Mash Out
- Thread starter Bonestar
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
And the answer is: some of the time.
The mash-out denatures the enzymes and stops further breakdown of starches and complex polysaccharides into simpler sugars. For most beer styles a one-hour mash will convert almost everything that can be converted, so a mash-out doesn't matter.
The mash-out denatures the enzymes and stops further breakdown of starches and complex polysaccharides into simpler sugars. For most beer styles a one-hour mash will convert almost everything that can be converted, so a mash-out doesn't matter.
I think the main thing to think about is whether a mash out is even doing anything for the homebrewer. In the amount of time it takes to sparge a 5 gallon batch, nothing untowards is likely to happen to the wort.
Some people like to do it because it gets them that much closer to boiling temps, and some say there is a small amount of viscosity improvement when using certain grains, but after 60-90 minutes, it's probably not much.
I think the general answer is: It's not needed, but doing one won't hurt anything either.
Some people like to do it because it gets them that much closer to boiling temps, and some say there is a small amount of viscosity improvement when using certain grains, but after 60-90 minutes, it's probably not much.
I think the general answer is: It's not needed, but doing one won't hurt anything either.
Not exactly. If you batch sparge, you can accomplish the same thing by using 185F sparge water and it works because you stir it in quickly. If you fly sparge, which is where the mashout is traditionally done, it wouldn't work strictly via the sparge infusion because it takes a long time for that water to work it's way down through the grain (by design).
I like to do a mash out step, I also do step mashing and fly sparge. Personally with my beers I had noticed that with the same recipe if I did a single infusion mash and batch sparged with out a mash out step, my beers seemed a little different, slightly flabby regarding mouthfeel.
At the BJCP study class I am in, last week the owner od Lightning brewery was there and he was giving a presentation about mashing. One of his points that I found really interesting was that if beers where a mash out is not preformed can get over mashed. grant it he is talking about pro-brewing, and he did say that under normal home brewing conditions this should not be a problem. But if your lauter step went long for what ever reason it might be a problem. He described over mashing as when the Alpha-Amylase is active for too long, it can break the longer chain sugar that are non-fermentable, down even further leaving only short chains of sugars that are still unfermentable but don't contribute much to mouthfeel.
This was nice to hear because it gave some validity to something I was noticing in my process that I could not confirm.
With a mash out, you are actively denaturing the enzyms of the mash, and essentially stoping the mashing process, before you move on to the boil. If you want more of an explanation of this, OP, you could head out to Lightning brewery out in Poway and see if jim is around. I don't know him personally, but he was really nice at the meeting, so I bet if he was available at the tastings room you might be able to pick his brain about the subject.
At the BJCP study class I am in, last week the owner od Lightning brewery was there and he was giving a presentation about mashing. One of his points that I found really interesting was that if beers where a mash out is not preformed can get over mashed. grant it he is talking about pro-brewing, and he did say that under normal home brewing conditions this should not be a problem. But if your lauter step went long for what ever reason it might be a problem. He described over mashing as when the Alpha-Amylase is active for too long, it can break the longer chain sugar that are non-fermentable, down even further leaving only short chains of sugars that are still unfermentable but don't contribute much to mouthfeel.
This was nice to hear because it gave some validity to something I was noticing in my process that I could not confirm.
With a mash out, you are actively denaturing the enzyms of the mash, and essentially stoping the mashing process, before you move on to the boil. If you want more of an explanation of this, OP, you could head out to Lightning brewery out in Poway and see if jim is around. I don't know him personally, but he was really nice at the meeting, so I bet if he was available at the tastings room you might be able to pick his brain about the subject.
Sure, on a large batch that is going to be fly sparged, it's technically mashing for over two hours. The effect is reduced the faster you'd fly sparge (smaller batches) but it's definitely not an issue if you're going to drain it into a boil kettle quickly and light the fire.
I can go either way as far as recommendation goes but if you have a system where you can achieve mashout temps without infusing new water, it's a no brainer to do it. That would be any RIMS/HERMS or brew in a bag setup. If you fly sparge in a cooler MLT, I'd definitely mash a little thicker to allow for a boiling water mashout infusion just before you start fly sparging. If you batch sparge in a cooler, skip the mashout and go with a hot sparge. Keep things moving along quickly without these long "sparge rests" I see everyone doing. Light the BK burner as soon as you get some runoff in there.
I can go either way as far as recommendation goes but if you have a system where you can achieve mashout temps without infusing new water, it's a no brainer to do it. That would be any RIMS/HERMS or brew in a bag setup. If you fly sparge in a cooler MLT, I'd definitely mash a little thicker to allow for a boiling water mashout infusion just before you start fly sparging. If you batch sparge in a cooler, skip the mashout and go with a hot sparge. Keep things moving along quickly without these long "sparge rests" I see everyone doing. Light the BK burner as soon as you get some runoff in there.
