manual recirculation

[caps_phisto]

I've been toying with the idea of doing manual recirculation of my mash water for step infusing. I've got a mash/later tun with a manifold so getting the water out won't be much of an issue. Does anyone have any advice or links I could read on the following idea:

Start off with a grain/water ratio of 1.25qts. Add all the water into the tun to reach acid rest. Adjust pH as need. Drain a specific amount of water and heat to boiling. Add boiling water back to reach next step, like sac rest.

Thoughts?

 

[Paymygasbill77]

Heating wort to a boil will denature the amylase. It might hinder your sacc rest.

 

[caps_phisto]

If that's true how do decoction mashes work? I've done a few of those in the past and I was boiling thick mash. How would just worth be different? Not trying to sound nasty, just curious.

 

[Yooper]

If that's true how do decoction mashes work? I've done a few of those in the past and I was boiling thick mash. How would just worth be different? Not trying to sound nasty, just curious.

You bring the grain up to saccrification rest temps, let it sit a bit, and then boil it and add it back to the mash. Because it's a very thick mash that is decocted, it doesn't affect the pH or denature the enzymes that are in the liquor needed for conversion.

Typically, you only pull a thin mash when you do a decoction up to mash out temps- then since the idea is to denature the enzymes anyway, doing the decoction with more liquid than grain works.

 

[caps_phisto]

So what you are saying is that by boiling mostly grains and not wort I don't run the risk of denaturing the enzymes at all? I am new to this component and I am just trying to wrap my head around that. I only ask because some of my decoction mashes have had me pull almost all the grain out to boil to reach the next step. Wouldn't that denature everything?

Or is it simply that after adding water to any grain at any temperature the enzymes dissolved out immediately so I am strictly using the grain as a heat sink/transfer vessel?

Thanks

 

[Maxkling]

When u pull the thick out you leave behind the wort which contains the bulk of the enzymes during a decoction. Are you talking about doughing in for the acid rest, draining the wort, boiling the wort, adding back the boiling wort to your mash to reach the next step? If so as others said you are stopping the enzymes. If you are doughing in x amt of water for the acid rest, then heating x amt of water for next step rest, if thats possible without thinning the mash too much, you should be fine.

 

[caps_phisto]

I am talking about taking out the wort and boiling it. I was just looking for more clarification on if decoction is OK, why isn't adding back boiling wort? From what you have described decoction works because most, if not all, enzymes are already in wort once I add in water, regardless of temp. If I then pull the wort I will denature the enzymes. Decoction mashing is OK because the grain is just being used as a heat transfer mechanism, and none, if any enzymes are present in thick mash/grain.

Thanks!