The Science of Step Mashing

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Smileyr8

Impressive Member
Joined
May 23, 2014
Messages
816
Reaction score
193
Location
Sheffield, South Yorks
Right guys I am looking to do my first all grain brew this weekend.

I came across this article last night "The Science of Step Mashing" and wondered what you think and do any of you do this?

I know what you are all thinking just walk before you run, but was interested in finding out if this would make things much better and would be worth the additional hassle.
 
Right guys I am looking to do my first all grain brew this weekend.

I came across this article last night "The Science of Step Mashing" and wondered what you think and do any of you do this?

I know what you are all thinking just walk before you run, but was interested in finding out if this would make things much better and would be worth the additional hassle.

Hi Smiley!

Great to see you on the dark side!

My sincere advice is to keep it simple at first. There is just too much to worry about without any fancy stuff, first time out.

:cheers:
 
Good luck with your first batch.

Step mashing is equipment dependant really. If you have fancy kit, why not. If you just have a insulated mash Tun/coolbox then you can't so easily.

I think you can make great beer without understanding any of this but might enjoy it more with, if its your cup of tea.

Good article though.
 
Hi Smiley!

Great to see you on the dark side!

My sincere advice is to keep it simple at first. There is just too much to worry about without any fancy stuff, first time out.

:cheers:

I know mate, I was planning on keeping it simple, was more out of interest & things to improve for the future.
 
I know mate, I was planning on keeping it simple, was more out of interest & things to improve for the future.

Great to read about and understand advanced techniques - I'm with you on that, but when it comes to your early attempts to do all grain brewing, you will probably be like me and be working from an idiot list so you don't miss out any steps and mess it all up.

Hardest thing for me was to get the strike temperature right when I started the mash. It shouldn't be that hard, but your initial temperature of the mash water is pretty critical. For one reason or another I rarely hit the desired 65 - 66C straight off, and I have different temperatures inside my grain bag and outside it. Easy to see why - the bag contains coolish grain in a quite large amount and not all the strike water gets inside for a while.

To be honest - I've done a good few batches of AG now and I am still having to fiddle about with cold or hot water additions to hit the exact desired mash temperature exactly dead on. The good thing is though that the beers nearly always convert well and I get good efficiency.

A word to the wise:

If you are using a spirit thermometer, DO only insert it to the proper depth. It should have a mark or a note on it telling you how far to submerge the bulb. If you sink it too deep it will read maybe two degrees higher than the real temperature. Even electronic thermometers can have this issue. best to test it in boiling water and see how far in you need to sink the tip to get it to read 100c. I was amazed how far out my Youngs thermometer was when I didn't use it correctly.
 
Back
Top