Cereal Mash using Sous Vide

[Owly055]

I made this a separate thread, because it seems like an interesting and different way one could incorporate a sous vide into brewing. I'm thinking of doing a brew with a lot of rice just for the fun of it, and sealing the rice up with water in a bag, and simply dropping it in the sous vide at about 180 degrees for a few hours.
I may do an experiment next week, probably crushing the rice first......... I presume one would want to add water at about 1.5 x ratio.

Thoughts anybody??

H.W.

 

[botigol]

Interesting idea. I think that you would want a higher water to grain ratio, because the rice would absorb all of that water and then some. Normal rice cooking is usually 2:1, so I would definitely go above that, but offhand I don't have a specific suggestion.

 

[Owly055]

Interesting idea. I think that you would want a higher water to grain ratio, because the rice would absorb all of that water and then some. Normal rice cooking is usually 2:1, so I would definitely go above that, but offhand I don't have a specific suggestion.

The real beauty of this would be the fact that you should be able to do your cereal mash long before the actual brew. All microbes are killed fairly quickly at these temps. My only concern would of course be botulism spores. The bacteria are killed far below 180, but the spores are not. They do however require an anerobic environment, so leaving a generous amount of air in the bag should prevent them from propagating.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

I'm doing a cereal mash with 2 pounds of cracked rice in a zip lock bag using sous vide. The typical instructions for cereal mash call for a period of time at a gelatinization temp followed by close to half an hour boil. I'm ignoring these instructions and experimenting with holding it at 170 for an extended period of time, depending on appearance using sous vide. I'll be raising the temp to 200 for an hour or so at the end in what will probably be a 4-5 hour process. I'm working on a car in the meantime, so time really is of no importance here.

This is an entirely experimental project to see what works, and I have no real expectations of brewing a particularly good beer. I'm more interested in what gravity I can achieve than anything else. 2 pounds of rice and a pound of two row in a two gallon brew. The mash will be several hours and include a generous helping of amylase. Target OG is 1.044 for an ABV of about 4.6% with US-05. Hopped Willamette to 24 IBUs using one ounce in two additions. It will be an extremely pale brew needless to say with an SRM of only 1.88. A lawnmower beer. If it doesn't come out, I'm not out much of anything....... a few dollars worth of ingredients.

H.W.

 

[Owly055]

The gelatinization procedure was a success, but I won't repeat it. The long slow mash assisted with amylase beat my target gravity significantly. 2/3 rice with 1/3 two row might have converted over time, I don't know. I mashed for 4 hours while working on a set of 312 Ford heads on a 1955 Thunderbird for a friend. She inherited the car from her husband........ my best friend for 30 years, and it's been sitting for the 8 years since he passed away. The intake valves had varnished up. I tried to start it and it was blowing out the carb (4bbl motorcraft) which I had just gone through, indicating valves not opening. It had bent 5 pushrods, and after removing the heads, I had to drive a number of intake valves out with a hammer!! The guides are original guides as part of the head, not replacements, or knurled, etc. While he was alive, the car was started at least once a year after he quit driving it with intention of doing a full restoration. Before that he and I both drove the car frequently. The 312 Y block really ran, and was extremely economical with the 3 speed manual with overdrive, which he had modified so we could split the gears like a two speed in a truck. It was a blast to drive! I'm afraid that it will be some years before it is in fully restored condition, but I hope to have it in "driveable" condition within a month or so. I spend about half a day on Sunday over there, so it will progress slowly.

H.W.