My first decoction mash took forever...

[homebrewdad]

Two weeks ago, I tackled my first decoction mash on a traditional bock of my own design.

The tl;dr version is that it took all day long to complete... man, do I hope that this thing turns out!

If you'd like to read the entire wall of text (along with the recipe), laugh at my blunders, etc... feel free to check out the full blog entry.

 

[NTexBrewer]

I brewed a Maibock yesterday doing a triple decoction. Initial Rest at 135, First Decoction to get to 145, second decoction to get to 160 and then a third decoction to get to mashout.

I agree with you that it adds a lot to the brew day and I was only brewing a 2 gallon BIAB batch. This meant my decoction volumes were never more than 2.25 quarts. This made things definitely easier to pull and bring to boil. It still added about 2 to 2.5 hours to my brew day.

I used a 1.5qt/lb ratio and then did a dunk sparge with my remaining water.

I found this website very helpful to make a spreadsheet to calculate my decoction volumes. I did not hit my first temperature but did with the last two. I think I should have added the first decoction in faster but was afraid of over shooting the temperature.

http://www.candisyrup.com/uploads/6/0/3/5/6035776/csi_doc_-_single_decoction_rev_1.4.pdf

This was the recipe that I scaled down.

https://byo.com/stories/item/1035-maibock-style-profile

I was amazed that I got 95% conversation with a 79% brewhouse efficiency.

Hopefully your long brew day will be worth all of the work. I definitely could see the color of the beer slowly darken with each decoction.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I had the same feelings as you after my first triple decoction mash brew day. I probably messed so many things up in the process of doing it, and it was a LONG very very hot day out. The beer tasted fantastic though so, it was well worth it.

 

[homebrewdad]

My impression is that this is going to be an excellent beer, but seeing as how I just started lagering it, it will be a while before I know.