First time Decoction mash?

[beer gut]

Hi all i am planning on brewing a American Wheat beer for summer and i am going to use the decoction mash method. I have never used this before so what is the simplest way of doing this method?. My other concern is that i have read that if you use a well modfied base grain you run the risk of a compleate distaster and the mash not working due to poor ph and poor extraction of the essential mierals needed for the yeast. I use crisp malt for all my ales so would be better if i useda none british malt and maybe try a german or belgian base malt instead?

[bazza]

I've done a couple of decoctions and they are a pain. Are you planning to do a single, double, or triple decoction?

You are right in that most malts today do not require it. Can you get American 2row? That would be best for the style. When I did mine, I used this as a guide: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... on_Mashing

Many documents tell you to pull about 1/3 of the thick mash for your first decoction. I found that it took about 40% of the mash to get the main mash up to the next rest step.

Good luck!

[beer gut]

Hi Thanx for the advice it's been a great help. I can't get American 2 row but I could use German pilsner malt which I think is 2 row malt. When I did my advanced home brewing course I was advised that if we use Belgian or German malt you should use the single decoction mash method to get the best efficiency. So I think I will go for the single decoction when I brew my American Wheat beer. Does the Decoction mash make a big difference to the finished product? Or is it the same as single infusion mash?

[Fuggled Mind]

Weyermann's Bohemian floor malted pilsner malt is supposedly undermodified and would benefit from a stepped mash. Not sure about how it would respond to a triple decoction. Try googling it - there seems to be a lot of discussion about it on American homebrew sites.

You can get Weyermann Bohemian floor malted pilsner from the Malt Miller

Sorry that I can't offer more advice

Cheers

Jason

[beer gut]

Hi Fuggled mind yeah I had my eye on that malt to. I will be doing a single stepped decoction mash as this will be my first go at at this method of mashing.

[bazza]

Honestly, I haven't noticed a big difference in it other than being darker. There is a big debate over here on whether or not it even makes a difference. In the end, I think each brewer needs to decide if it's worth it and if it makes a difference. It's definitely an experience!

[beer gut]

I see your point on using this method and gaining experience from it. In my point of view brewing is all about trial and error and learning from the f#@k Ups. I was going to enter this American wheat into a competition this year but I don't I will because if this beer goes belly up I will have to brew something else to take it's place, plus this is my first go at trying this method of mashing and I don't think it is wise experiment on a competition ale. I was thinking of starting the mash at 55oc hold for 30 mins then raise the mash to 66oc for the remaining hour. I will use 2.5 litre to every 1Kg of grist. When it comes to raising the temp to 66oc i am going to boil some extra mash liquor normally it's. Half the amount mash liquor plus one third of the mashing grist. This from what i have read is simple but very effective.