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Missed mash out


Swill Bill

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Well I managed to brew my second BIAB yesterday and it wasn't until this afternoon I realised I forgot the mash out. I hit my SG perfectly and the wort tastes on par and was wondering if the mash out is required or not and as to why it is done.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

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It'll be fine mate. The mash out is mainly used to stop enzyme activity, but since this will happen when the wort is brought up to the boil anyway, it appears a bit redundant on the surface. There may be other reasons for it as well, though. Will have to look that up.

 

There is a school of thought that it makes it easier to drain the wort out of the bag, and judging by the difference in ease of stirring the grains between normal mash temp and mash out temp, maybe there is something to that.

 

I do it because it's just routine in my brewing process now, like a lot of things I suppose. If it was doing any harm to the wort/beer then I would remove it, but it doesn't so it might as well stay there.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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I start mashes on the lower end 55-64 and sometimes 68-69 for some ales... then step mash up from there, I mash out 76-78 max only for sparge sake to make the sugars easyer to sparge out, the cooler the thicker the sugar the harder the sparge...

constent 68-72 mash out sparge is fine but Ive been going for mashing out around 76 degrees to be safe as I sparge 50 litres of sparge water...

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Starting mashes in the mid 50s with today's malts can be detrimental to getting good head/retention' date=' if you care about things like that anyway... [img']wink[/img]

 

Basic theory being it breaks down the proteins that help with it.

 

I usually mash in around 65 and 66 but have never gone mid 50's as I think, yes it could be detrimental to beer foam. Somebody did suggest to me it would reduce chill haze and to compensate to use carapils but I think I'll just keep going as per usual for now.

 

 

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No it doesn't make it heavier, and doesn't seem to increase the efficiency either. Just aids a bit with head retention.

 

With my 63/72/78 schedule for lagers, I rest for 40mins at 63, then 30mins at 72, and they always hit an FG of around 1.008, so definitely not heavy. Granted, the lager yeast does ferment out more than ale yeast but even so the ales aren't chewy or heavy or anything. Nice and refreshing usually!

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No it doesn't make it heavier' date=' and doesn't seem to increase the efficiency either. Just aids a bit with head retention.

 

With my 63/72/78 schedule for lagers, I rest for 40mins at 63, then 30mins at 72, and they always hit an FG of around 1.008, so definitely not heavy. Granted, the lager yeast does ferment out more than ale yeast but even so the ales aren't chewy or heavy or anything. Nice and refreshing usually![/quote']

 

Kelsey - why don't you use this same mash profile for ales?

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Mainly because I guess with the ingredients I use in my ales it's not really necessary for what I'm trying to achieve, so a 90 minute mash at 66/67 does the trick. That, and it's nice to just set the timer and have 90 minutes to do other stuff rather than have to keep coming back to raise the temp or stir it and keep checking the temp etc.

 

There are no crystal malts or anything else to aid in head retention in my lagers, so that rest at 72 takes care of it and in that case I do find the extra faffing about worth it.

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Swill Bill - sorry we have hyjacked your thread somewhat with our general chit chat but its been good the get other brewers ideas about mashing anyway.

 

Cheers

Morrie

 

I always enjoy the education that comes with the chit chat on the forum.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

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Hi Guys,

Can someone explain the difference between mash out and sparge.

I'm soon to attempt my first partial mash - I've seen recipies that say to mash for 60 minutes then remove grains - others to mash then sparge at a little higher temperature then remove.

I'm not sure what the mash out is - can I simply mash at 67C for an hour and remove.

Thanks.

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Hi Guys' date='

Can someone explain the difference between mash out and sparge.

I'm soon to attempt my first partial mash - I've seen recipies that say to mash for 60 minutes then remove grains - others to mash then sparge at a little higher temperature then remove.

I'm not sure what the mash out is - can I simply mash at 67C for an hour and remove.

Thanks.[/quote']

 

Petermur - mash out refers to a temperature step just below 80. Usually in the range of 76 to 78. This is done to loosen up the grain and halt all enzyme activity prior to sparging. Sparging is not totally necessary and the type of equipment you use will dictate whether you employ this or not. Sparging is rinsing the residual sugar out of the grains with freshly introduced water at a temperature of just below 80. If you use a malt pipe then sparging is a easy process. If you do BIAB then most brewers just drain their grains, some squeze the bag a bit to get the last bit out. Some BIABers even manage to rinse the bag while suspended over the kettle for a sparge.

Yes you can simply mash out at 67 and remove the grain if you wish with no detrimental effects whatsoever.

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  • 7 months later...
...mash out refers to a temperature step just below 80. Usually in the range of 76 to 78. This is done to loosen up the grain and halt all enzyme activity prior to sparging...

I've yet to employ the mash out process as I move fairly quickly into the boil after sparging at a slightly elevated temperature than the mash temp.

 

Given I use an oven for my grain mash' date=' I was wondering if in the last 15mins or so of the cycle I could increase the oven temp to 80°C prior to sparging & eventual boil? Or is there something negative that can happen at these temps by leaving the grains in the wort? [img']unsure[/img]

 

Adopting this method would cut down my time to reach a rolling boil on my stove top.

 

Just curious.

 

Lusty.

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Given I use an oven for my grain mash' date=' I was wondering if in the last 15mins or so of the cycle I could increase the oven temp to 80°C prior to sparging & eventual boil?[/size']

I have a hunch that it would actually take quite a long time for the mash itself rise up to 80º. I mash in an oven too and have noticed changes in oven temperature actually have little to no noticeable effect on mash temperature in the short term. pouty

 

I did my first step mash a few weeks ago, and after some time noticed little change in mash temp after adjusting the oven, so I ended up taking the pot out of the stove and putting it on the gas for a while to get it up to 75º - ish in a more acceptable time.

 

After thought: It just occurred to me that your mash volume might be smaller than mine... so maybe not such an issue? unsure

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I'm hearin' ya BlackSands. smile

 

Yeah my mash & boils are of lower volume so as long as there are no negatives while the grain is still amongst the wort, from raising the temps of the mash after 60mins for 15mins towards 80°C, I can't see why I couldn't do it to save a few mins on reaching a rolling boil once I begin that phase.

 

I agree in that timeframe it may not reach 80°C, but it will certainly be a little higher than the mash temp that can only kill two birds with one stone (IMHO) than leaving it to finish the mash at 65-70°C prior to sparging & going into the boil phase.

 

This is one area of AG brewing I feel has been over-thought.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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