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Author Topic: My First Batch Sparge  (Read 13793 times)

Offline malzig

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Re: My First Batch Sparge
« Reply #45 on: February 26, 2013, 05:12:13 pm »
Denny must be right on this.  It runs counter to the concept of lower mash temp getting more fermentables, generally, but it has been my experience, as well.
Don't confuse getting more extract with getting a more fermentable wort.  Higher mash temperatures will often yield more sugars sooner (both fermentable and nonfermentable, potentially yielding a higher OG) than lower mash temperatures, but the cooler mash will usually be more fermentable (it will finish at a lower gravity from the same OG).
I have not experienced any change in fermentability by sparging with hotter water.  It's a good theory, but I haven't seen it in practice.
Nor have I, though I imagine it would depend on how much conversion has occurred before you raise the temperature.  For me, there is little to no conversion left to occur during the sparge, so it can't change fermentability.  I suppose that could be true for you, as well.

But anyway, that wasn't the statement I was trying to clarify.  "lower mash temp getting more fermentables" was what I found misleading.  A lower mash temperature can get you a more fermentable wort than a higher mash temperature (independent of the sparge), but a hotter step or sparge can increase the total extract by improving conversion.  I suppose that might decrease fermentability, but it is almost certain to increase the total amount of fermentables in an under-converted mash, simply by improving conversion after a cooler mash.

Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: My First Batch Sparge
« Reply #46 on: February 26, 2013, 06:10:36 pm »
Gotcha. I meant to say that lower mash temperatures usually mean that the beta amylase gets the sugars broken down more, for a thinner, more fermentable wort (lower gravity than would be the case at a higher temp mash of the same grain).  For example, I tend to mash a pilsner around 148F for 90+ minutes.  I have a feeling that the "loosening" concept mentioned above is likely part of the difference I experienced.  But who knows?
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Offline malzig

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Re: My First Batch Sparge
« Reply #47 on: February 27, 2013, 04:33:59 am »
Gotcha. I meant to say that lower mash temperatures usually mean that the beta amylase gets the sugars broken down more, for a thinner, more fermentable wort (lower gravity than would be the case at a higher temp mash of the same grain).
I figured that's what you meant, but I thought it might be confusing, considering the topic under discussion.