Decoction mash tun tips? To stir or not to stir?

[Hopheader]

Hi folks; as a veteran of ONE horrendous decoction experiment -- that resulted in one of my best beers ever -- I wanted to ask if people stir when adding the decoction back to the mash tun or not?

Assuming yes, but boy oh boy did I ever have a stuck sparge. Virtually NOTHING came out (false bottom as opposed to braid)--I think that the wheat proteins just gummed up the false bottom and that was that.

Had to result to dumping the entire contents into a co-brewer's mash tun after he finished his sparge. Talk about hot side aeration! (haha)

But the decoction itself sure did add a nice flavour to my last hefeweizen.

J

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I stir when I do them, but that's not too often. It's too much of a hassle for me, so I tend to avoid the styles that require/benefit from them.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

You need to stir when you reincorporate the deco to avoid denaturing enzymes right where the boiling deco is added. Just add a bit of the deco stir, add more, stir, etc. until you hit your target temp.

That is odd about the sparge. Decoctions make sparging much easier because they break down long protein chains. It is a good method for increasing the easy of sparging. Did you try blowing into the drain tube? Sounds like you had a clog???

 

[JNish]

Yup I stir, that way the rest of the mash rises to temp. But never had problems with a stuck sparge. In fact, I've never had a stuck sparge with my false bottom. Did you do a mash out?

 

[Hopheader]

Haha, I tried every trick I know. That sucker was DONE. Just another cursed brew day I chalked it up to, no biggie. Turned out great.

And, yes, now that I read how my question was worded--stirring is important TO get equal temperatures / consistent temperature. Thanks.