Skip to main content

Kitchen Brewing Part 5: Simple Decocotion Mashing

After my general disappointment with the Weizenbock I brewed, I decided to see what would happen if I tried doing a Decoction Mash on the stove. While the Multi-Step Mash I had used improved efficiency, the beer lacked a certain something.

How hard can it be?

My goal here is to do a mash that doesn't require rocket-science (or an all-day brewing session) to pull off, but will give a little extra something to my German beers. But before I go any further, I must give credit where it's due. Mary Samuels' excellent 1995 article Solve the Mystery of Decoction Mashing served as the inspiration for my stove-top technique, so hop on over there if you want all the in-depth decoction mashing details. Also, if you want charts and even more details, head over here. However, if your goal is to cut out the lengthy prose and cut to the chase of brewing beer, please read on.

Single-decoction is the easiest decoction to perform. Since I work with canning pots, I don't have a lot of room to spare, even with a thick mash. Therefore, my single-decoction is used to raise the mash from the Protein to the Saccharification Rest.

This is actually a pretty simple task that's easy to put into steps:
  1. After the Protein Rest, pull roughly half of the mashed grains into a second pot. Leave as much liquid behind in the first pot as possible.
  2. Remove the first pot from the stove and wrap it in blankets and/or towels to maintain the Protein Rest temp.
  3. Heat the decoction in the second pot to roughly 155F. Watch the thermometer, as you don't want the temp going up much faster than five degrees per minute. Keep the grains moving to avoid scorching (Note: I perform the decoction in a heavy-bottomed pot rather than another canning pot to help alleviate scorching issues).
  4. Hold the decoction at 155F for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Heat the decoction again at no more than five degrees per minute until it reaches a boil.
  6. Boil the decoction for 10-20 minutes and remove from heat.
  7. Unwrap the first pot and slowly add the decoction to it.
  8. Monitor the temp in the first pot. Once the mash reaches the desired Saccharification temp, stop adding the decoction and hold the Saccharification temp as you would with a single-infusion or multi-step mash. 
    • If you didn't have enough decoction to hit your target Saccharification temp, add heat or boiling water to the first pot until you reach the desired temperature.
    • If you have some of the decoction leftover, wait for it to cool to the Saccharification temp and then add it to the first pot.
  9. Sparge and boil your wort like you usually do.
  10. Drink a homebrew and congratulate yourself for a job well done.
Until next time, happy brewing!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

In the Fermentor: Kitchen Sink Barleywine

The Leftovers It's time for a cleanup of leftover grains and partially used packets of hops from 2012. With the exception of the 2-Row base malt, everything in the recipe below has been sitting on the shelf, or in the fridge waiting to be used. I had several open hop packages, some leftover toasted malts and a half-full bottle of malt extract too. I also had yeast cultured from my White House Honey Porter . My decision was to use almost all of my leftovers and make a partial-mash Barleywine. The finished beer will be quite strong and quite bitter. A toasted malt backbone should nicely complement pine, spice and citrus hop flavors. Because of the beer's strength, it will not be ready for at least three months and should improve with age. The recipe has been scaled up to five gallons from the 2.5 gallons I actually brewed: Grains: 9 lbs Rahr 2-Row 8.5 oz Victory 7.5 oz Brown Hops: Bittering: 0.75 oz Chinook (11.1% a.a.): 60 min 0.5 oz Colum...

In the Fermentor: Flaming Pumpkin

I'll admit that I'm not a huge Pumpkin Beer fan. I didn't have one on my brewing calendar for this year and didn't have my sights set on one for next Fall either. Then my niece came along and threw down the gauntlet. She asked me to brew her a pumpkin beer and I accepted the challenge. I did a lot of reading to see how to best go about using pumpkin in beer. Some people mash it with the grains. Others add it to the brew kettle during the boil. Some add it to the primary or secondary fermentor. The consensus from professional brewers appears to be adding it to the mash, so I took the same approach. The pumpkin was cooked ahead of time by my girlfriend to soften it, convert some of the starch and help release some of its sugars. It then joined the grains in the mash. I really want the pumpkin pie effect here, so I've thrown in all of the requisite spices toward the end of the boil. I've also gone with just enough bitterness to balance the sweetness of the ...

Out of the Bottle: Flaming Pumpkin

It's Halloween night and Flaming Pumpkin is ready to frighten away the ghosts and goblins. Hopefully it won't also frighten away the people who drink it. This is my first Pumpkin Beer, so I was flying blind outside of doing research and trying commercially available brews. I basically cobbled together suggestions I thought were the best approach to the style, with a vision in my head of what the finished product should taste like. So how did it turn out? Pretty good. My goal was pumpkin pie in a bottle. What I got is more spice than sweet, but I still like it. The pie spices are right out front, with clove and cinnamon leading the way. The sweeter flavors are muted and focused toward dark sugars from the brown sugar and dark crystal malt. Bitterness is just enough, with no hop flavors competing with the spices. And what about the pumpkin? You can taste it. It's subtle. But you can definitely tell it's there. Overall? I'm quite happy and hope that my niece l...