Decoction Reasoning & Why single infusion Just doesn't work

[Bryan R]

http://www.mashfortwayne.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=4129

Some things of note:

"Q: Doesn't that take a long time?

Absolutely. If you are in a hurry or the kind of brewer who is only doing it to save money you are in the wrong thread. For your average decoction brew day you are looking at about 8 hours, which is a long day but I can't think of a better way to spend a day than brewing beer and knowing I put all kinds of effort into something that few pros take the time to do. This is what hobbies are all about, getting obsessive and going overboard to make it the kind of precision product that you just can't buy from an industry trying to squeeze every last penny out of their product. Every time you decoction mash you are giving a giant middle finger to the neo-liberal economy that would never spend time and energy to slightly increase a product…as a homebrewer "good enough" doesn't have to be the top end of quality.

Q: But I love shortcuts and consumerism and I even brew in a bag made out of an American flag.

Perhaps golfing or firearm rallies would be hobbies better suited to you.

If after you have done a dozen or so multiple decoction mashes and still think they are a waste of time I'd recommend you call up Paulaner, New Glarus, Weihenstephaner, Victory, Pilsner Urquell, Stoudt's, Spaten, Gordon Biersch, Bitburger and Samuel Adams to let them know they are brewing their lagers incorrectly. Perhaps they would appreciate you saving them so much time and energy that they will send you a free T-shirt."





Note this though:
"V) Full body and mouthfeel, without sweetness. The hallmark of most lagers is their dry finish, yet rich fulfilling mouthfeel. This cannot be achieved with single infusion mashing, the only thing you can control with a single infusion mash is how sweet and dextrinous the beer will be. For this reason in order to have a rich full mouthfeel, you will also have an underattenuated beer. With a decoction mash you can get the correct body from protein manipulation and sill have the proper level of attenuation and dryness. "

[Weizenberg]

[Bryan R]

[ajk]

[Bryan R]

[ajk]

[Bryan R]

Heh, I hear that... been on that end of the converstaion quite a bit.

[Brandon]

[ajk]

[Weizenberg]

The problem is with wheat malt. To obtain a reasonable extraction rate one needs to either increase the intensity (prolong the mash schedule), or resort to mechanical leans (decoction). Too fine a grist is not an option due to potential issues with stuck sparkes. Decoction is quicker.