Skip to main content

Hochkurz Mashing

There is an old mash technique referred to as "hochkurz" mashing, which stems from the German words for "high" and "short". This mash style starts at a higher temperatures than most and stays at each temperature for less time, thus "high temperature" and "short duration" at each temperature stage.

The idea in a Hochkurz mash is to mash in two steps. The first step maximizes the beta amylase enzyme activity, and takes place at 145F. It lasts for 30 minutes (up to 45).  The second step maximizes alpha amylase enzyme activity, and occurs at 158-162F. It also lasts for 30 minutes (up to 45 if needed to complete conversion). These steps are followed by a traditional mash-out at 170F for 10-15 minutes. This allows the mash to complete in 70-100 minutes.

Theoretically, this 70-minute mash will result in a more complete conversion than a single-step mash that runs over a longer period of time, since the Hochkurz mash gives each of the two main amylase enzymes a chance to work at their optimal temperature.

With a brewing system like The Grainfather, performing a Hochkurz mash is pretty simple. Fill the kettle with water, set the 145F starting temp, add the grain, and wait 30 minutes. Then change the temp to 160F, and wait 30 minutes more. Finally, set to 170F and sparge after 10 minutes.

If you're using hot water infusions to raise the temperature of the mash, you'll want to start with a thicker mash for the first step so that the additional hot water doesn't dilute the wort too much.

According to some of the sources I've read, this is an excellent general purpose mash schedule. While there are some beer styles (lagers in particular) that will benefit from a different schedule, most will do well with Hochkurz and will show a higher brewhouse efficiency too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Grainfather Specifications for BeerSmith, Beer Tools Pro, and Other Software

Recently, I've been trying to "dial in" settings in BeerSmith and Beer Tools Pro so that I can do a better job getting my actual brewing results to match up to the figures in the software. Below are some of the figures I've worked out with my US Grainfather. Given manufacturing variances and possible measuring errors on my part, these might not match exactly to yours, but hopefully they're close enough that it will help you. BeerSmith Equipment Profile: Brewhouse Efficiency: 83% (based on my experience, yours may vary) Mash Tun Volume: 8 gallons Mash Tun Weight: 8.82 pounds Mash Tun Specific Heat: 0.12 Cal/gram-deg C Mash Tun Addition: 0 gallons Lauter Tun Losses: 0 gallons Top Up Water for Kettle: 0 gallons Boil Volume: 6.25 gallons Boil Time: 60 minutes Boil Off: 0.40 gallons per hour Cooling Shrinkage: 6% Loss to Trub and Chiller: 0.53 gallons Batch Volume: 5 gallons Fermenter Loss: 0.40 gallons (yours may vary) Whirlpool time: 0 minutes B

Yellow Label Angel Yeast vs. Typical Brewing Yeast

I currently have my second batch of rice wine fermenting with the "magical" yellow-label Angel Yeast from China, and wanted to share some of the more unusual aspects of using it.  If you've never seen or used this yeast, I suspect you're not alone.  It ships in a 500 gram package that looks like this: What makes it "yellow label" is that yellow box you see in the upper left corner of the package.  This implies that it's yeast for distilling (though you do not need to have a still or distill the output to use it).  As I understand it, inside the package is a mix of yeast and other materials which will convert starch into sugar and directly ferment it, without the need for a traditional mash step.  This can radically shorten your brewing time.  For my most-recent batch of rice wine, I heated 3 gallons of water to 155F, poured it over 13+ pounds of uncooked rice straight out of the bag, let that soak for an hour, rehydrated some of this yeast in warm water,

Things I've Learned Brewing with The Grainfather, Part 2

In the last post, I shared an overview of The Grainfather, recommended equipment to use with it, and an overview of the brewing process.  In this installment, I'm going to talk specifically about mashing and sparging. Having brewed over a dozen batches with it, I'm finally becoming very comfortable with the device, the mash process, and how to get what I want out of it. I don't consider myself a "master" of it yet, though. For those who have never done all-grain brewing, I want to provide a quick overview of the mash process itself. Mashing - With or Without The Grainfather The goal of mashing is to turn the starches in the grain into sugars. More specifically, you want to turn the starches into a mix of fermentable and unfermentable sugars that provide the flavor profile associated with the beer you are brewing. A sweeter beer might warrant more unfermentable sugars. A more dry beer will demand few unfermentable sugars. To a great extent, controlling the