Not all comparisons are equal

Wort making

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Kit_B
Apprentice Brewer
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:40 pm

Not all comparisons are equal

Postby Kit_B » Sat Dec 05, 2015 2:35 am

I've noticed a trend in many comparison experiments that are being made in an attempt to discredit & invalidate decoction mashing.
I see a few things being done fairly consistently that (in my mind) nullifies these experiments:
One of the main problems I see is a dough in at saccharification temperatures -
When this is done, we miss what appears to be a very important step in the process of decocting. We eliminate the ability to control hydration, protein, free amino nitrogen & influence dextrins.
What I'm pointing out is the incorrect use of a single decoction, to simply jump from beta rest, to alpha rest -
Sure...we all know that a decoction can be used to raise the temperature of the mash, but when people claim to be brewing authorities & teach newcomers that decoctions are worthless - by utilizing poor data - we all suffer.
I've stated this opinion in some circles & been basically thrown to the wolves, when the truth is actually very well known & documented as fact, in texts that many of the current "homebrewing experts" blatantly choose to ignore & argue against reading, because "We are homebrewers".
Well, folks...Chemistry & mathematics are the same in homebrewing as they are in corporate brewing. Nature doesn't differentiate, simply because this is a hobby & not a job.
By simply bumping from beta to alpha with no alpha rest in the decocted portion & no secondary/additional use of the beta temperature range after the decoction, we handicap ourselves. We eliminate the use of beta amylase to process the starches that we have just freed in the decoction process.
However, when we dough in at lower temperatures & incorporate decoctions that utilize saccharification rests, we add the ability to:
- Correctly hydrate the grain
- Add an acid rest, a protein rest, or other rests if needed
- Allow the starches & cells that have been bursted by the decoction process to be exposed to enzymes that are active at non-alpha temperatures (using protease, limit dextrinase, adding FAN, etc.)

I'm not saying that anyone HAS to decoct, to improve their beer.
I'm saying there's more to mashing than just alpha & beta amylase.
I'm also saying that many of the comparisons I have seen that discredit decocting were poorly done.
They mistakenly compare a handicapped decoction to a single infusion.
So, my word of caution is:
"Don't blindly put your faith into what the homebrewing community's experts tell you".

It's late & I'm off to bed.
Hopefully, you'll share your thoughts.
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Weizenberg
German Brewing
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Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 2:11 pm
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Re: Not all comparisons are equal

Postby Weizenberg » Sat Dec 05, 2015 7:29 am

If you dough in in the 50-62 Celsius range, as is so often done for the Hochkurz mash, then the conversion of the decoction is optional.

What is a bit difficult to appreciate us that with every decoction, a new set of starches is released. I've tried to explain it in this post

https://edelstoffquest.wordpress.com/20 ... sh-is-good

You can quite happily do the step you describe, jump from beta to alpha rest without converting the decoction, because these starches will be converted by the enzymes in the next step. The result will be a beer with more body.

To me it seems that the home brewing industry is very interested in selling fully automated systems and related equipment to interested hobbyists. A decoction system is very hard to fully automate without the price tag becoming ridiculous.

In some parts it's even quicker to decoction mash. Wheat beers and Dunkel come to my mind here. These need a very intensive mash schedule in order to release enough starches for the desired extraction yield. Wheat malt is very hard to break down and I noticed that boil times of 20 minutes are necessary.

Some breweries switch to infusion systems knowing that they will need to prolong their mash times and adjust their grain bill a little. The big decisive factor is energy saving vs time. The savings they make in energy costs far outweigh the cost in time for the extra 60 minutes they need to tag on (in some cases - see wheat beer). For the home Brewer time is an important factor and I don't really fancy doing a 4 hour wheat beer mash. Ironically, in those cases decoctions are actually faster, but I digress....

Either way, what does it matter? It doesn't really matter too much when other people get it wrong.... as long as I don't have to drink it :D
The Quest for Edelstoff - http://edelstoffquest.wordpress.com

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