Asketh And Ye Shall Receive

[esssee]

Up until now, I have been studiously mashing my grains at anywhere from 64 degrees to 66 degrees, and have been happy with the results, but have also had an underlying Malty sweetness to my beers. I usually get about 75%, or thereabouts, attenuation with US-05.

I did a bit of reading, and thought, bugger it, I'll mash lower. Mashed the latest one at 62 degrees. Pitched dry US-05.

I started with an OG of 1.044. I left it for a week at about 20 degrees.

Checked it this morning. Well bugger me. FG 1.006. That's 88% attenuation.

Tastes good, but now to see how Carbonation will affect the flavour.

This AG brewing caper is The Ducks Nuts.

 

[Bribie G]

Yes total control. Of course very drinkable beers can be made from extract and from tins, but you can't ring up Wander or Coopers and say "hey can you do me a couple of kilos at 67 and some at 62 "
Once you start experimenting with temperature ranges, before you know it you are on the slippery slope to stepped mashes, protein rests, mashouts, etc.

I learned from someone in the industry that the majority of mainstream Aussie lagers are mashed at around 63 for an hour and a half, then run up to a mashout. Surprised me because I would have thought they'd be going for as much body as possible out of the malt, seeing as they bung so much sugar into it, but apparently not.

Once you get the hang of different temperature ranges you can really get to grips with some of the classic styles such as Pils etc.

 

[jacknohe]

Good timing on this one! I've been perceiving alot of my beers to be just a little too sweet lately. I'm definitely gonna try some brews at these lower temps.

 

[matho]

Yes total control. Of course very drinkable beers can be made from extract and from tins, but you can't ring up Wander or Coopers and say "hey can you do me a couple of kilos at 67 and some at 62 "
Once you start experimenting with temperature ranges, before you know it you are on the slippery slope to stepped mashes, protein rests, mashouts, etc.

I learned from someone in the industry that the majority of mainstream Aussie lagers are mashed at around 63 for an hour and a half, then run up to a mashout. Surprised me because I would have thought they'd be going for as much body as possible out of the malt, seeing as they bung so much sugar into it, but apparently not.

Once you get the hang of different temperature ranges you can really get to grips with some of the classic styles such as Pils etc.

Its all to do with the malt bribie, just google schooner malt and see what come up, here is just one pdf that i found but its an interesting read

View attachment 12_ABTS_07_Goldsmith.pdf

cheers matho

 

[Lecterfan]

Good timing on this one! I've been perceiving alot of my beers to be just a little too sweet lately. I'm definitely gonna try some brews at these lower temps.

Don't be shocked and horrified (like I was) that by making a drier beer, a previously acceptable IBU level can become WAY too bitter for your palate (for a basic 1.045ish-1.008ish beer without much crystal for example...).

My first brew with my new thermometer (actually mashed at 65c as opposed to the 68c that I had mistakenly been mashing at) was a light bodied, low crystal, low hopped APA but done to 34IBUs and it is way too bitter for my palate and based on my system and how IBUs translate to that (or it was lacking residual sweetness, either way...). Most of mine had previously been finishing at 1.012, 14 or even higher with bigger beers.

I felt like I'd gone back to step one and had to recalibrate my notion of acceptable BU:GU type business for my palate. In fact I still feel like I'm at step one, going to take several brews with consistent bitterness results for me to learn I guess...

Having typed all that I better read Matho's pdf and see how I go. :icon_cheers:


edit: sbillenj

 

[stux]

Yes total control. Of course very drinkable beers can be made from extract and from tins, but you can't ring up Wander or Coopers and say "hey can you do me a couple of kilos at 67 and some at 62 "
Once you start experimenting with temperature ranges, before you know it you are on the slippery slope to stepped mashes, protein rests, mashouts, etc.

I learned from someone in the industry that the majority of mainstream Aussie lagers are mashed at around 63 for an hour and a half, then run up to a mashout. Surprised me because I would have thought they'd be going for as much body as possible out of the malt, seeing as they bung so much sugar into it, but apparently not.

Once you get the hang of different temperature ranges you can really get to grips with some of the classic styles such as Pils etc.

Body is wasted potential alcohol

 

[stux]

Its all to do with the malt bribie, just google schooner malt and see what come up, here is just one pdf that i found but its an interesting read

View attachment 49313

cheers matho

Fascinating article

 

[MarkBastard]

Anyone made an Aussie lager with 100% BB Ale malt mashed low? I'm tempted to do it for some strange reason. No sugar just say 100% BB Ale at 62 degrees.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Anyone made an Aussie lager with 100% BB Ale malt mashed low? I'm tempted to do it for some strange reason. No sugar just say 100% BB Ale at 62 degrees.

I am trying a 88%/12% Wey Pilsner and Flaked Rice lager with some cluster to what the mates reckon! I anticipate it to be rather bland but that's what I am actually aiming for!

 

[esssee]

Anyone made an Aussie lager with 100% BB Ale malt mashed low? I'm tempted to do it for some strange reason. No sugar just say 100% BB Ale at 62 degrees.

This one of mine is 100% JW Ale Malt.

On the bitterness note, I did notice an initial kick of bitterness. How would Carbonation effect this? Does it accentuate the Bitterness, or the Malt?

 

[argon]

My last couple of big hoppy beers i've mashed low... 64-65C (for my system that finishes at 1010-1008) then smashed a heap of crystal in there to counter balance. eg Blackbeard's Delight @6.5% had >12% crystal and an Amber Ale @6.8% that got through to AABC had >10% dark crystal. Nice way to allow those crystal malt flavours to come through without the overpowering sweetness.

 

[esssee]

..... then smashed a heap of crystal in there to counter balance....

Do you mean you added Crystal to the Mash, or added it in some seperate way?

 

[argon]

to the mash

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

Anyone made an Aussie lager with 100% BB Ale malt mashed low? I'm tempted to do it for some strange reason. No sugar just say 100% BB Ale at 62 degrees.

Made a few like this. bitter with por or super pride. Works well.

 

[Nick JD]

Anyone made an Aussie lager with 100% BB Ale malt mashed low? I'm tempted to do it for some strange reason. No sugar just say 100% BB Ale at 62 degrees.

All the time. Tastes EXACTLY like nearly all the megaswills.

People always blah on and on about PoR and it's role in making Aussie Lagers taste like they do ... half of the signature taste of Aussie lagers comes from the Aussie malt.

Try to do a megaswill using Weyermann pale ale malt or even Pils ... doesn't even come close.

Most of the "VB" flavours are malt derived. Especially the uriney and pooey ones.

Bribie calls it "mousecage" and he's bang on.

But yeah - I do low mash Aussie lagers with BB Ale malt and no sugaz and they have more body than the megaswills by far.

 

[MarkBastard]

Cheers Nick.

Yeah I was thinking it'd be good to do a megaswill beer done the way they 'should' be done. Like say you wanted to make something close except with no adjuncts.

My last two attempts were actually half decent beers, but they had Carapils AND sugar, and were mashed medium, which seems a bit backwards.

 

[Nick JD]

Cheers Nick.

Yeah I was thinking it'd be good to do a megaswill beer done the way they 'should' be done. Like say you wanted to make something close except with no adjuncts.

My last two attempts were actually half decent beers, but they had Carapils AND sugar, and were mashed medium, which seems a bit backwards.

I have done a few 30% dextrose, 70C (30 minutes, no point in longer at that temp) mashes and the resulting beer is crazy full of body at 4.0% alc. It's also a great way for my little system to go "full sized" with little effort.

Worth a try if you haven't already.

 

[Bribie G]

All the time. Tastes EXACTLY like nearly all the megaswills.

People always blah on and on about PoR and it's role in making Aussie Lagers taste like they do ... half of the signature taste of Aussie lagers comes from the Aussie malt.

Try to do a megaswill using Weyermann pale ale malt or even Pils ... doesn't even come close.

Most of the "VB" flavours are malt derived. Especially the uriney and pooey ones.

Bribie calls it "mousecage" and he's bang on.

But yeah - I do low mash Aussie lagers with BB Ale malt and no sugaz and they have more body than the megaswills by far.

I hadn't used BB Pils malt for ages but got a sack in the last bulk buy and did an ozzy lager with Danish yeast, etc. I went up the street for my once-in-three-months pokies session and had a couple of schooners of XXXX heavy as first beers of the day, got home and pulled and ozzy and WHAM - instant mouse plague!
Don't mind it so much, it's a sort of characteristic of the beers.

 

[bobsaget]

All the time. Tastes EXACTLY like nearly all the megaswills.

People always blah on and on about PoR and it's role in making Aussie Lagers taste like they do ... half of the signature taste of Aussie lagers comes from the Aussie malt.

Try to do a megaswill using Weyermann pale ale malt or even Pils ... doesn't even come close.

Most of the "VB" flavours are malt derived. Especially the uriney and pooey ones.

Bribie calls it "mousecage" and he's bang on.

But yeah - I do low mash Aussie lagers with BB Ale malt and no sugaz and they have more body than the megaswills by far.

How would a beer be different if you used 100% Pilsner malt do you think? So, this 'megaswill clone' is improved by the fact that it is a similar recipe without the added adjuncts, would it then be improved even further if you added a small amount of carapils or would that then stray too far from being similar to a megaswill?
I'm interested in trying this 100% ale malt for an all-grain-megaswill-beer, one that I can give to my beer conservative family and friends to ease them into the transition to good beer.

 

[Nick JD]

How would a beer be different if you used 100% Pilsner malt do you think? So, this 'megaswill clone' is improved by the fact that it is a similar recipe without the added adjuncts, would it then be improved even further if you added a small amount of carapils or would that then stray too far from being similar to a megaswill?
I'm interested in trying this 100% ale malt for an all-grain-megaswill-beer, one that I can give to my beer conservative family and friends to ease them into the transition to good beer.

"Pils Malt" is an ambiguous term. In general it refers to the most pale malts but within the "pils" term is as much variation in taste as in much of the other base malts.