New mash time question...

[perry]

Hey, all.

There's a lot of talk out there about shortening the mash time due to the quality of malts we're all using... I did ten gallons of stout today (getting ready for fall) and I mashed for 45 minutes. Usually, with the same recipe and a 90 minute mash, I get 93% eff. Today, I got 88.3%.

I also went from American Two-row Pale to Maris Otter as the base malt.

Don't get me wrong; I'm fine with the results, but I'm wondering two things: did the lower efficiency come from the malt or the shorter mash? Or interference by Saint Arnoldus the Strong- patron saint of brewing?

Oh, I've done this recipe, like twenty times in the last fifteen years, so I'm not hallucinating about the usual results!

Thanks for your thoughts. -p

 

[mrk305]

From what I have read, different malts leave different sugars. Basic malts like a two row will yeild much more fementable sugars while other malts will only yield flavors and colors. No big deal for an e.g. brewer like myself, but I would imagine it would make a huge difference with all grain. This link might be helpfull. http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-1.html

 

[Orfy]

If you are experimenting it's always best to change one thing at a time.
Otherwise there is no way to tell what affected the results.

 

[Got Trub?]

Did you test for conversion with the iodine test? That would tell you if it was a conversion problem.