emergency decoction?

[snailsongs]

I had to do an emergency decoction step after I undershot my step-up from protein rest to sacc rest (by about 10 degrees...yikes).....my question is, the mash sat at 145-147F for about 20 minutes or more while I heated the wort I pulled to "decoct" to boiling, landing the mash at 154 finally......but how "thin" is this going to make my oatmeal stout? keep in mind that I already performed a protein rest at 122 for 30 minutes which can also thin it out, right? so should I run for a bag of malto-dextrine?

 

[Edcculus]

I don't think you will be too bad off. The protien rest was probably unnecessary. It tends to hurt head retention more than anything though. How much oat did you use. That should help keep a good head and add body.

 

[snailsongs]

2lbs of oats.....about 16% of the grist, that's why I figured I should do a protein rest.....it threw my day off, though...never done one before.

 

[david_42]

Decoction is heating part of the grain to improve starch release. Boiling the wort just de-natures the enzymes in that part of the wort. If that is what you did, it probably won't impact the body or flavor.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Decoction is heating part of the grain to improve starch release. Boiling the wort just de-natures the enzymes in that part of the wort. If that is what you did, it probably won't impact the body or flavor.

I think he actually boiled a portion of the grains. Won't this lead to Tannin off flavors?

 

[snailsongs]

I think he actually boiled a portion of the grains. Won't this lead to Tannin off flavors?

Actually, I drew about 3/4 of a gallon of wort through the bulkhead and boiled that....no grains in there. I know I denatured the enzymes in that 3/4 gallon but there should be enough left in the rest of the wort....

......what I was wondering was how thin was my wort going to be after all is said and done? considering: the wort spent 30+ minutes at 122F and another 20 at 147F before finally hitting the target of 154. that's almost an hour resting below the "chewy" range of sacc temps. that's what worries me.

 

[WortMonger]

I think he actually boiled a portion of the grains. Won't this lead to Tannin off flavors?

pH and specific gravity will allow one to boil grain without tannin extraction. Now, remove the sugary wort from a mash and you can have tannin extraction from the grains from sparging to hot. That mash is some funny stuff, but decoctions are safe to boil without worrying about tannins. Color is a different story, it adds a little, but he didn't decoct really. I agree not enough enzymes were damaged to not convert the mash the way snailsong did it, but proper procedure requires a fraction of thick mash for true decoction.

 

[IrregularPulse]

pH and specific gravity will allow one to boil grain without tannin extraction. Now, remove the sugary wort from a mash and you can have tannin extraction from the grains from sparging to hot. That mash is some funny stuff, but decoctions are safe to boil without worrying about tannins.

Learn something new everyday. I thought grains getting above 170* was cut and dry. Thanks for the info.

 

[WortMonger]

I thought so too IrregularPulse, and then started trying to track down why decoction was ok. I think Kaiser pointed me to some information finally that helped me wrap my brain around it. Just missed the information somewhere along the line I guess and needed someone to point.