Overnight Mash. Flaked corn OK?

[cadarnell]

I was going to sneek in a brew this week by using the overnight mesh method. I will be using 20% faked corn in my recipe. Does that matter when using that method? Does the recipe matter all, or can any recipe be mashed overnight? I'm looking at mashing in my kettle and I have a very low setting on my oven that I use to maintain temp, so I should be able to hold my temp overnight. Cheers!

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

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[cadarnell]

Not a good idea because of the corn or just not a good idea in general? I know many brewers mash overnight without issues. I was just wondering if it mattered that the recipe had flaked corn in it.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

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[cadarnell]

BTW why the “if you’re making beer to drink” snottiness?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

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[cadarnell]

How could it not be? You make beer for something other than drinking ? And if you are trying to be funny an LOL would have been in order. You actually wanted to talk about your thoughts on overnight mashing in general and not as it relates to flaked corn. So you weren’t trying to help. You didn’t even address the flaked corn until I ask again. Just stay off my posts please !

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, "beer" can be a precursor to distillation.

As for the viability of an overnight mash changing due to adjuncts, it doesn't seem likely to me.
If it works for an all-barley mash surely it'll work with some adjuncts added...

Cheers!

 

[cadarnell]

Any thoughts on flaked corn and mashing overnight?

 

[day_trippr]

That would fall under the general "if it works for barley it should work for adjuncts as well" notion I offered.
I can't see flaked corn, or a cereal corn grit mash, or flaked wheat/barley/rice/oats being a problem on their own wrt to an "overnight mash".
If there is a problem, it'll be the activation of lactobacillus in the barley malt, which may drop the pH into "sour" territory.

Hence, the astute reader will note the "if it works for barley" caveat. I have zero experience with protracted mashes...

Cheers!

 

[cadarnell]

That’s all you wrote when I responded ... I read it all. If the rest of it had been there I wouldn’t have ask you anymore questions. Did you edit it?

 

[DaWiseBrew]

Never heard of overnight mashes before, but that doesn't mean much. I'm googling it, and it seems that it's not too uncommon. I'm curious how it works for you, and curious why you would ask about flaked corn in particular

 

[cadarnell]

Never done it before. Just thought someone might have some thoughts on doing it with a good amount of flaked corn. Of all the things I’ve read about it, no one has really elaborated on any potential pitfalls with certain recipes. Just thought I’d ask around here. Haven’t even been on this site in years. It’s always seemed a bit stuffy here to me.

 

[day_trippr]

I've been a regular around here for awhile and while there certainly have been quite a few "overnight mashes" as well as "no-chill" brewing topics over the years with all the expected repartee I honestly don't recall anyone focusing on any adjunct in particular, never mind specifically corn...

Cheers!

 

[DaWiseBrew]

Well the xbeeriment thing I read said the overnight beer had very little head retention, higher starting and lower finishing gravity. That means the proteins must have broken down quite a bit and conversion was more complete than a regular mash. I'd think something like flaked wheat would be what you would want to balance that. I'd think the corn would thin out the beer even more, but maybe that is what you want?

 

[cadarnell]

It’s a cream ale so not really going for a big mouthfeel. I’m going to give it a shot. In the exbeeriment he let his go twice as long as I am going to and I’m not going to let my temp drop 80 plus degrees! Im sure i can hold my mash temp all night actually. I think my beer probably will have a lower FG tho, so we’ll see how that hits the pallet I guess. I’ll try and report back in a month ... thanks

 

[DaWiseBrew]

Cool, keep us posted!

 

[Novacor]

I've done many overnight mashes with no problems. I just make sure to sanitize everything that comes in contact with the mash and haven't had any issues with souring.

 

[day_trippr]

One can expect sans the functional equivalent of a mash-out there will be active enzymes remaining, which would totally explain both the high OG and low FG.
But that can be A Good Thing

Cheers!

 

[LarMoeCur]

I'm intrigued by this post but I got to ask why? With highly modified malts conversion happens in 20 minutes. You are using flaked corn which was gelatinize and then dried. It will covert pretty darn rapidly so an hour would be all that is needed. If you were trying to get every bit of efficiency then two hours would be more then enough. Going for 8-12 hours sounds like your asking for mash souring.

I know in the old days they did stuff like this but that was because the malts lacked the enzymatic power and a lot of adjuncts were used like raw crushed corn. Which had to be gelatinized then broken down into sugars. Which takes time and heat.

I'd bet you will see no flavor difference between a 2 hour mash and 12 hour mash. I longer mashed beer will have less mouth feel.

 

[DaWiseBrew]

I never tried it, but I think the general idea is to have two half brew days, rather than one full. Time management, I suppose it's hard for a lot of people to find a 10 hour block of time, and the mash is the only point that is really not overly time sensitive. Ideally, my own solution would be automation, though. I frequently split items into 3 days myself. Milling grains and setting up Friday evening. Mash, boil, chill and transfer on Saturday. Cleanup on Sunday. This is the first I'm hearing of overnight mashing. Anyone know of any other benefits?

 

[madscientist451]

I'm intrigued by this post but I got to ask why? With highly modified malts conversion happens in 20 minutes.

Yeah, maybe, but perhaps not all conversion. I do overnight BIAB mashes because in the morning I'm more likely to get the brew finished, since its already started. By the time my morning coffee has kicked in, the pot has been boiling for a while.
To the OP: You really don't need to use your oven, I just get my mash started, insulate the pot and forget about it.
You do lose some temperature and you do get higher efficiency, it will tend to make a dryer beer, which may not suit everyone.
No its not a perfect method, its got some downside, but if someone just wants to get the brew session going the night before and get done a little quicker its worth trying.

 

[cadarnell]

well I did it. I had tested my oven to make sure the temp didnt go up on about a half gallon of water in a pan. The oven has a 150 setting so I used that. The water actually leveled off at 142 after a few hours. However, my mash last night started at 153 and rose to 159 by this morning. It was in there for 7 hours total. My eff was great at 83%, but I'm not sure what that temp rise is going to do to my final gravity. My guess is it will finish higher than I wanted for a cream ale. I'll post back.

 

[uSlackr]

I'm intrigued by this post but I got to ask why? With highly modified malts conversion happens in 20 minutes. You are using flaked corn which was gelatinize and then dried.

He's trying to split up his brew day, not get better conversion.

 

[LarMoeCur]

He's trying to split up his brew day, not get better conversion.

Now the splitting of the brew day I understand. I just couldn't leave my mash sitting for that amount of time. My OCD about Critters getting in would drive me nuts.

 

[cadarnell]

it finished at 1.018 and it was supposed to be around 1.010 .. tasted good going into the bottle .. I'm going to do it again and leave it out in some covers overnight instead of in my oven. All in all it was nice splitting that day. Cheers !