yankinoz
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I've done them and liked the results on lagers and on ales, but none was in a side-by-side comparison with an immersion mash.
Rationales generally run to achieving a desired balance between products of the action of alpha- and beta-amylase enzymes. But that's what infusion mashes at, say, 65 to 68 are supposed to do. Even the usually very thorough braukaiser, in a Brewer;s Friend post, goes no further, except to say most German breweries use Hochkurz.
Braukaiser writes, "A low temperature rest favors the beta amylase and sets the fermenatbility of the wort. A high temperature rest favors the alpha amylase and completes the starch conversion."
That assumes that there is any starch left to convert at the high end. Braukaiser assumes a rest of 30 minutes at 63 (a graph differs). Conversion follows an asymptotic curve, and the amount of starch left for conversion to dextrins is likely to be small. Fine for pilsners, but why don't they just do an infusin at a temp where beta outruns alpha, maybe somewhere around 65?
Does the Hochkurz mash allow better control and consistency of the final product?
Rationales generally run to achieving a desired balance between products of the action of alpha- and beta-amylase enzymes. But that's what infusion mashes at, say, 65 to 68 are supposed to do. Even the usually very thorough braukaiser, in a Brewer;s Friend post, goes no further, except to say most German breweries use Hochkurz.
Braukaiser writes, "A low temperature rest favors the beta amylase and sets the fermenatbility of the wort. A high temperature rest favors the alpha amylase and completes the starch conversion."
That assumes that there is any starch left to convert at the high end. Braukaiser assumes a rest of 30 minutes at 63 (a graph differs). Conversion follows an asymptotic curve, and the amount of starch left for conversion to dextrins is likely to be small. Fine for pilsners, but why don't they just do an infusin at a temp where beta outruns alpha, maybe somewhere around 65?
Does the Hochkurz mash allow better control and consistency of the final product?
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