Protein rest?

[benzy4010]

Ow do you do a protein rest? Here's my recipe

http://www.brew-dudes.com/belgian-white-ale-recipe/248

 

[zzARzz]

If you mean a stepped mash, then you would hold your grains at 122F for about 30 minutes for the protein rest, then increase the temp to 152-158F to mash in for 25-30 minutes, increase again to 168F to mash out for 10-15 minutes and finally sparge with 168F water until your wort runs clear (over about 45-60 minutes, so drain the wort slowly). You usually use a step mash when you're using a large percentage of un- or under modified grains/adjuncts.

Your recipe looks like a single infusion with no mash out, though. It may be assuming you'll know to do a mash out and sparge at 168F, however. Whatever it is, it looks tasty!

 

[weirdboy]

No, you don't need a protein rest there. You are using wheat malt, not raw unmalted wheat, which is mainly what you'd need one for.
That being said, I would recommend using a bit of rice hulls in your mash just to be on the safe side and avoid stuck sparges.


EDIT:

The same could be said of the pilsner malt, I suppose. Traditionally this would use a protein rest, but the malt nowadays is much higher modification and thus does not need a protein rest. In fact, for a highly-modified malt a protein rest can be harmful in terms of body and head retention.

 

[benzy4010]

Is a infusion mash just adding 152 degree water for on hour and then vorloff and a stepped adding different temps of water at diff times? I just got an oatmeal stout recipe also what type would u use for that. I can post the recipe for that if it helps

 

[ktraver97ss]

Well it depends on your system and quantity of grain. If you add 152* water you are going to have a low mash temp. A lot of factors play into what your strike water temp should be in order to hit your mash temp, like grain temp, your mash tun, etc. It took us a few brews to get it right, and even still we fall a bit short sometimes if the garage is colder and have to do an unplanned protein rest...

I have a question too though, what would be considered a highly modified malt?

 

[zzARzz]

Yeah, a stepped mash is just increasing the temperature of the mash over time to give different enzymes an opportunity to do their work at temperatures they prefer. At 122F, Proteolysis (the breakdown of larger proteins into smaller ones) occurs which is usually necessary to get use out of unmalted/unroasted grains and adjuncts, which is what the term "protein rest" is referring to.

There is plenty of info on HBT about protein rests and the book "The Brewmaster's Bible" by Stephen Snyder explains it pretty well without getting too technical. I usually do one when I've got something funky in the mash like pumpkin or, in your case, oatmeal, just to get the most out of it. As many have pointed out, it was originally done when brewers couldn't get the highly modified grains that we can today, so it's usually a wasted step on standard modern brews. No harm in trying it out for yourself, though, after doing some research.

 

[benzy4010]

Thank you, yall are very helpful. HBT is such a great tool for new and experienced brewers

 

[weirdboy]

I have a question too though, what would be considered a highly modified malt?

This has to do with the malting process. The short answer is, most malts you can get today are going to be fully modified.


The long answer is, when making malt, the seeds are germinated first by soaking in water for a couple of days, then just being allowed to do their thing for a week or two. At this time, the little acrospire (the beginnings of a barley plant, essentially) pulls nutrients that are stored in the seed and converts them into stuff we want to brew with. Once the length of the acrospire is about the same as the length of the seed, it is considered fully modified and germination is halted, and the seed is then kilned, roasted, or otherwise treated according to whatever type of malt is being produced.

An acrospire that is shorter than the length of the seed is considered "under modified", and longer than that is considered "over modified". The implication here is that the composition of enzymes and starches in the seed differs due to the different length of germination, which means you may have to use different techniques to extract the maltose and other sugars.

Here is a little diagram shamelessly stolen from John Palmer's online version of How to Brew that shows what I am taking about.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

I know that most homebrewers don´t do it and with modern well modified malts a protein rest is not neccesary but even with well or overmodified malts I do protein rest. The protein rest @122 as stated above is within the ranges of a protein rest but the temp of a protein rest can vary from 110-111F to 130-131F, depending on your grist and what do you want to achieve it cab be done in the lower or upper side of those temps/times. Working in the low side of those temps will give you a more fermentable wort very fermentable actually, it will break down proteins (proteolysis) in small chains, this will give you more aminoacids for instance (they are key in the early stages of yeast growth) but that veriy same very fermentable wort can lead you to a thin watery beer if you are using well modified malts. A protein rest for a short time (let´s say 5 to 10 minutes) in the upper side of those temps will break down large protein chains into polypeptides mostly, the hidrofobic properties of some polypeptides can help you a lot with head retation, and of course clarity it´s improved if you do a protein rest.
Even when brewing with well modified malts I always protein rest a very short one actually I just dough in around 122 and soon as dough in i let the temp rise to the disered target (ussualy one degree celcius a minute) this helped me a lot with clarity and all the beers that I brewed so far using this method had great head retation and lacing and their are a lot clearer than the rest.
This being said a rest at an incorrect temp for an incorrect amount of time WILL lead you to thin watery beers but also a correct aproach to this technique can help you going that extra little step to turn your beer from good to great and from great to excellent.

 

[benzy4010]

So heat mash water and stir till I get to protein rest temp for certain amount the. Add hotter water and finish mash ( not a full 60 minutes now). Then drain and then sparge with 170?

 

[zzARzz]

So heat mash water and stir till I get to protein rest temp for certain amount the. Add hotter water and finish mash ( not a full 60 minutes now). Then drain and then sparge with 170?

Yes. When I did a protein rest on my brown ale, for instance, I had 7.5lbs of grain that I needed to add 4.75 qts (19 cups) of water @ 140F to reach a step temperature of 122F in the grain. Put the hot water in your mash tun, then add the grains and stir them pretty well to distribute the heat and get rid of any dough balls (It will just look damp). Give it a couple minutes to heat up and check the temp of your grain. Let it sit however long you want from there (5-30 minutes) before mashing in. I usually hit 122F every time the first time, but it depends on your gear, of course.

I use BeerSmith to do the time/temp calculations, but generally 2.5 cups of 140F water per pound of grain seems to be the right amount/temp.