Multi-step Mash Profile Results

[micraftbeer]

I came across a mash profile in a write-up about Dusseldorf Alt that the author had been told was key to making a good Dusseldorf Alt. I used it with my recipe and the beer was great. I haven't ventured away from recipe or mash profile since. I started expanding the usage of that mash profile to other beers and have come across a few observations. First off here's the mash profile:

15 min @100F
20 min @ 122F
60 min @ 150F (or whatever saccharification rest temp)
10 min @ 168F

The most visible phenomena I see is the beer droplets have a lot of surface tension. When pouring the beer or if it gets sloshed/splashed around, it makes these tight little sphere droplets that make it look like crystal or something. I've tried to research why that is but haven't had any luck.

Another observation I recently made was beers that go through this mash profile typically end up high on FG. Or don't attenuate as much as BeerSmith is predicting. I had this mental image that I "always ended up high on FG versus predicted". When I paged through my brew log book, I found that it was just the beers where I did this multi-temp step mash.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any insight/theories on how this mash profile leads to the droplet phenomena as well as the lower attenuation.

 

[couchsending]

There’s no real reason to do the 100F temp for this beer. I believe they do this is Düsseldorf due to the fact that the water is high in bicarbonate and the acid rest will help with PH. We’re you monitoring your PH through this process.

A 122 step is debatable as well, especially for an Alt. If you want to do a small protein rest I’d aim for 130 for 15 instead of 122. It depends on the malt you use.

How are you performing the steps? What type of system are you using? Depending on how long it takes you to go from 122 to 150 a step mash like this should help with attenuation not hurt it. Again depends on a lot of other variables though.

If you want to do a serious step mash that maximizes attenuation and foam/head retention.

15 @ 130
Slowly ramp to 145
45 - 60 @ 145
Slowly ramp to 162
30 @ 162

You can then ramp to 168 if you want to lock in that profile or just sparge with 168 which will keep Alpha active longer to max out attenuation.

The visual differences you’re seeing are most likely due to the protein rest but I’m not sure what exactly your grain bill is.

 

[micraftbeer]

I first did this profile on the Dusseldorf Alt. Grain bill was simple- 100% Munich. But I've done it on all kinds of malt bills, different beer styles. I've brewed it on different systems, but the majority have all been electric all-in-one units. I brewed yesterday a wheat ale that's come out great for me and I really dig. It just started fermenting, so I don't know for sure what the FG will be on it. But I take a bunch of mash pH measurement along the way yesterday. pH Came out higher than the typical recommended band, but since I haven't adjusted for pH in the past. I'm now in the "data collection phase".

Galaxy Wheat Ale
7.5 gallon batch
8.9 Gallons of mash water- Base water profile (tap water post 3-filter system): Ca 24.0, Mg 2.4, Na 24.4, SO4 0, Cl: 30.0, HCO3 96.0.
Brewing salts added: 4.4g Gypsum, 7.7g Epsom Salts, 1.8g CaCl
Resulting water profile (BeerSmith 2): Ca 69.2, Mg 24.9, Na 24.4, SO4 162.3, Cl 55.6, HCO3 96.0

9 lbs Maris Otter
2.8 lbs Flaked Wheat
2 lbs White Wheat
1.4 lbs Crystal 20L
0.7 lbs Rice Hulls

1. pH 6.25 @ 5 minutes into 100F mash.
2. pH 6.03 @ start of 122F mash.
3. pH 5.98 @ start of 150F mash.
4. pH 5.86 @ end of hour-long 150F mash.
5. pH 5.84 after mashout and kettle at pre-boil volume.

 

[couchsending]

Do you normally add that much Epsom Salt?

Yeah that mash Ph is quite high. The acid rest needs to be for closer to an hour in order to actually acidify the mash, otherwise it’s not really worth doing. You’re much better off using some lactic/phosphoric/or acid malt to get you PH in spec due to your HCO3 levels being somewhat high (although not horrible).

It’s reallly not worth doing a rest below 122 for anything other than beers you want a certain phenol profile in which you will be using POF+ yeast.

Are you using a Grainfather or something similar? If so try slowly ramping using 50% power from one step to the next.

 

[micraftbeer]

I just recently switched from using distilled water + brewing salts to match a "hop forward" water profile I got from a homebrewing book. I had great results with that water profile before, and didn't really realize it until I switched to home water run through 3-element filter. I just tested the water with a LaMotte kit and got my base water numbers. So this weekend were my first brews where I had that base profile and added salts to target my hop forward profile. So I've "used this much Epsom" when building up from Distilled Water to hit the same target mineral profile, but adjusting my base water with my newly tested water data is new.

The pH was high, and I was thinking my meter needed a re-calibration. BeerSmith was predicting a 5.53 with the above recipe, and I obviously got quite a bit higher.

However, the next day I brewed a different beer, and did a simpler 152F mash rest for 60 minutes followed by a 168F mashout for 10 minutes. BeerSmith was predicting a mash pH of 5.53, so I used the tool built in to find out how much 10% Phosphoric acid to add to hit 5.4. I added it, and hit the pH pretty spot on at 5.43.

So I don't know if the BS predictor was off with my grain bill on the wheat beer, or if it was another phantom phenomenna of the multi-step mash profile.

As for my equipment, I've used various ones. I do a lot of hands-on equipment reviews, and have reviewed a lot of electric set-ups (BrewEasy, Unibrau, Braumeister, Grainfather, Robobrew, Mash & Boil, Wort Hog). Right now I'm using a Wort Hog 120V/2250W system. It works pretty good and I'm quite happy with it. I get about 1.5 - 2 degrees temperature climb/minute when heating a full kettle mash (12 gallon kettle). I get 2-2.5 degrees/minute on a smaller ~6 gallon mash. I'm quite happy with the rise time compared to ~1 degree/minute on the Grainfather/etc with the 120V/1500W elements.