I am planning on making a German Hefe, on that I have made numerous times before, but I have always done single infusions at 154. This time I want to try getting that extra malt pop and wanted to get my hands wet on a decoction. I was wondering if anyone familiar with the process can critique the process?
Background:
4.85 lbs Western Wheat Malt
4.85 lbs Durst German Pils
0.7 Hallertauer-Hersbrucker
Mash Schedule:
-Protein Rest at 122 deg for 35 minutes (strike with 3 gal @ 129)
-Saccharification 154 deg for 40 minutes (decoct 5.4 quarts of mash and boil it) return decoct to mash tun.
-Vorlauf and drain 1st runnings
-Mash out: Add 4.70 gallons at 200 degrees for 10 minutes
-Vorlauf and drain 2nd runnings
That looks okay, but I don’t think you need to hold the mash for the protein rest for that long. 20 minutes should be fine. And personally, I’d do a rest in the 145* range, too. Most decoction mash schedules call for 3 rests; one for a protein rest, one for beta amylase conversion, and one for alpha amylase conversion. Skipping over the beta amylase conversion rest is not necessarily well-advised, unless you just want a really malty beer. The length of time you conduct the decoction boils is important, too. You didn’t specify any times on those, but I’m assuming you’re boiling for 10 or 15 minutes(?).
Don’t hold the decoction at that low temp for that long unless you want a clear, headless, bodiless hef. IF you do a p rest, do it at 131 for maybe 10 min. I’d just skip it completely, though.
With the modern malts mostly converting so fast now some in 15 to 20 mins you can end up with a thin malt profile you do not want. I see little reason to do a step mash either.
Thanks all for the responses. There seems to be a lot more that I need to read up on regarding decotion mashing.
I know it is debatable whether or not there will a huge difference in the finished product if I do a single infusion, but I figured I would go the more complex route with this one.
Would it be plausible to do this instead: dough in to get the temp to 152-154 degrees F, then at the last 10 minutes of the 60 minute mash schedule pull about 5 quarts of my mash out, boil it for 10 minutes and then return it to the mash tun for another 10 minutes. Lastly sparge…
So in summary:
dough in get temp to 152-54, hold for 50 mins
pull 5q of thick mash, and bring to a boil for 10 minutes
add decotion back to the mash tun, stir and hold for 10 minutes
vorloff and drain 1st runnings
sparge at 170 degrees
boil for 90 minutes
Is this reasonable, or should I add 1/4 lbs or melanoidin malt and mash at 154 with a single infusion?
I really want that malty mouth feel that you can get from a good German Hefe. Am I over thinking this?
[quote=“andymag”]Would it be plausible to do this instead: dough in to get the temp to 152-154 degrees F, then at the last 10 minutes of the 60 minute mash schedule pull about 5 quarts of my mash out, boil it for 10 minutes and then return it to the mash tun for another 10 minutes. Lastly sparge…
So in summary:
dough in get temp to 152-54, hold for 50 mins
pull 5q of thick mash, and bring to a boil for 10 minutes
add decotion back to the mash tun, stir and hold for 10 minutes
vorloff and drain 1st runnings
sparge at 170 degrees
boil for 90 minutes
Is this reasonable, or should I add 1/4 lbs or melanoidin malt and mash at 154 with a single infusion?
I really want that malty mouth feel that you can get from a good German Hefe. Am I over thinking this?[/quote]
You could do that, but IME a 10 min. boil won’t do anything you’ll really notice.
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“andymag”]Would it be plausible to do this instead: dough in to get the temp to 152-154 degrees F, then at the last 10 minutes of the 60 minute mash schedule pull about 5 quarts of my mash out, boil it for 10 minutes and then return it to the mash tun for another 10 minutes. Lastly sparge…
So in summary:
dough in get temp to 152-54, hold for 50 mins
pull 5q of thick mash, and bring to a boil for 10 minutes
add decotion back to the mash tun, stir and hold for 10 minutes
vorloff and drain 1st runnings
sparge at 170 degrees
boil for 90 minutes
Is this reasonable, or should I add 1/4 lbs or melanoidin malt and mash at 154 with a single infusion?
I really want that malty mouth feel that you can get from a good German Hefe. Am I over thinking this?[/quote]
You could do that, but IME a 10 min. boil won’t do anything you’ll really notice.[/quote]
[quote=“andymag”]
Would it be better to do a 15 min boil?
Thanks…[/quote]
In my experience, it won’t make any difference. I think 30 min. is about the minimum that people report as making a difference. My testing tells me that decoction doesn’t really make a difference, but if you’re going to do it, do it right.
