Mash profiles

[brew]

So the brewblog has this thing called Mash Profiles. So, for a "Single infusion medium body" they have something like:

No.    Name    Type    Time    Temp.    Description         
1    Mash In    Infusion    60 min.    154° C    Add 70% of mash water at 166° F / 74° C
2    Mash Out    Infusion    10 min.    168° C    Add 30% of mash water at 197° F / 92° C

So if I have 10 pounds of grain, the water amounts calculator says I need 3.33 gallons of mash water and 5.38 gallons of strike water - that's based on 1.33 qt/pound.

So if I only use 70% of my mash water, and save some for a mash out, then I'm not mashing at 1.33 qt/lbs anymore right? And things get pretty thick with only 70% of the water...

To make it more interesting, a Double infusion which adds a protein rest at 122F says to use 40% of the water for the protein rest, 35% for the main mash (only 30 min instead of 60) and 25% for the mash out. That's a really thick protein rest...

Or am I missing something? Are you supposed to increase the qts/lbs? Or does 1.33 qt/lbs apply only to the main sac rest?  

[Gil Breau]

I've always done more like 40% mash, 60% Strike....

[Richard]

Dunno what you mean by strike water vs mash water. I assume you meant sparge rather than strike?

Also on my system those numbers (166/197) are really high for a 1.33qt/lb mash. I'd probably be aiming for more like 162/180, but YMMV.

I try to aim for 1.25qt/lb most of the time, which should be in the main mash. So you're looking at about 12.5 quarts (3 and a bit gallons) for a 10lb bill. The numbers you have for that should be about right.

I dunno about the protein rest mechanics, but I know it's got different mechanisms (proteases rather than amylases) and goals (increase amylase enzymatic viability) than the main mash - I also know that if you were to get the protein rest up to the same thickness as the main mash, you'd have no way other than decoction to get it up to temp.

[Richard]

Ok I misread that further... I dunno what's going on there, but those numbers being percentages don't make much sense to me. I suspect it may be separating the mash-out water versus the sparging water... in which case you'll have a very thick mash (70% of 1.33 is 0.93qt/lb).

I will have a look at the brewblog when I have time. It's possible they screwed something up - we should compare it to other software / general wisdom.

[Gil Breau]

I'm so lost now.....>.>

Sparge yes, brewmate like to use strike water in the name so I'm used to saying it now....

[brew]

Those profiles are installed with Brewblogger and they are simple blocks of text so pretty basic - it always installs like that... I've had some trouble getting enough research together to get a better handle on this whole protein rest / mash out thing. Some people say they always to mash out now and tend to have better results as it helps convert the higher temp stuff at 168. An extra little bit... The protein rest is also supposed to help break down the extra "stuff" so it can clear better as I understand it - I really want to try this for my stout... gonna start shortly...

[Kyle]

I typically use about 4g (US) of strike water (grain is dry) and then an additional 3.5g sparge water (grain is saturated). Basically I fill the mash tun to the same level for both mash and sparge, but since there is already water in the grain for the sparge addition, I add about 1/2g less water.

Of course it depends on the grain bill, but this is for about 10-12#

[Jake]

I use the method that Thomas recommended to me a while back in another topic. It is the last post made:
http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?topic=410.0

[brew]

Cool - I missed that post with the link to the calculator - that system seems to use all the mash water in the beginning for a protein rest with double infusion. Then they add in whatever amount needed at boil to get the mix up for the sac rest, then the mash out...

thanks for the link!