My First Decoction (w/ Pics)

[Evan!]

After some prodding, I was convinced that decoction would really improve the malt character of my Amber Lager. Realizing that I would probably meet some hurdles, I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday (Hokies kicked off at noon) to get ready. Still dark...

I mashed at 122f for 20 minutes, then drew off 1/3 of the mash (thicker than the rest of the mash) into another kettle and slowly brought it up to 158f for 30 minutes:

After 30 minutes, I slowly brought the decoc mash up to boiling. Seeing grains boiling for the first time was a little scary.

And here's intermission. Xander says what's up.

 

[Evan!]

So, after boiling the decoc for 25 minutes, I returned it to the main mash. Temp was supposed to rise to 151f or so, but it fell short, so I had to throw some heat on the kettle. This is why I love direct-heat mashing. I rested between 149-152f for 30 minutes, then drew off 1/4 of the mash into the decoc kettle for the second decoction; I brought this directly to a boil, and boiled for 25 minutes, then returned that to the main mash again. I fell short of the desired 158f, so direct heat was again necessary. After bringing the mash up to 159 or so, it rested for 60 minutes. I checked for starch conversion at 10 minute intervals, and after 60 minutes, there were still starches present. So I said screw it, I can't sit here and mash all day...and I drained and sparged. Boil went well, hit my target volumes (after rinsing off the hop bed with a quart of bottled spring water), and my actual mash system efficiency rounded out at 85%. Word. And look how clear this stuff is...

I easily reached 85f with my IC, then strained it into the carboy, stuck that into an iceback while it aerated for 90 minutes, then transferred it to the lagerator so it could get down into the 50's. Once it did, I added the rehydrated saflager...and my lag time was way too long. After 15 hours or so of no activity, I took it out of the lagerator and let it warm to about 62f. At first signs of activity, I put it back into the lagerator, and here's what she looks like now:

We'll see what happens several months from now when it's bottling time, but I think the lack of complete conversion isn't the end of the world. I'm optimistic, what can I say? Thanks to everyone who convinced me to decoc (so I had to watch the Hokies on DVR, oh well), and thanks to everyone who helped me learn how to decoc. Cheers.

 

[Glibbidy]

Woah, you did do the decoction. Excellent job my man, I left town for the weekend, and totally missed the whole "should I decoct?" discussion. I'm glad you decided to go thru with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised with the outcome!

 

[the_bird]

Evan!, you've inspired me. I'm going to do another decoction next month, prolly when I'm brewing up at YE-IV. I've been meaning to do either a weizenbock or a dopplebock, I think either would be well-served with a decoction mash.

 

[lackofstyl]

Ive been wanting to try a decoction,, but without direct heat on my MLT it sounds like a big PITA. Let us know how the brew turns out.. curious if you found the extra time and effort worth it..

 

[Buford]

Having done decoctions without a direct-heat mash tun, I will say that it is a bit of a pain in the ass if you miss hitting your temp. You can pull another small decoction or do an infusion to hit the temp you want. I never end up pulling quite enough of the mash to get the temp up enough out of fear that I will overshoot it.

 

[Evan!]

Having done decoctions without a direct-heat mash tun, I will say that it is a bit of a pain in the ass if you miss hitting your temp. You can pull another small decoction or do an infusion to hit the temp you want. I never end up pulling quite enough of the mash to get the temp up enough out of fear that I will overshoot it.

What I read in one of the guides is that you overcome that by not adding the entirety of the decoc back to the mash all at once. You add 3/4 of it or so, check your temps, and if you've already reached your rest target, you can just hold off on adding the rest of the decoc grains, and cool them with an icebath until they're about what your target rest temp is---then add them back. A little more work, but it's better than having to go through another mini-decoc.

 

[cubbies]

It is not a major PITA without direct fire, although it will take longer. If you dont hit your temp, just take a small amount of mash, say 10% and boil that for a few minutes and add it to the tun. That should give you an extra couple of degrees

 

[peterfuse]

hey evan, i did my first decoction this weekend too for a bavarian wheat and it went really well, hit my OG dead on and the fermentation took off like a rocket.

had some trouble hitting my temps as well but like described above when i was under i just took a small amount of the mash and boiled it up then back into mash. I had my first stuck sparge with this one but just turned off tap, stirred mash and began recircurlating wort and it was fine.

I'd recommend the process for others to try. took me 7.5 hours for a double docoction including cleanup and it was good fun.

 

[Evan!]

Yeah, I had fun too. Finished my coffee by 9:15 or so and had some of my Pale Ale by 9:30. Never too early for homebrew.

 

[Evan!]

Alright. Update. Checked the lagerator (6 days in) this morning and the bubbling had slowed down (and the whiff of nose-burning alcohol/CO2 when I opened the lagerator was not as bad as usual). So I checked the SG, and it was all the way down to 1.014. Very nice. I'm sitting right in the middle of the attenuation range (73.2%), so I pulled it out of the lagerator and am letting it come up to room temp for its d-rest. Tasted pretty good too...but it's certainly not amber. I guess I need to change the name to "Li'l Brudder's Golden Lager", because it looks to be a very pretty golden color.