On your advice and that of several others, I've used that mash schedule on my last few continental brews. Frankly, I havent seen any difference from my usual single temp mash. I'm trying to figure out why my results are so different.
So no changes in the body of the beer or foam?
I have to admit that from the standpoint of the beta rest temps, it's not a whole lot different. a 2 or even 3 step beta rest in the schedule is merely trying to take advantage of ideal beta mash temps. So I wouldn't expect you to see any changes in fermentation if that wasn't previously an issue.
I would have expected some changes in body and mouthfeel, as well as quality and duration of foam with the long rest at 162 and the prolonged mashout at 171.
When I first hooked up with Bryan, I was skeptical about whether adding different steps, especially the alpha rest at 162 and holding the mashout was going to make a difference. After a few brews I notice a few things:
1.) The multiple beta rests (in this case I still do 20 min at 145, 10 min at 148-149, and 5-10 min at 153) was helping me realize not only full conversion but also a few extra points off of the final gravity.
2.) There seemed to be a noticeable difference in the body of the beer. A sort of increase fullness which couples nicely with what are, in my case, highly attenuated beers.
3.) Without altering much of what I was already doing, I was getting glorious foam stands, almost mousse-like, which was long lasting with incredible lacing.
Now, inevitably, the comment will (and should for that matter) come along that it could be something else in the process giving me these gains. Given what I was already doing, my subjective opinion will be to the contrary.
It works for me and the results I've seen bear that out. To me at least. Taste is subjective, especially when you are the only one consuming your beer. With that said, we have a group of people who we interface with that have echoed some of the sentiments and gains I spoke of above.