Long mash times

[Invalid Stout]

A lot of old 18th and 19th century recipes have very long mash times — up to 3 hours. Does this really make a difference to the beer?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

It may well make a difference. The question is does it improve the beer or make it worse? Experiment?

[oblivious]

Also remember that modern malt has a much higher level of diastatic power

[Scooby]

Three hours isn't a long time. My standard mash was 3hrs or thereabouts so I had time to walk the dog or do some shopping and it made the brew day more relaxing, I mashed a little hotter say 69c to get the balance of sugars right although I not sure that 2-3c makes that much difference anyway.

I routinely mashed overnight at one time also, doughing in at 10-11pm and sparging the next morning at 8 ish I believe some others have done this also. Nothing wrong with either of them

[GARYSMIFF]

If it turns out good as I'm sure it will as long as you have a good record of what you have done you can then do it again.
My brew Ethos (like I have one) is to mix it up and try things, one day I will stumble on a method or a set of measures that will be FAB and as long as I know what I did, I can make it again then I can try to understand what made it so good.

[Capped]

I've got a query which ties in with this,in a roundabout sorta way. I'm up for leaving a mash overnight in order to render the next day less fraught,but wouldn't it encourage the extraction of tannins,in a similar way that over-sparging does? Just asking... and for the record I've gotten into the habit of keeping mash times to 70 minutes max to try to save time - no problems whatsoever,so far. Next stop,60 minutes!

[Scooby]

Long mash times may encourage the production of maltose but is offset by mashing hotter to encourage more dextrins. I don't think extraction of tannins come into it, and I never noticed off flavours when doing extended mashes.

[oblivious]

I don't think extraction of tannins come into it,

Yea you really need an ph change as in the cave of over fly sparging