Doughing in Hefe?

[billk911]

I am making a Hefe this weekend and am hearing some people say that they dough in and step mash their Hefe's. Is this something I should do or would a single infusion be ok? I was going to try a decoction but time is not on my side to do that for the first time.

 

[PVH]

Some like to do a decoction to add character to an otherwise simple grain bill, or just to hew to tradition. It is by no means necessary.

 

[ayoungrad]

I am making a Hefe this weekend and am hearing some people say that they dough in and step mash their Hefe's. Is this something I should do or would a single infusion be ok? I was going to try a decoction but time is not on my side to do that for the first time.

I did my first hefe recently with a single step mash. It is good but I wanted more clove character than I got. If you are looking for clove character, you will apparently get better results with a rest at - check me on this - but I think it is around 113 to encourage phenols.

 

[IrregularPulse]

dough in just refers to the act of adding you grist (grain bill) to your strike water. It's no special technique. I wouldn't do a decoction, especially for your first attempt. Decoctions used to be done because of the malt quality, now they're unnecessary for that reason, but are still done for tradition and to obtain, like mentioned above, of caramelization and complexity from an otherwise simple grain bill.

 

[PGHBrew]

I make my hefes using a single infusion mash. They taste pretty good to me as well as others. I would check out the recipe section. You will see most recipes use this same technique with good results.