Mash temp question

[cernst151]

This weekend I'll be brewing up a nice big chocolate peanut butter stout (I'll share the recipe if it ends up being good) and I wanted to leave it with plenty of unfermentable sugars to make it thick chewy and somewhat sweet. I was planning to just mash at a high temp but I wanted to be sure I'd be getting enough fermentable sugars too.

The target OG is 1.074 and I'll be using a moderately attenuative British ale yeast with high flocculation (can't remember exactly which one right now) and plan on mashing in at 156. Since the beta's are going to be denatured at that temp will I get enough fermentable sugars with just the alpha's or should I start mashing in at 152 and bring the temp up to 156 after a bit? I want a nice thick chewy stout but I also want some alcohol in it.

 

[Homercidal]

I dont' think you will notice a huge amount of difference between 152 and 156. There isn't really a "cut-off" point at which you suddenly get zero effect from the one enzyme. It's a gradual effect. Maybe if you went to 160 you would get a lot of body and maltiness. People's opinion of what is sweet and thick vary as well. Some people think mashing above 152 is nuts.

Yeast attenuation has a lot to do with it as well. Picking the right yeast will go a long ways to attaining the characteristics you want.

You might consider adding a bit of lactose to add body and sweetness without affecting the alcohol potential. A lot of people use it in stouts like Milk Stout, Sweet Stout, Chocolate Stout to add sweetness and body.

PB stout is a rare thing. You may have to play with the recipe a few times to get it exactly where you want it. It's hard to say what you will like.

 

[Hermit]

If you want sweetness go with a light crystal/caramel malt. 40 or 60 are good for stouts, at least I think so. For what you are doing maybe 20 to keep it from adding much flavor though.

 

[cernst151]

Yeast attenuation has a lot to do with it as well. Picking the right yeast will go a long ways to attaining the characteristics you want.

We're going with the Ringwood Ale, Wyeast 1187, which has a 70% attenuation. It's also highly flocculating so will hopefully clear out a lot of the extra sediment from the PB. I'm looking more for body than sweetness. I've used Lactose and Maltodextrine before to bring up the body and/or sweetness but I wanted to try doing it without the "cheat" of adding outside sugars.

Hermit: I've already got a little crystal malt in there but I don't want to overdo the sweetness. I'd rather the beer itself be a little less sweet and more on the roasty side so it can balance the PB & Chocolate. I'm really trying to build up the body as much as possible.

 

[giraffe]

It will be difficult for a all malt 1.074 beer to be thin without trying to. A mash temp of 152 or greater will be sufficient. You can always add some (~5%) carapils for mouthfeel, but I cant see you needing it.

 

[Hermit]

Unfermentable sugar is unfermentable sugar. Crystal malts have unfermentable sugar because of the temps they are roasted at instead of what they are malted at. Same difference. Use your base malt and mash lower for the alcohol. Adding the other stuff, crystal or whatever, just allows you to add something that has been preprocessed and won't be affected much by the mash schedule.

 

[Homercidal]

Yep, a 1.074 beer is probably going to naturally be full bodied and relatively sweet. Some crystal is a good idea.

This thread got me thinking about PB&J sandwich, so I had one last night, but instead of jelly I added some Nutella. Today I brought some Nutella and a banana and some bread to work....

I know it's not really good for me, but I will make up for it with some exercise or something.