Topic: All Grain Brewing

Build a Cooler Mash Tun

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  The heart and soul of any all-grain homebrewing system is the combination mash/lauter tun. “Mashing” is the hot water steeping process that results in sweet fermentable wort, while “lautering” is the process of separating the wort from the spent grains.) A third critical step in the process is sparging (technically a part of the


All-Grain Troubleshooting

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General all-grain Going All-Grain I have read that certain grains can only be mashed while others can be both mashed and steeped. I have found various charts of grain and adjuncts, but none of which explain how the grains must be utilized. I would also like to know how to tell the difference between base


RIMS and HERMS

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Because our batch sizes are typically small compared to commercial brews, one problem many all-grain homebrewers have is maintaining their mash temperature. Ideally, mash temperature should remain relatively constant throughout each rest. Maintaining a specific temperature helps to control the fermentability of a beer, which in turn affects such qualities as body, finish and residual


Sour Mashing

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Soured beers are gaining popularity among beer lovers and brewers alike. There are several methods you can employ to create a soured beer. Simple techniques include adding lactic acid to your brewing water or including acidulated malt to your grain bill. More advanced techniques include adding either cultured lactic acid bacteria or Brettanomyces, a mixed


Cereal Mashing

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Mention the word “cereal,” and most folks think of ready-to-eat breakfast food. To a brewer, cereal is the grain produced by any number of grass crops from Avena sativa (oat) to Zea mays (corn) that has not been sprouted to make malt. Cereal grains make up the greatest quantity and provide the most energy to


Decoction Mashing

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Almost all modern malts are well modified and respond well to a single infusion mash when an all-malt beer is being brewed. But sometimes you will come across a malt or recipe where a single infusion mash is not appropriate. The mash temperature of a single infusion mash is almost always in the 148–162 °F


Step Mashing

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Step mashing is a mash program in which the mash temperature is progressively increased through a series of rests. The ubiquity of well-modified malts has virtually eliminated the need to perform a step mash in most situations. So why should you learn more about the process and science behind step mashing? Simple, you can produce


Lautering Efficiency

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All-grain brewers are always talking about brewing efficiency — how much wort they yield from their mash into the boil kettle. There are two components to brewing efficiency: mashing efficiency and lautering efficiency. Mashing efficiency is all about the conversion of malt starches to sugars. Lautering efficiency is all about the extraction of those sugars


No-Sparge Brewing

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A quest of mine to brew a flavorful but quaffable session ale was coming up short. I was getting wonderfully high extract efficiencies, near 90%, but my ordinary bitters, milds and Scottish ales were coming out watery and bland. Then I had a homebrew-life-changing experience with an ordinary bitter I judged in the first round


Batch Sparging

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For homebrewers first getting into all-grain brewing, the terminology, technology and wide variety of methods can be confusing. Simplifying the process, especially for the first few all-grain batches, is important. All of the technical jargon hides two pretty simple steps: Mashing and lautering. Most homebrewers use a single infusion mash, which means you add some


Troubleshooting a Stuck Sparge

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Tactics for helping your wort go with the flow.


A Guide to Lautering

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Considering how important it is to the brewing process, lautering (also known as sparging) doesn’t get much respect. Many brewers see it as simply the process of rinsing grains. They give it little thought, rush through it, and curse it if problems arise such as a stuck lauter. But a successful lauter plays an important


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