First time step mashing

[KneeShield]

Recipe is for a Belgian Witbier, says to step mash at 122F, 155F then mash out at 167F.

Recipe contains 13lbs of grain with 5.1 gals of mashwater, sparging with 3.9 gal. I am using a plastic cooler as my mashtun and have never step mashed before. I used the mash calculator on brewers friends and have kind of worked out a schedule of

2.20 Gallons @ 138.8 (F)
6.1 Liters @ boiling
4.8 Liters @ boiling

Does this look right to you fellas? Will 2.2 gals initially do what its meant to with 13lbs of grain? Is this going to work?


I had originally written a much more detailed post, but it disappeared

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I think you'll have problems with your mash in - not enough water. Personally, for a witbier, I'd mash in a bit thinner (protein rest), go to a conversion rest (eg. 155) but omit the mashout so that there is water left for sparging. Or go a bit thinner on all three steps and have a very small sparge (or no sparge; efficiency will be lower).

Edit: you should probably post this elsewhere - all-grain multi-step mashing....it's not really a beginner question!

 

[EarthwormJim]

That 2.2 gallons should be fine. In this BYO article it says the lower temp rests are more effective with thicker mashes.

My Wit recipe has a similar amount of grain, 12.5 or 13 pounds and I mash in with the same amount of water, but a little cooler. That gets me to between .75 or 1 qt./lb. I do a 15/20 minute acid rest at 111, step to 133 for a protien rest for another 15, then to 152 for the sach rest. That gets me to about 1.5 qt./lb thickess, maybe 1.75. For the mashout, I decoct about a gallon and a half of thin mash. I either scoop the wort out of the tun or drain it through the valve, get it to boiling and put it back in the tun. I try to get as little grain in the decoction as possible. The reason I do it that way is to save more water for the sparge. I doubt it helps my efficency that much, but I'm anal.

The first rest is like oatmeal and is hard to stir at first. It will loosen up a little. Make sure you stir until everything is wet. There should be a very small amount of water on top of the grain at that point.

There will probably be some people coming along shortly to tell you that you don't need to do a step mash and everything will convert if you just do a sach rest. They are correct and the extra work may not make a difference in the final product. It turns a simple 60 minute mash into a pretty labor intensive 90 minutes. I enjoy the the process and the extra work sometimes. There is also evidence that the protien rest can make your Wit too clear or hurt head retention. I haven't had that problem. Give it a try however you want.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.