Begin Brewing!

While cleaning, reorganizing, and inventorying my brewing area, I discovered a bunch of rye malt that I had purchased early in 2020.  It's almost certainly stale by now, so it's not going to make a very tasty beer.  However, it will give me a chance to see what it would be like to mash a brew that contains a high percentage of rye in the grist.  I found a recipe online that is purported to be the grain bill used by Brown-Forman to make Woodford Reserve Rye.  Although I can't legally turn this into a whiskey, there's nothing illegal about making the mash just for fun and dumping it out.  In the process, I should learn something about how a whiskey is mashed and the potential problems a distiller might encounter using a high amount of rye in the grain bill.  That will be helpful in brewing beers with a fair amount of rye.  And someday, if laws in the United States change to allow home distilling, I'll have some experience mashing in a whiskey. The purpor...

Given that the Picobrew Zymatic is less efficient than some other brewing setups, I began doing some research into how to get the most out of it.  The Braukaiser web site has a very detailed discussion of their experiments into maximizing the attenuation of a beer.  A by-product of this experiment is a series of parameters that can improve mash efficiency. Specifically, the following things are believed to positively increase brew house efficiency based on their experiments: A mash length of 66 minutes yielded the highest efficiency, with efficiency dropping off above 66 minutes Attenuation maxed out at an average mash temperature of 150-151F, but efficiency maxed out around a mash temp of 173F Efficiency maxed out at a pH of 5.2 Efficiency of thinner mashes was higher than thicker, with 2.4 quarts per pound delivering the highest efficiency With respect to the Zymatic, there is nothing you can really do about thinning the mash.  However, there are some things ...

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 m...

In the last post , I talked about how I select and modify recipes to match my equipment, process, and efficiency. I also talked about how, before I start to brew, I clean, measure, and arrange everything so that the actual brew goes as smoothly as possible. In this post, we're going to look at the mash process and how I typically do it. My brew day sheet tells me how much mash and sparge water I've calculated that I will need based on the grain bill and equipment. I begin by filling The Grainfather with the mash water and dropping in a Campden tablet to remove chlorine and chloramine. I fill my sparge water kettle with the sparge water amount, plus one gallon to account for dead space in the Mega Pot kettle. When The Grainfather has reached the mash temperature (or the temperature of the first step in a multi-step mash), I begin scooping in the crushed grain. Adding crushed grain to the mash water Every few scoops, I stir the grain with the stainless steel spoon you s...

( Important note:   This article series is based on the US version of the product.  Prices are expressed in US dollars, measurements of temperature and volume are in US units unless otherwise noted.) iMake's The Grainfather is an all-in-one RIMS brewing system designed to be used indoors with household electric current.  It includes the kettle, grain basket, recirculation tube, pump, electronic temperature controller, instruction book, and counterflow chiller.  It does not include a mash paddle, fermenter, cleaning supplies, or pretty much anything else.  The price is around $800-900 depending on where you shop and the discounts offered. The Grainfather handles mashing, boiling, recirculating, sparging (to a degree), and chilling of the wort.  You'll still need a fermentation vessel of some sort and some other supplies we'll discuss later. Grainfather Assembly and Initial Cleaning Assembly of The Grainfather in my experience was pretty easy o...

Recently, I saw a recipe for a 21% ABV all-grain brew .  The recipe calls for a whopping 31 pounds of grain and four ounces of hops, along with enzymes to help push the mash along.  The enzyme (Beano) specified in the recipe is measured in terms of tablets.  I wanted to know how to use Amylase instead, since I had that on hand. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down two components of starch and complex carbohydrates to form maltose and glucose sugars.  Amylase improves conversion efficiency and time by splitting barley starch molecules into partially-fermentable dextrins and maltose.  Given enough time, amylase can dismantle the dextrins to maltose, glucose, and smaller dextrins.  When fermentation begins, yeast will break the sucrose into glucose and fructose .  It then consumes (more or less in order), the glucose, the fructose, the maltose, and finally the maltotriose.  The dextrins will not be consumed.  By helping to break the starches ...

If you are new to all-grain brewing, or you're brewing a higher-gravity beer than usual and want to be sure the mash has converted all the available starches to sugars, here is an inexpensive but effective way to do it. Before brewing, go to your local drug store and pick up a bottle of Tincture of Iodine.  That's the stuff often placed on cuts as an antiseptic. When you think your mash may be finished, extract a small sample from it.  Add a drop of iodine to the sample.  If you see the sample turn dark purple or black, there is still starch in the mash to be converted.  If there is little to no color change, your starches should be fully converted to sugars.  Time to move on to the boil! Below is a picture of what the test results look like.  The tube on the left contains starch and has turned a dark color.  The one on the right does not. Image courtesy of imgarcade.com

For beginning brewers, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether a given grain requires mashing or whether it can be simply steeped in water of the appropriate temperature.  Mashing is necessary when the grain doesn't contain sufficient enzymes to convert its starch into sugars yeast can consume.  Steeping those grains without exposing them to the necessary enzymes will contribute starchy flavors to the finished beer and will reduce the alcohol content. The lists below have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, and tell you which grains must be mashed in order to convert their starches, and which can be steeped or mashed.  Long steeping periods (45-60 minutes) can often achieve the effect of a mash provided that grains included in the steeping contain the necessary enzymes. Corrections and additions are welcomed.  Please note them in the comments. Base Malts and Other Grains (must be mashed): American two-row American six-row British Pale Ale ...