Mash Time And Beer Foam ?

[Jimmeh]

Dare I say.......do a search, Screwy ducks for cover again. There are other brewing forums, for UK brewers a 90 min sacch rest is commom using english Malts.

Sorry I looked for a humorous image but couldn't find one :lol: did think MHB's was funny though, it is a subject which has beeen flogged somewhat and as in all things brewing......................it depends as was well pointed out.

Cheers,

Screwy

Dare I say.... it's people stuck in their old ways? or pseudoscience? I'm not saying it is, but it could be!?
Reason I ask is because I haven't seen any professional research or literature on the topic of mashing english only malt. I was just wondering if he had a useful link or some personal experiences to share. It's not exactly something easy to search for, as bum pointed out.

Sorry I wasted your time screwy.

Jim

 

[Screwtop]

Dare I say.... it's people stuck in their old ways? or pseudoscience? I'm not saying it is, but it could be!?
Reason I ask is because I haven't seen any professional research or literature on the topic of mashing english only malt. I was just wondering if he had a useful link or some personal experiences to share. It's not exactly something easy to search for, as bum pointed out.

Sorry I wasted your time screwy.

Jim

Diddums :lol:

 

[BjornJ]

Thanks for all the good replies.

MHB, thanks for coming out with some really good information there. I know I get trub into the fermenter as the tap of my Birko urn sucks it up, that is something I should fix by the sound of it.

Fourstar, will definetly read the byo.com article, that is exactly the kind of thing I want to learn more about.


Interesting to learn about how the hops actually help with the foam properties.
I've read that hop material can be detrimental to beer clarity, that it is better to use higher AA% hops as this gives the required IBUs but reduces the amount of organic matter. Didn't know the hops actually helped with the foam as well.
http://www.mgriesmeyer.com/doatest/bjcp/Br...g%20Process.pdf


Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback,

thanks
Bjorn

 

[Fourstar]

No worries BjornJ.

The whole retention/formation debacle is abit of a pet hate for me. Usually everyone rants about retention being poor where most times its problems with formation. You cant retain what aint formed. The byo article goes into some decent length about what you should focus on but as already pointed out there are plenty of variables you need to incorporate as they all interact with each other somewhat to achieve decent foam and stability/retention.

On the other hand, with brewing most things are usually quite simple to achive so with some minor tweaking of your processes or additions of head forming grains (carafoam is my preference) you can end up with quite reliable results.

Cheers!

 

[BjornJ]

after this thread and some helpful stuff from Thirstyboy as well it seems I'm back at

• 60 min mash, no screwing around with shorter mash times
• minimal amounts of cara/crystal malts if wanting low FG
• some cara/crystal for foam/head if FG can take it (relative?)
• maybe even do 90 min mash to get even lower FG
• sugar to thin out body of "Aussie Lager" kind of beers
• try to avoid trub into the fermenter

With Aussie Lagers being low on IBUs, I guess the hop components of foam retention like mentioned, is not going to work.

I'm still not sure about when to add specialty grains/darker grains.
If adding them at the start of the mash, the pH will be reduced. (thinking of Palmers nomograph and water additions based on the EBC of the grain bill)
But if adding them early in the mash, the foam affecting proteins may be degraded, like with the mentioned "light porter" with lots of dark grains but no head whatsoever.

Maybe do a bit of both :lol:


thanks
Bjorn

 

[Thirsty Boy]

just add em in the mash @ the start, like most people do.

Dark grains aren't the ones that help head retention, its cara/crystal grains that do it and thats because of the sugars, which help increase wort viscosity. This is why cara-pils, which is light enhances foam, but a dark chocolate is going to do bugger all for it.

 

[SJW]

Sad to see some things never change on this site. I thought the thread was a good read/laugh :lol:
Probably why I dont use this site anymore.
Keep up the good work fellas.

Steve

 

[BjornJ]

Sad to see some things never change on this site. I thought the thread was a good read/laugh :lol:
Probably why I dont use this site anymore.
Keep up the good work fellas.

Steve

Not sure how the above relates to this thread, maybe it was meant for another topic?

Bjorn

 

[marksfish]

in old british beers and how to make them the author recomends a 120 minute mash at 68c and a 90 minute boil, i have brewed three of the recipes so far using marris otter and they have fair head retention and brilliant clarity. the beers also have hed extended ccing at 4c.

 

[BjornJ]

That's interesting!

Were the beers highly hopped? High IBU or lots of grams of low AA% hops?

Do you think the temp of 68 degrees maybe is high enough to leave a slightly less fermentable wort and therefore leave more head creating/retaining properties?

I am reading the "Art and Science" of beer at the moment, and it talks of how brewers often start at 45-50 degrees to get the enzymes working at lower temperatures to help create a more fermentable wort. This prolongs mashing as well, and goes against other things I have read about mashing for a long time with well modified malts icould be bad for head retention.
Seems to be a bit of back and forth, doesn't it

thanks
Bjorn