Mash lengths

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
User avatar
Redimpz
Hollow Legs
Posts: 431
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 10:56 am
Location: Lincolnshire

Mash lengths

Post by Redimpz » Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:06 pm

How long do brewers mash for these days?
I personally have been mashing for 90 mins but am always up for alternative ways.
is anyone mashing for 60 minutes or even less? does this have any impact upon finished brews?

gobuchul

Re: Mash lengths

Post by gobuchul » Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:41 pm

I normally mash for 60 minutes.

Although I have a well insulated tun and if I have to I will leave it for a lot longer, 3 to 4 hrs.

I have NOT* noticed any significant differences.

I know some people mash overnight.

*Missed a important word on this post!
Last edited by gobuchul on Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Fuggled Mind
Hollow Legs
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:13 pm
Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Fuggled Mind » Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:02 pm

I always do a 90 minute mash - often longer if I'm doing other stuff. Keep telling myself I should try 70 minutes but haven't done so yet. 90 minutes is force of habit more than anything but so long as the temperature is right and you haven't got clumps from doughing in, you can be pretty sure you've converted all your grains.

Cheers

Jason
Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.
W. C. Fields

Capped
Under the Table
Posts: 1928
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:08 am
Location: Barnsley,SouthYorkshire

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Capped » Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:38 am

Did 90mins as a minimum for donkey's, then a couple of years back went to 60mins and never changed back as the only difference I noticed was the shorter brew day! Exactly the same can be said of boiling, incidentally. Either my sensory faculties are well shot or I've wasted an awful lot of time over the years.

Troutman47
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:28 pm
Location: North Tawton

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Troutman47 » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:23 am

Yep, changed to 60min mash 2/3 years ago, no noticeable difference.
Mash efficiency alway 80%+
I've always batch sparged too, but unlike Capped still boil for 90mins!

I remember reading on here someone was doing a 45min mash with good results! :shock:

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: Mash lengths

Post by orlando » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:26 am

How many of us could confidently claim they could tell "blindfolded" the difference between 90 and 60? Unless there is a practical difference, e.g. 60 minute mashed beers stale quicker, it's then a question of how important the 1/2 hour saved to you is. I've certainly read some evidence is available that 90 can extract more but it becomes a question of diminishing returns. I changed from 90/90 to 60/60, didn't spot the differences in the beer. I would say temperature and it's stability is way more important, that is where my effort has gone, setting up a RIMS system.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Mash lengths

Post by cerbera84 » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:39 am

http://brulosophy.com/2014/09/01/does-m ... t-results/

to push the debate a little further, good write up of 30 minutes versus 60.
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

Capped
Under the Table
Posts: 1928
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:08 am
Location: Barnsley,SouthYorkshire

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Capped » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:08 am

cerbera84 wrote:http://brulosophy.com/2014/09/01/does-m ... t-results/

to push the debate a little further, good write up of 30 minutes versus 60.
A 30 minute mash sounds tempting but would mess with my mind too much as well as deprive me of time to do the things I normally do during the 60min mash. Interesting how low it could go though. But one thing is for sure - the oft-quoted 90min mash is totally unnecessary and constitutes a shocking waste of time if you have other things to do, or... it could afford you some time to do those things whilst mashing. Win win, really.

rpt
Hollow Legs
Posts: 480
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 4:35 pm
Location: Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Re: Mash lengths

Post by rpt » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:42 am

10 hours usually. But always at least 90 minutes. That's because I do BIAB and so there is no separate sparge time.

User avatar
alix101
Under the Table
Posts: 1786
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:34 am
Location: Chester-le-street Durham

Re: Mash lengths

Post by alix101 » Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:45 am

There's no definitive answer to this age old question like how long to Boil, it has to come down to "Horses for Courses " That's because there are many variables, Style of beer, Grain, Mash Temp .......And on.
An iodine test is a good indication of starch conversion if you want to experiment, This will generally show conversion in the mash is complete by around 20mins, but this doesn't show you total conversion as the longer more complex starches in the grain haven't been broken down in this time ,so you'd be leaving sugar behind.
To cut an extremely long story short by 60 min there's nothing left to convert long or short and this is even over the top,
Experimenting is the best way to find what works for a particular style and greist but 60 mins to long for me so 90 isn't happening unless I'm proven otherwise.
"Everybody should belive in something : and I belive I'll have another drink".

User avatar
Hairybiker
Hollow Legs
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:28 am

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Hairybiker » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:40 am

Been doing 60 min or overnight for several years now.

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: Mash lengths

Post by orlando » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:47 am

Hairybiker wrote:Been doing 60 min or overnight for several years now.
Well that's quite a contrast so what were the results?
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Capped
Under the Table
Posts: 1928
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:08 am
Location: Barnsley,SouthYorkshire

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Capped » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:19 pm

orlando wrote:
Hairybiker wrote:Been doing 60 min or overnight for several years now.
Well that's quite a contrast so what were the results?
I'm looking forward to the answer,too. I mean, is a 60min mash deliberately chosen over an overnight one (and vice versa) to achieve a desired result, or is the outcome of both so similar that it doesn't matter?

BrannigansLove
Hollow Legs
Posts: 408
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:09 pm
Location: Boogie Down Brim

Re: Mash lengths

Post by BrannigansLove » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:42 pm

Most of the time I'll do a 60min mash, but have done a 75min, and 90min for 2 beers recently.

User avatar
Eric
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2873
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:18 am
Location: Sunderland.

Re: Mash lengths

Post by Eric » Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:13 pm

Capped wrote:
orlando wrote:
Hairybiker wrote:Been doing 60 min or overnight for several years now.
Well that's quite a contrast so what were the results?
I'm looking forward to the answer,too. I mean, is a 60min mash deliberately chosen over an overnight one (and vice versa) to achieve a desired result, or is the outcome of both so similar that it doesn't matter?
Well, I suppose if the objective were to produce something alcoholic that can be swallowed without great difficulty, either would do.
I've mashed for no less than 60 minutes, probably because it takes me that amount of time to do what I want and need to do before I can start sparging. Most mashes last 90 mins. shorter ones will always include a starch test which are usually satisfactory. The mashing process itself is quite complex, not a simple case of just a couple of reactions. My longest this year was over 3 hours and I've never mashed overnight as that's never been called for or proved necessary.
Longer mashes will help avoid a cloying beer of high gravity from all grain while short mashes at higher temperature can leave more body on a low gravity-low alcohol beer.
When producing an all grain stout with lots of adjuncts it will be mashed for at least 2 hours and I can't do a simple starch test with iodine, but if using sugars and not wanting to reduce the body it can be mashed hotter and shorter. I got this wrong earlier this year and an 8%+ ABV stout with an FG of 1010 wasn't what I was after. As a consequence it sits there taking valuable space.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.

Post Reply