Homebew equipment needed for multi-rest mash.

[ed_brews_now]

I was thinking of going the way of all grain. iam trying to figure out what I need if I want to have a muli-rest mash.
Is the benefit of multi-rest mash worth the effort?

 

[djsethall]

Short answer-yes. You can enhance the flavor of your finished product by doing multi rest mashes. I start with a dough in at 122f for a protein rest. Then an infusion up to 150-158 depending on what type of beer I am making. Then a sparge at 168-170.

 

[pjj2ba]

I agree with djsethall, but many will disagree, and many just don't want to bother. I often do saccharification at two temps ~147 and then ~158. I vary the times at each to match the style. The maltier/richer I want it, the shorter the first Saccharification step.

There are two ways to do step mashes. The "easiest" is to directly apply heat to the mash tun. There are RIMS and HERMES systems to do this. I directly heat my pot with a induction cooker. These are all mostly done with metal mash tuns. The second way, when direct heating cannot be done, (typically any kind of cooler) is to mash in with less water and then after a certain time point add boiling water to bring the temp. up to the next step. There are calculators out there to figure out how hot and how much water to add.

 

[Mysticmead]

well... as stated above a typical 3 vessel setup will do step mashes..a cooler MLT needs boiling water added.. you can also do decoction mashes to raise the temps.. you can also do stepped mashes or even decoction mashes with a 1 vessel BIAB setup. it all really comes down to how much you want to spend and what you'd be more comfortable with.

 

[dstar26t]

Steam from a pressure cooker also works well.

 

[ed_brews_now]

How many max watts with your induction cooker -- is it 220V or 110v

There are two ways to do step mashes. The "easiest" is to directly apply heat to the mash tun. There are RIMS and HERMES systems to do this. I directly heat my pot with a induction cooker. These are all mostly done with metal mash tuns.

 

[ed_brews_now]

Now that makes me wonder what brew pubs uses. Single rest infusion? I just don't see much space in the local brew pubs.

well... as stated above a typical 3 vessel setup will do step mashes..a cooler MLT needs boiling water added.. you can also do decoction mashes to raise the temps.. you can also do stepped mashes or even decoction mashes with a 1 vessel BIAB setup. it all really comes down to how much you want to spend and what you'd be more comfortable with.

 

[pjj2ba]

How many max watts with your induction cooker -- is it 220V or 110v

1500 W. 110 V. It (actually they, 1 for tun and 1 for HLT) works great for mashing, but doesn't have the oomph to do a full boil. I do that outside with a bruner. I can get pretty close to a 1*F temp rise per minute between steps (7-9 lbs grain in 3 - 4 gal. water)

 

[ed_brews_now]

Does the time needed for heating between rests count as rest time?

1500 W. 110 V. It (actually they, 1 for tun and 1 for HLT) works great for mashing, but doesn't have the oomph to do a full boil. I do that outside with a bruner. I can get pretty close to a 1*F temp rise per minute between steps (7-9 lbs grain in 3 - 4 gal. water)

 

[pjj2ba]

Does the time needed for heating between rests count as rest time?

Yes. Well technically it is step time, but I certainly counts as part of the total mash time. I do tend to divide my step time in half and mentally think of each half belonging to the two rest temp times.

If I do 20 min. at 146*F, then a 12 min. ramp to 158*F for 20 min. I sort of think of that as 26 min. at each step. (BTW, this is what I do for a malt forward beer)

 

[RobbyBeers]

For a direct fired system, I think the short answer to the equipment portion of the question is:

A pot with a false bottom and valve
A pump
Some tubing to create a recirculation loop

But as others have pointed out, there's a lot of ways to attack this.

 

[Northcalais40]

I use decoctions to raise the temp of my mashes almost everytime. It is a good way to change temp without adding a ton of infusion water, and diminishing your sparge water. I have a cooler MLT and a turkey fryer.