Why would you mash in at 38? (BrauMeister manual/defaults)

[Mr. No-Tip]

So there's been a bit of a discussion around step mashing on the Canberra Brewers forum and I mentioned that I mash in at 38.

Someone asked why and I realised I didn't know why. My Braumeister default recipe schedule was set to mash in at 38. I just took a look at the manual - screenshots show mashing in at 38.

While the BM guys go into some details about acid, protein, 'sugar' rests and so on, they don't go into any detail about why to mash in at 38.

Is there any scientific basis to doing this, or am I just wasting 1 degree/min ramping up to a real mash temp?

 

[dicko]

A 38 deg c rest will give you an acid rest to lower the PH of your mash.
It is widely claimed that this rest is unessesary due to modern malts being highly modified, a small amount of acidulated malt will also lower the mash PH,
If you are only doughing in at 38 deg and not holding that temp for any length of time then it would do very little as an acid rest,
If you care to google a utube video from a member on here you will note that he doughs' in at 25deg c and sets his first mash step at 50 deg c or thereabouts, " cyclepro braumeister" should get it. His name on here is SJW.
No matter wether the grain is in the tube or not it will still take about 1 deg per minute to ramp to the first mash temp.

Cheers

Edit link This is the link in safari

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=utube+cyclepro+braumeister&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

 

[Edak]

I like mashing in lower because the grain doesn't go doughy like porridge so it's easier to add at that temp. As Dicko said, it still takes a similar time to get up to temp, water doesn't heat instantly.

 

[Bizier]

Edak, all you have to do is dough in below the gelatinisation temp for the given grain. So for barley, this BM temp is about 20 deg below where you need to be for that.

 

[Edak]

The easiest way to do that is just to have a standard temperature, I generally mash in at 40C and then let it ramp up. because it is already there I let it sit for a few minutes too.

 

[fletcher]

is there a particular temp to add to eliminate all or most dough balls or clumps from forming? or is that just done by using your spoon better and totally unrelated to temp, therefore making me the moron of the thread? haha

 

[felten]

I've found mashing in under the gelatinisation temp (under 60c) helps prevent dough balls.

 

[manticle]

I mash in at 55 for most beers - doughballs eliminated, hold for 5, ramp to beta amylase rest.

 

[Florian]

Good thing though about mashing in at room temp on an automated device like the Braumeister is that you don't need to hang around until your liquor has reached strike temp.
Just add water and grain at room temp and walk away for a few hours.

 

[JDW81]

is there a particular temp to add to eliminate all or most dough balls or clumps from forming? or is that just done by using your spoon better and totally unrelated to temp, therefore making me the moron of the thread? haha

As other have mentioned if you mash in under gelatinisation temp then dough balls won't be an issue. However if you only have the capacity to do a single infusion then under letting helps minimise their formation. Adding water slowly also makes a difference.

 

[Stormahead]

This is pretty much a beta glucan rest. When you break down the beta glucans you release ferruic acid, hence also being known as an acid rest.
Beta glucans are responsible for those dough balls and problems later on when sparging.

Usually a good idea when using a lot of wheat or oats which are high in beta glucans.

Unfortunately you have to liberate the beta glucans to get at the starch, but this is usually done by the maltster during modification.

Short answer is, it depends on the malt. Doing one unnecessarily might liberate some things you don't want in your wort.

I helped out on a commercial brew recently with a lot of wheat and they went as far to add glucanase to help break down the glucans.

 

[madawoods]

link to some interesting reading about mash temps; George Fix & modified malts.
I have found that mashing in @ 40 gave me slightly better efficiency, using BIAB.

http://home.comcast.net/~david.s.draper/beer/fixmash.txt