PostModern
Iron Wolf Brewery
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- 9/12/02
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I've been recently introduced to this method of mashing not often seen in home breweries. Well, I heard about it when I started mashing, but like most of us here, crushed fine and used the grain bed as a filter for the floury part of the crush. I've been posting bits and pieces about floating mashes all over the place, but think a dedicated thread is the best place to put this, so questions can be asked and information consolidated.
The following is blatantly pinched from ///'s posts in the IBU forum and from his instruction and advice to me, credit goes to Scotty and his Master for all of this. From my reading, this is a method employed in many if not most British breweries, and probably quite a few ale houses in Aus as well.
Essentially, a floating mash is what is sounds like. It is the method of mashing where the grain bed floats in the hot liquor rather than forming a dense porrige.
How?
* coarse crush - going thru the malting process, air bubbles form in the matix and between the husk layers. A coarse crush keeps these intact. A fine crush destroys the air bubbles in the malt which will help float the kernels;
* gentle mash-in - as the barley is coarse milled, the mixing in of the grist is easy with no dough balls forming; and
* slow run off - when you begin the run off this should be done slowly - no more than 30-40% of the first worts in the first hour. This serves to keep the bed afloat, stoping it from compressing. The grist acts as the filter (not the mash plate) and aids in clear, brite worts. (I run off a little quicker than this, but compensate letting the sparge water a little quicker as well, but still, quite slow).
Why?
* Bright Wort - nothing but a couple floaties in the first runnings.
* Efficient conversion - the enzymes in the grain are where you'd expect them to be, near the starchy stuff in the protein matrix. By keeping the crush coarse, you let the water into the air gaps that are present in the grain letting efficient conversion occur.
* Slow lauter gives, in ///'s words, "less shear forces on the first worts and less dissolution of lipids and oxidative precursors into the wort from the grain husk compared to 'turbid' worts."
It seems to go against everything we've ever learnt about fine crush for maximum conversion, but it is just a different method to achieve the same thing. Obviously there are some costs and benefits to both methods, but this method has served me well, indeed on my first mash with Marris Otter, I decided to give this floating mash thing a go. My enthusiasm gushed into this post.
Anyway, it works, works well and makes for a great brew day. Seeing the malt rise in the tun rather than water over the grain bed is a fascinating and at first slightly spooky sight.
The following is blatantly pinched from ///'s posts in the IBU forum and from his instruction and advice to me, credit goes to Scotty and his Master for all of this. From my reading, this is a method employed in many if not most British breweries, and probably quite a few ale houses in Aus as well.
Essentially, a floating mash is what is sounds like. It is the method of mashing where the grain bed floats in the hot liquor rather than forming a dense porrige.
How?
* coarse crush - going thru the malting process, air bubbles form in the matix and between the husk layers. A coarse crush keeps these intact. A fine crush destroys the air bubbles in the malt which will help float the kernels;
* gentle mash-in - as the barley is coarse milled, the mixing in of the grist is easy with no dough balls forming; and
* slow run off - when you begin the run off this should be done slowly - no more than 30-40% of the first worts in the first hour. This serves to keep the bed afloat, stoping it from compressing. The grist acts as the filter (not the mash plate) and aids in clear, brite worts. (I run off a little quicker than this, but compensate letting the sparge water a little quicker as well, but still, quite slow).
Why?
* Bright Wort - nothing but a couple floaties in the first runnings.
* Efficient conversion - the enzymes in the grain are where you'd expect them to be, near the starchy stuff in the protein matrix. By keeping the crush coarse, you let the water into the air gaps that are present in the grain letting efficient conversion occur.
* Slow lauter gives, in ///'s words, "less shear forces on the first worts and less dissolution of lipids and oxidative precursors into the wort from the grain husk compared to 'turbid' worts."
It seems to go against everything we've ever learnt about fine crush for maximum conversion, but it is just a different method to achieve the same thing. Obviously there are some costs and benefits to both methods, but this method has served me well, indeed on my first mash with Marris Otter, I decided to give this floating mash thing a go. My enthusiasm gushed into this post.
Anyway, it works, works well and makes for a great brew day. Seeing the malt rise in the tun rather than water over the grain bed is a fascinating and at first slightly spooky sight.
