Decoction mash. Or not

Me reading. About decotion mash. Now me intrested. Start doing this. Now some agree and some dont. Question is it wort doing this

Really kind of depends on what you hope to gain from it. I’ve done decoction mashes for some of my lagers mostly just to experiment and usually a hockhurz mash. Only difference I’ve really noticed is a bit darker wort and in some cases a little more mouth feel and better attenuation. Makes for a much longer brew day that I can’t really say was worth it for me.

So my Helles and pilsner for example I did a straight pilsen malt grain bill with the decoction. Without the decoction I add a little carafa special for color and some carapils for mouth feel and i get about the same beer with an hour or so less time during the brew session.

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I think every all grain brewer should at least try it at least once. After that, you’ll probably just decide to spring for a touch of melanoidin malt, because it seems to contribute towards a similar outcome.

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Seems like a lot of work considering the quality of grain now but if you want to try it for fun or to exbeeriment,why not?

@voltron I have heard melanoidin called decoction in a bag. Think I used it once but can’t find it in my notes that are less than organized.

I’ve never actually used it. I just know a few brewers (home brew and commercial) that use it because they don’t want to decoct, but want that “flavor”

Thanks for the info. Me did look at couple of youtube video. Some german dude. Me gonna try it maybe one time. But what i read now. Its more a waste of mash time. Or its for people. Live in the i only brew german beer the old school way.

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I used some melanoidin in my Hefeweizen I brewed a few years back. I wasn’t confident enough that I could do a decoction properly, and the beer turned out great (despite a few other mistakes on brewday :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:) I don’t have my notes with me atm, but I believe the recc I got here was 5% or less of the grainbill should be good.

:beers:
Rad

Mayby should try this got bag of melanoidin malt

There are a couple of nut jobs up here that claim they can tell. I don’t have the ability to test them… I believe we all have different tastes… Yet very different. Sneezles61

This is where you lost me! :sweat:

Actually I honestly would like to try it someday but, so far, every time I’m planning my next brew and think about doing a decoction, I can’t get around the consensus that it’s extra work for a near undetectable difference in the end product.

What about with the heirloom weyermann floor roasted malt?

It’s worth it for the experience of being able to say you’ve tried it, and… found that it doesn’t really do anything special except maybe increase your efficiency by 5-10%. That’s all it really does for me.

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Floor malted malt is almost every bit as much well modified as any other malt. It certainly does NOT need to be decocted if that is what you are suggesting. There are exactly zero malts available commercially that actually are undermodified enough to where they would actually benefit from decoction.

I agree. Not even chit malt needs decocted. Although I’m big on doing things so YOU can see what it does rather than taking the word of a hack like me online, too many people have discussed how big of a waste of time a decoction is for me to try it.

Yeh I was simply asking. This is a local, to me, malt that is specific to decoction and step mashing.

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Wow! Might be kind of cool to experiment with. Thanks.

Yeh I’ve been thinking about it too. Kind of spendy but would probably make a wicked saison

So by now i might understand. All grain brewers should try it at least once. For the experience. Because modern grains. No need for decoction mash.

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In my simple mind… That was how brewing evolved… One process lead to another… If it didn’t work back in yesteryear, it was discarded… So ultimately, for our pleasure, it worked… But the brewing methods, culturing of all the various stuff we use, kept getting tweaked… I can do step mashes easily, and have… I cannot tell you if there was any difference… Although a side by side would be a fun X-beerment… Just to see…
Time ponder a grainbill… I should have time over Thanksgiving…
Sneezles61

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I was just watching how to. It would seem to me that you would get more flavors from the malt. I also was noticing that people were using wooden paddle to stir for the decoction. I would think stouts, browns and pils-lagers that would benefit from this method.