Labels:text | font | paper | black and white | document OCR: GREAT FERMENTATIONS 87 LARKSPUR ST. . SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 - 415/459-2520 ALL GRAIN BREWING BY MIKE BREWER of Marin Most brewers, at one time or another, heed the call of all-grain brewing Whether it be your own personal Heart of Darkness. (in this case, the quest for the perfect stout) or California Gold Rush Fever, (aka, the quintessential Steam hec:) for many it is just Manifest Destiny. The allure and mystery are great, in fact, they're too great! So, in hopes of harnessing the mania and dispelling the mystery, I can make your quests fruitful, be they for Blueberry, Apple, Raspberry, of Spiced Pumpkin Ale extraordinaire. All grain brewing allows greater control over the final product than extract brewing. Control over taste, body, complexity, color, etc. It also affords the brewer numerous ways to screw up, so follow at least one recipe before creating one yourself All grain brewing also requires additional equipment. Imagine you're making 5 gallons of coffee, using 8 Ibs of ground coffee and ? gallons of water. This will give you some idea of the scale involved, and you will probably have to graduate from your kitchen stove. You have to manage a rolling boil of nearly 6 gallons of beer, and the bumer of your kitchen stove just isn't big enough. Two or three burners, maybe, or botile gas or a white gas camp stowe, but you will need more heal, and probably a bigger boiling kettle as well. In all-grain brewing, you create your own extract. This involves two steps beyond extract brewing; MASHING and SPARGING . Mashing is basically the steeping of the grain in water, activating the enzymes, and providing a good environment for them to convert grain starches into both fermentable and unfermentable sugars, one for alechol, the other for body and sweetness. Only pale mail and toasted grains with less than $ 20 Lovibond rating contain significant enzyme. Masking small amounts of Crystal malt and other specially malts to spice up extract beers is more like making tra. No fermentable sugars are preseat, only flavors, colors and same body building compounds Sparging is the process of rinsing the grain with water to remove the the sugars, colors and flavors released during the mashing process. There are several methods of mashing, each having advantages and disadvantages over the other: SINGLE STAGE INFUSION MASH My favorite, and the easiest. Only one insulated container is needed . Water temperature should be 175 F. for an unheated container. When the grain hits it, the temperature will go to 155 F. Lower temperature mashes, at 140 will produce maximum alcohol, and thinner beers. Higher temperatures, but not above 168 F, will predece minimum alcohol, and heavier beers. Of course, you need an accurate thermometer. Sorre experimentation may be necessary. Use I to | 1/2 quarts of water per lb. of grain. Conversion takes 45 min to 2 bours. Testing with iodine is recommended to determine the end point, when starches are converted Pluses on this method are: 1) It's casy, and easily repeatable. 2) It requires less attention. 3) The grain doesn't have to be moved (it can be sparged in a modified mash tun, making for a better grain bed, and more efficient sparge. The two drawbacks are: 1) With urdermadifice makt chill hazes can sometimes be a problem (though I personally have never had such a problem), and 2) the step mask and decoction mash afford more control, aad are traditional for lagers For equipment ideas, seo Dave Line's Big Book of Brewing. Charlie Papazian's ' Complete Joy of Home Brewing of How to Build a Small Brewery by Bill Owens. STEP MASH The step, of stove-top mash in my mind is overrated, and over recommended. It takes a long time, needs to be monitored. constantly, and is only really necessary when the initial ph of your water is well above or belew 7, er when you are using several pounds of dark grains. Under these circumstances, the ph of your mash may be abave 5.8 or below +.8. If this is so, saccharfication (enzyme conversion of starches to sugars) may be inbibiled. leading to a lower overall gravity. In this case (and it is quite rare in my experience) you should use the step mash technique so you can adjust your mash ph during the acid rest (given the time to buffer-out with the brewing water. the mash will usually adjust itself. A protein rest is also aften anployed, and can be useful in reducing haze-causing compounds. For a complete guide to this process and the philosophy behind its use, see Dove Miller's Complete Handbook of Home Brewing or Cirey Noonan's Brewing Lager Beers. DECOCTION MASH Decoction means to extract by boiling. It is traditionally used in making lagers and pilsners. In this method, a portion of the mash is removed, beiled, and returned to the original mash, sommelimes up to three tines. I will not go into the details I will. however go into why, ar why not to use this method. It was originally used because continental malts were undermodified ( lots of starch, little enzyme activity, so, in order to help the enzymes break down the protiens and starches, portions of the mash were boikd, breaking them into more manageable compounds. popping them like popcorn. It also helped te approximate mash temperatures without the use of a thermometer. Today most malts have sufficient ergyme, so it is used for the distinctive hint of burnt malt or caramel that boiling gives the beer's flavor profile. It is also a very efficient method of mashing, eplanum gravities should be expected. Isee Greg Noonan's book). SPARGING Sparging is the process of rinsing the grains with water to remove the segars, colors, and vital flavor constituents. Without 2 good sparge, an effective mash is rendered useless. Sparging is a tricky process, and it merits a lot of attention, it can make or break your beer, There are several methods, from using a colander or cheese cloth, to constructing a Lauter Ton (sparge vessel) er sparging in your mashing vessel, likea modified picnic cooler (see How to Buikl a Small Brewery) Sparging is net caly getting all of the sugar, it is avoiding getting unwanted lipids, tannins and silicates that will make your beer unpleasant. First we'll talk about how to get the sugar out, and how to avoid the others later. First, a proper filter bed of grais and husks is needed. This should be more than 6 inches deep, but a thinner, undisturbed layer is O. K. In a picnic cooler this s no problem. If you have to move the grain into a Lauter Tun, or other vessel, it should be stirred and allowed to 'cest" fer several minutes le fan a good bed. Sparge water sprinkled on the grain should he kept just covering il, never letting il go dry, or drowning it with too much water. Keep your water under 1 7] degrees and below a 6.5 ph (adjust with gypsum of citric acid). In: baily, the cloudy curoff (the first couple of quarts) should be rocirculated to trapall of the unwanted proteins. When it nins char, begin collecting i: in your beiling kettle. Runoff lower than 1.010 or with a ph of more than 6.0 should not be collected. It is beller to use more grain and sparge less than to over sparge. Taste it periodically, avoid chalky tasting runoff.
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