BIAB step mashing

[mosto]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of incorporating step mashing into my BIAB procedure and just wanted to check my plans with some of you more experienced with BIAB step mashing. I use a 40L crab cooker pot with a 2200W fixed element. The bag sits in the insert that came with the pot, in which I've drilled out some holes in the bottom of for bolts, which act as legs to keep everything off the element. Already do a mash out step and don't have any scorching issues, so this seems to work OK. My basic plan is this:

Mash in @ 55c, rest for 5 min
Ramp to desired sac rest temp, stir, rest for 60 min
Ramp to 72c, stir, rest for 10 min
Ramp to 78c, stir, rest for 10 min, pull bag, continue on to boil.

Is this the basic procedure most people use, or am I missing something. Also, I read a thread from a few years ago, which questioned whether higher sac rest may be compromised as a significant amount of conversion will take place in the low 60's as the temp is on the the way up say 68c. Can anyone confirm/deny that this is an issue, as I generally mash in the mid to high 60's.

Cheers,

 

[technobabble66]

Yep that's the basic process I use, except:
72 is for 20 (sometimes 40 depending on sacch step)
78 is for 2 (assuming it takes about 10mins to get there with some vigorous stirring)

My sacch step may be a single ~65-66 for 45-60, or might be two steps at ~62-64 for 10-30 and a 68-9 for 20-30.

The 78 is for 2 because if you take a little time to get there with some extra stirring to losen the last of the starch, virtually everything will be converted as it hits 78. Then 2 mins to let the temp equilibrate, and start the draining (ie: pull bag)

Edit: Fwiw, the way I do the 78 step is based on advice by ThirstyBoy posted in AHB over the years. Word on the street is he knows a bit about brewing
Edit2: I s'pose I should credit Manticle (& bribieG & LRG (?)) for the 55 and 72 step - he was v helpful when I was trying to get my head around step mashing. He probably knows a bit about brewing also :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

Mash in @ 55c, rest for 5 min
Ramp to desired sac rest temp, stir, rest for 60 min

And possibly ruin your element.
At the 55 rest there will be little or no starch conversion, so when you turn on the element to ramp up, all that flour and sludge around the element will promptly cake on and burn.

If you want to do a 55 rest then I'd dough in a thicker mash, then dilute with boiling water to bring up to sacch temperature. There are handy mixing calculators online.
I don't get any burning or caking on taking the mash to 72 degrees for a rest, then up to 78 for a mashout.

 

[stux]

One time I did a dough-in at 55c I found the same thing, bottom of the kettle/mashtun was caked with flour

 

[technobabble66]

Fwiw, of the 13-15 brews I did in 2014 all were stepped from 55 to 62-6. I use a 30L exposed element birko urn to BIAB in. None of them showed any sign of scorching around the element.
Doesn't mean it won't in the near future of course, but so far so good with no indication of it even coming close.
For the record, I'm generally doing a grist of 5:1 (~24L for ~5kg grain) for mashing (then a 10L sparge), so a 3:1 ratio etc may cause the problem bribieG mentions. Also, I run a scourer over the element after a brew to scrape any crud off it.
Maybe keeping the element clean and a high water/grain ratio makes all the difference.

 

[technobabble66]

To answer your latter question, it depends on what you're trying to achieve with your beer.
However, generally speaking, the conversion that occurs while you ramp to high 60's just facilitates a "good" finish in the beer - "decent/appropriate" dryness but with plenty of unfermentables to leave a full body. Unless it takes a really long time to get through the low 60's it shouldn't compromise anything IMO.
If you want a sweet finish, or if you're doing a low gravity beer, it'll could be an issue because even 10 mins in the low 60's could be enough to dry/thin it too much for those particular styles. Of course, sweeter beers might also have a truckload more malt and higher gravity anyway, such that the time spent going thru the low 60's probably would be a good thing. So many permutations!

Short answer:
Yeah, but nah.

 

[mosto]

Thanks for the replies. You've all given me a bit to think about. I'll weigh up any risks, extra time etc against the potential benefits of step mashing to see if it's worth it.