performing cereal mash a day early

[Auger]

I'm brewing a KY Common in a few days and my recipe uses a few pounds of corn grits that are cereal mashed separately before being added to the main mash for the rest of the process. I'm planning on doing three different AG brews on Tuesday and I don't feel like spending a bunch of that time screwing around with cereal mashing the grits. As long as I left the cereal mash fairly runny so it doesn't congeal into one big cake, could I do the cereal mash through the boil the day before, throw the pot in the fridge, then reheat to mash temp and add it to the main mash the next day when I brew? I'd think that the boil segment would preclude any souring...it makes sense to me anyway. Anything I'm missing?

 

[day_trippr]

Seems like a sound plan from here...

Cheers! (...and good luck with the triple brew day. Woof!)

 

[Auger]

Yeah...got a baby in the house and haven't brewed since Nov. Gotta take advantage of whatever time I can make. Thanks!

 

[AMessenger]

Interesting idea. Could be a useful trick - let us know how it goes.

I'd be cautious during the re-heat. Will you use a stovetop or burner? Seems like you could be at risk of scortching as gummy as corn grits get.

 

[Auger]

Yeah its a concern. I scorched the crap out of the grits the first time I tried it, on my gas burner. Last time I used the electric stove and it went much better. When I start heating strike water I'll prob throw the pot on the stove on low and let it come up slowly, and keep it runny so it doesn't clump up too badly.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Is a cereal mash really required?

Could the grits simply be cooked in a slow cooker the night before and added to the mash the following day?

As I recall cereal mashing was part of the commercial process to facilitate pumping of the adjuncts.....

 

[Auger]

That's an interesting thought...I'm using the old fashioned grits so they need to be converted, although I'll still need to add grain to keep them somewhat liquid.

I think next time I'll just use the quick-cook grits and skip the separate mash, and just bump the volume by 10-15% or so.

 

[Auger]

Well, just to close the loop, yesterday was brew day. I mashed 2lb of grits with 1lb of grain and 4qts of water. I meant to refrigerate it, but didn't finish until about 11pm and forgot it on the stove (covered) overnight. Started brewing in the morning, put the burner on med-low and heated to mash temp, then dump into the tun during dough-in. Brew day went swimmingly and the beer is happily bubbling away, so it looks like all went well.

 

[AMessenger]

Nice!