified my thoughts on it.... In fact i don't know why i didn't decoct from the start.... Looks like control is easier than other methods....

You don't have to decoct to get that control. Simply aiming for a dough-in between 133 F and 140 and using boiling water infusions to raise the temp to sacc temp temperatures works well enough. That's what I do as my standard mash for German beers.

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
You don't have to decoct to get that control. Simply aiming for a dough-in between 133 F and 140 and using boiling water infusions to raise the temp to sacc temp temperatures works well enough. That's what I do as my standard mash for German beers.

Kai

Thats true but not as fun :D
 
great video. I'm gonna try a double decoction pilsner next.

One question: why do you do your iodine test on chalk?

jason
 
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