Infusion step mash no sparge

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Tahoose

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Hey guys so I normally infusion step mash for example a normal brew day go something like

Strike temp 70c
Dough in 66c
Infusion of boiling water to 72c
Infusion of boiling water to 78c
Sparge with 78c water until I hit my volume.

What I'm thinking of changing to is starting at a lower temp and then only doing infusions and getting rid of the sparge.

I'm thinking this would be similar to a BIAB with the full volume mash. I'm expecting to drop a couple of points in efficiency.

So the question is, does anybody do this in a non BIAB setup, does it work for you? Any pros/cons that I should be thinking about?
 
I'm curious why you want to do it. Is it just so you can do a rest at lower temps?
I think provided you got your values right and ended up with the right amount of water it should work fine. Though you'd have to question whether the extra rest/s is worth the loss in efficiency. Otherwise you might be able to have a very low grain:water ratio to allow for a sparge, but this has its own problems.
 
I should have said I'm assuming I'll drop efficiency, yes wiggman this is enabling me to do the rest at the lower temp.

This also would enable me to start my brew day quicker as my hot water service comes out pretty close to that temp anyway, so I'd be spending less time getting up to strike temp.

I suppose I'd have to do a side by side but I would have thought by sparging with 9 litres of water I'd be picking up more sugars on the way through than if recirculating. Some BIAB brewers do a sparge don't they?
 
Some do. Thinner mashes can increase extract efficiency/ starch conversion according to what I've read.
 
Tahoose said:
Hey guys so I normally infusion step mash for example a normal brew day go something like
Strike temp 70c
Dough in 66c
Infusion of boiling water to 72c
Infusion of boiling water to 78c
Sparge with 78c water until I hit my volume.
What I'm thinking of changing to is starting at a lower temp and then only doing infusions and getting rid of the sparge.
I'm thinking this would be similar to a BIAB with the full volume mash. I'm expecting to drop a couple of points in efficiency.
So the question is, does anybody do this in a non BIAB setup, does it work for you? Any pros/cons that I should be thinking about?
I'm a 3v brewer at present and I infusion step mash quite often. I do a low 60's rest, followed by a low 70's rest all the time. Occasionally I'll do a protein rest and by the time i do the mash out I'm right on my total mash volume, so basically full volume mash by the last step. It's not hard to do, especially if you're used to infusion step mashing.


Not sure if you'll achieve anything other than getting an extra step in, but if you want to try a protein rest, give it a go. At the worst, you'll run out of infusion water and you'll miss the mash out but that's really no big deal IMHO.

As far as efficiency I don't think it'd be different. I've been cutting down the time I take to drain my tun dramatically ( 1l/min ) and my eff has gone up 5% easy. Today's brew ended up 11 points over even though I slightly over sparged. Predicted og 1.059, actual og with 3 extra litres of sparge was 1.070.
 
mje1980 said:
As far as efficiency I don't think it'd be different. I've been cutting down the time I take to drain my tun dramatically ( 1l/min ) and my eff has gone up 5% easy. Today's brew ended up 11 points over even though I slightly over sparged. Predicted og 1.059, actual og with 3 extra litres of sparge was 1.070.
The original idea was to get the extra step in, but thinking about it a little more I just thought that it might suit my brewing a little better.

I noticed on my last brew that my sparge took forever, I put it down to this, having the tap completely open hence compacting the grain bed too much.

I'll work off that Ratio for the next brew day I think.
 
Tahoose said:
The original idea was to get the extra step in, but thinking about it a little more I just thought that it might suit my brewing a little better.
I noticed on my last brew that my sparge took forever, I put it down to this, having the tap completely open hence compacting the grain bed too much.
I'll work off that Ratio for the next brew day I think.
I'm sure by opening the tap fully I was compacting the bed. I've been doing it for years, and been happy with the results, eff was calcd at 70-72%. Slowing it down to 1litre/minute, I got more efficiency than normal, an extra few points easily. I've done this the last 3 batches and from a low gravity mild, to a decent strength porter I've had decent efficiency gains.
 
mrsupraboy said:
Sorry guys but what's a infusion mash
Infusing the mash with water. In the case of this thread, using boiling water to raise the temp of the mash.
 
Mr supraboy, for your questions on what is an infusion mash, what is a mashout etc you might like to check out this resource that is basically mashing 101. If doing AG of any description you really need to get a handle on mashing.

linky
 
Tahoose said:
Some BIAB brewers do a sparge don't they?
I sparge my BIAB now. Usually I go 21L strike water and mash for 90 mins, generally around 64-66. Then dunk sparge in 11L of 80c water for 10 mins. Sometimes I'll mash out at 75 or so before sparging.

Have been hitting my targets almost spot on since changing up from a full volume biab mash.
 
Bribie G said:
Mr supraboy, for your questions on what is an infusion mash, what is a mashout etc you might like to check out this resource that is basically mashing 101. If doing AG of any description you really need to get a handle on mashing.

linky
Yeah mate I know what as a mash is as I've done it. But didn't know what the infusion part was. I guess cause I'm using an urn with Thermostat control in it. My brew stays at the temp I want it to. Where alot of people heat it up to a temp then let it drop over a period of time. Then Ur saying with the infusion mash they use more hot water to heat the temp back up.
 
Infusion mash really just means that the mash is infused with hot water to produce the mash, like making a pot of tea. You can have a single temperature infusion mash, as they traditionally do in the UK, or a stepped infusion mash.
The stepped infusion mash can be done either by starting off with a thick mash and stepping up by adding hot water, or by starting with a thinner mash then applying direct heat (steam jacket etc).
Most BIAB brewers use direct heat from element / burner while stirring as the mash heats up.

The other mash, the decoction mash, is done by removing part of the mash, boiling it and adding it back to the main mash one step at a time. That was the almost universal way of mashing in Germany and other neighbouring countries, but has fallen out of favour and they tend to do infusion mashes nowadays as they are more suited to mega-beer production.
 
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