Decoction mashing.

[Beerbuddha]

Pros and cons ?
I have heard some mainly time it takes but surely the more effort you put in the more you get out !

Brewing TV - Episode 34: Decoction Day could watch this all day 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIQPQmELWPo

[Beerbuddha]

Probably in wrong section of forum so if anyone can move it cheers

[Tom]

The only reason I haven't tried it yet is that I can't ferment my lagers properly, so it seems like a lot of effort to go to just to mess it up at the end. Fermenty-fridge on it's way soon though, and I'll be decocting then.

[Beerbuddha]

I got my fridge set up a month ago so like yourself im gonna do decoction for first time.

As  my setup is electric i had to get burner and gas to do decoctions so its all new and ready to use  I also think best to have assistant with me for first decoction as its not straight forward and if mash is not stirred constantly it will burn.

I wounder will there be any issues around lautering as mash will be like porridge. Does anyone add husks after decoction is finished ?

[Tom]

Ah, good question. Seeing as you're a couple of months ahead of me I'll be learning from your mistakes!  Standing on the shoulders of giants, and all that.

I'd struggle to get a brewing partner up here. I upset SWMBO with the bottling 4 years ago, and she hasn't helped since.

[Beerbuddha]

Always the issue plenty people to help drink the beer but not so willing help make it !

It's all about learning and if my mistakes help well I'm sure your gonna learn LOADS lol. Um thinking of making a dunkelweiss first. No recipe yet. Not too many to choose from that have won any medals or such. I'm guessing your gonna do pils first ?

[Tom]

Hah, yeah. How boring am I? Might do a wheat beer first though, as they're best drunk fresh and we've already had two sunny days on the trot. Wanna get drinkin'! I don't know much about the aul lagers, to be honest, but from the BJCP course the dunkels were quite tasty.

I've ordered two brewers' series books, wheat beers and continental pilsners, so should be able to pick up some hints from there. I have a tough enough time with mash runoff as it is, so hopefully either it, or a forum member will be able to tell us about rice or oat hulls.

[Beerbuddha]

Not a lager person myself so had broken fridge that I used a fermentation chamber fir ales/stouts. Stc turned in heat supply as needed but have a working fridge now so heats and cools as needed for lager temps. Allot people who visit would prefare pils lagers so thats why I'm brewing them now.

I used to have lautering issues until u added 100g of out husks to every brew. Better safe than sorry and its cheap. Enough issues on a brewing day to deal with but that's one I don't worry about now.

[Beerbuddha]

Oat Husks
To improve the filter bed of the mash to decrease the likelihood of a stuck mash. Non fermentable, but they can be useful in the mash.


The hulls provide bulk and help prevent the mash from settling and becoming stuck during the sparge. This can be very helpful when making wheat or rye beers with a low percentage of barley malt and barley husks.


Rinse well before use. 2;50 500g bags i think

https://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/oat-husks.html

[Beerbuddha]

Looks like me and you tom will be the go-to people when it comes to decoction mashing 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I find the guy in the video's smugness too difficult to watch 
I've had to deal with enough A/Hs like that in real life to watch them in my own time   
This other guy has a 3 part video on decoration mashing and he's not pretending to be German.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_V1zt0mW084

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I5u_nJhMD4w

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6VcZRVw2k_o

[Beerbuddha]

Nice one brother difficult to get good information much appreciated.

[mr hoppy]

I think that's braukaiser.

His website is an excellent resource on decoction mashing amongst other things (including water).

From what I've read most of what decoction mashing can do can be achieved with a step mash with a protein rest around 55 degrees. Cases where you might consider it are: using undermodified malt (now quite unusual e.g. Bohemian floor malted pilsner malt); perhaps for a dunkel or bock made using munich as the base malt; and some people swear you can't make a weiss without decocting, although even then step mashing or infusion mashing seems very common.

I did a triple decoction mash on a Czech pils before. It was a nice beer but I'm not sure what the contribution of the mash technique to it was. It felt like I was stirring porridge for about 5 hours but it was certainly an experience! I'll probably do it again soon as I've the ingredients for a Czech pils (special malt included) bought.

[Beerbuddha]

I like the Weiss beers that's why im gonna give it a go but 5 hrs stirring it better be worth it.
Did you have any issues when sparging ?

[Tom]

Some sort of plasterer's drill attachment (and drill) perhaps... would make the stirring part less crap.

Did you do a side-by-side by any chance? Would be interesting to know if decocting does add something to a beer, especially if all other variables are accounted for (water, pitch and ferm temp and everything else).