How long to mash

[jnetzel]

Is 30 minutes like set in stone? The recipe i used in the past said 30 minutes. Is this ideal? Can I go longer? The recipe i have now doesnt say anything in this regard

 

[jnetzel]

Also when should I add the corn sugar? It just says "late boil kettle addition"

 

[An Ankoù]

Back in the day, 90 minutes was the norm. I often mash overnight.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

30 minutes would be short, though likely mostly converted at that point, 60min would be what I'd consider "standard" is it a single infusion mash? Sparging? .. as for the late boil kettle addition I'd say the last 15 minutes of the boil.

 

[odie]

most of the starches are converted in probaly the first 20 minutes. That said, 1 hour is the standard. pretty much gets it all.

any longer is just gravy.

I mash 10 hours...but then again...I'm away all day at work so why not???

 

[RM-MN]

Tell us a little about the recipe and your process. Then we can make more informed recommendations.

 

[jnetzel]

Tell us a little about the recipe and your process. Then we can make more informed recommendations.

Ok ill share: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1513763/butter-beer

 

[RM-MN]

Is 30 minutes like set in stone? The recipe i used in the past said 30 minutes. Is this ideal? Can I go longer? The recipe i have now doesnt say anything in this regard

For most grains bought and crushed by a vendor, you are not likely to get complete conversion in 30 minutes. 60 would be more appropriate and if the crush is poor, more like 90 minutes for the mash. I visited a brewery that used a 2 hour mash, just for comparison.

The recipe is based on a 70% brewhouse efficiency. I would expect that efficiency to be based on a typical crush and a 60 minute mash. If you have your own mill so you can mill the grain finer the amount of time for the mash could be as short as 30 minutes. If you try to go shorter than that you may find your beer has little flavor as it takes time to extract that from the grains.

 

[hilljack13]

I mash 75 minutes. For some reason I am able to be closer to my numbers than when I mash 60 min. I still haven't figured out why.

 

[Dland]

70 to 90 minutes for me, depending on what else I'm trying to accomplish at the time.

 

[Bobby_M]

Until the gravity stops rising.

 

[Lampy]

I'm not very scientific about it and go anywhere between 45min and several hours, depending on my schedule.

 

[worlddivides]

Always a minimum of 60 minutes here. Sometimes as long as 90 minutes. Usually around 70 minutes, give or take.

 

[doug293cz]

Is 30 minutes like set in stone? The recipe i used in the past said 30 minutes. Is this ideal? Can I go longer? The recipe i have now doesnt say anything in this regard

30 minutes is not likely enough, unless you start with a very fine crush. Conversion of starch to sugar is a two step process. First starch must be gelatinized which saturates it with water. This is what happens when you cook rice for example. The second step is hydrolysis, where the bonds between glucose units in the starch react with water (catalyzed by the enzymes) chopping up the starch chains to create smaller molecules (dextrins and sugars.) Not all of the starch needs to be gelatinized before hydrolysis can take place, but hydrolysis cannot be completed until after complete gelatinization.

How long it takes a grit to completely gelatinize depends on the size of the grit (smaller grits gelatinize faster), the temperature of the mash (higher temps speed up gelatinization), and the nature of the starch (how easy it is to gelatinize.) Once gelatinization is complete, it takes only a few minutes for hydrolysis to complete (unless your enzyme concentration is very low, but most mashes have excess enzymes.)

When brewers have trouble with low conversion efficiency, it is most often because the mash time was too short at the chosen temperature(s) to completely gelatinize the size and nature of the grits in their crushed grain. Mashing longer, and/or adding higher temperature mash rests will usually lead to more complete gelatinization and conversion.

So, a legitimate answer to "how long should I mash?" is: mash until conversion is complete.

It is fairly easy to monitor the progress of gelatinization and conversion during the mash. As conversion progresses, the SG of the wort in the mash rises as the concentration of sugar increases. So, all you have to do is mash for a while, and then start periodically measuring the SG of the wort. A good schedule is to start SG measurements after mashing for 45 minutes, and then continue sampling every 15 minutes until the SG stops rising between samples. If you are using a very fine crush, you can start measuring sooner - say after 30 minutes. If you find you need longer mashes, you can wait longer before taking your fist sample.

The wort should be well homogenized prior to taking SG samples, or you can get erroneous measurements. Stirring or recirculation (if all of the wort periodically gets recirculated - something many AIO systems don't do) are effective for homogenizing the wort.

The easiest way to do quick SG samples is with a refractometer. They only require a few drops of wort, and the small samples cool quickly. It is important to minimize any water evaporation from the sample prior to measuring, as any evaporation will lead to erroneously high SG values. Pulling the sample with an eyedropper, pipette, syringe, etc. works well, as the small openings minimize any evaporation while cooling. You shouldn't try to measure hot samples if you want accurate results.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

Until the gravity stops rising.

I gave a long winded answer to the "why" behind this correct answer.

Brew on

 

[jerrylotto]

It also depends on the temperature. "Conversion" is a multi faceted process. Look up step mash to learn about the different enzyme ranges.