slow rising temperature of mash

[STR87]

Hello

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to slowly rise a temperature of mash from 64C to 68C, which would take 1,5 hour instead of doing one-step mashing at 66C?

As far as i know it is bad when mash temperature is getting cooler, but how about gradually rising it?

 

[McKnuckle]

The only reason this is not commonly done is probably due to difficulty in controlling such a slow temperature rise.

Otherwise, there is no issue with performing a very gradual, rising mash over 90 minutes from 147-154F as you have suggested. However, you may do just as well with a 60 minute rest at 147 followed by a "normal" rise to 154, with 30 more minutes resting there.

This two rest approach is sometimes practiced in German brewing, usually with rests at the extremes - 145F and 160F for example - and is called a Hochkurz mash.

 

[kevin58]

I inadvertently did the exact same thing recently. It was the first brew on a new system and I undershot my mash temp. It was 146 instead of 152. The new system is an electric HERMS so I just continued on as normal letting the temp rise as the wort recirculated. I didn't note the time it took to get up to 152 but I only mashed my usual 60 minutes and got a very good mash efficiency that day.

 

[BigEd]

Yes to what McKnucle said. It won't hurt anything but I doubt you will notice any difference. Over a longer temperature range and time period there are some benefits. Maybe 25 years ago during a visit to a Budweiser brewery I learned that they did (at least at that time) a ramped infusion mash starting about 51C (124F) and slowly rising to about 67C (153F). For a huge commercial brewery this probably lets them convert every last starch molecule in the malt so it's as much an accountant's technique as it is a brewer's. They also have sophisticated control systems so it much easier than for a homebrewer.

 

[day_trippr]

There are lots of enzyme rests that most of us ignore while concentrating on just two...

Cheers!

 

[STR87]

Thanks for answers!
I don't really try to get my mashing better, but i'm trying to solve a problem. I mash in 200L kettle (54 gal) and it would take big effort to get this kettle warm enough to have sustainable temperature on mash steps. I read that allowing mash to cool down is a bad thing.
So my idea is to warm mash at minimum heat to either keep temperature the same, or rise it slowly depending on a situation.
I wanted to make sure that there is no problem to heat mash gradually over time. Now i will be able to make heat experiments on the next brew. Thanks again

 

[Dland]

Why is letting mash cool down a bad thing? If it remains within enzyme activity range.

I would think a slow decline might encourage betas to break down some of the less fermentable sugars, which might not be so bad, depending on what you were trying to make.

Anyway, this happens to some degree when I brew outside in winter w/o the herms coil.

 

[hottpeper13]

Dland, you are correct. I sometimes do a reverse mash,where I mash in at 154* and let it drop over the course of 2 hrs to 141-143. In my research the Beta enzyme is denatured ABOVE 154* and Alpha is 4 * from it's hyper activity. (On another note you should try a reverse pizza(cheese on the crust first),it's amazing!) This gives me very dry beers,as low as 1.008 with 34/70.

 

[STR87]

i fear that reverse mashing is bad because is can denature beta enzymes. Or it's not possible at this case?

 

[Dland]

Probably could be a problem is one mashed in too high, but I usually shoot for 150-152ish(F), so the betas are likely OK though that. I could be wrong, but usually my attenuation is pretty good, 1.008-1.010 range.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for answers!
I don't really try to get my mashing better, but i'm trying to solve a problem. I mash in 200L kettle (54 gal) and it would take big effort to get this kettle warm enough to have sustainable temperature on mash steps. I read that allowing mash to cool down is a bad thing.
So my idea is to warm mash at minimum heat to either keep temperature the same, or rise it slowly depending on a situation.
I wanted to make sure that there is no problem to heat mash gradually over time. Now i will be able to make heat experiments on the next brew. Thanks again

I would expect the biggest difficulty would be keeping the mash temperature even. The mash is not liquid enough to allow normal heat distribution so stratification is common and that can denature the enzymes near the bottom of the vessel. Strong stirring or using recirculation are the methods to avoid this and heating while recirculating may still be denaturing the enzymes.

Some people seem to think that step mashing is a requirement for good beer but many of us use single infusion and insulate the mash vessel to keep the temperatures within the proper range. The time needed for conversion is dependent on the fineness of the crush so if your mash temperature is falling too far during the mash period, consider methods mashing that can utilize finer crush.