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can you mash to long?

bummer47

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some of the recipes call for 45min mash. at 154 degrees.but i will mash 25 min longer to make sure i converted all the starch to sugars.does that hurt the mash at all?
 
The purpose of the mash is to allow you, the brewer, to present the sugar profile you desire in the fermenter to make the beer you designed.

At 45 min starch conversion is (almost, don't worry about it) always converted to sugar, "Conversion" complete.
After conversion the enzymes are still hard at work breaking long chain (non-fermentable) sugars into short chain (fermentable) sugars.
All this action is controlled mostly by temp and time.  The 154F mash temp indicates that you wish to make a beer that has a residual sweetness.  The "extra" 25 minutes will tend to lessen this somewhat, and there is nothing wrong with that!!!  I have mashed beers for 4 hrs, some brewers mash overnight.

There is really no hurting the mash, there is really no "wrong" way there are different actions that change the character of the resulting beer.

The bottom line is how does the beer taste? 

Fred
 
I agree 100%.  There is no single best way to mash, sparge, lauter, boil, cool, or ferment.  Some of your options are relatively fixed, and depend on the equipment you have, and the true variables depend on the beer you want to create with that batch. 
 
The only way you can mash for too long is if you let it go sour. This will generally happen within 24-48 hours. But with a large mash (the one I am talking about was 2,400lbs) I have seen it happen in as little as 8 hours. So unless you're making Jack Daniels, don't let it sit for too, too long.

Darin
 
In food service they say that the "Danger Zone" is between 40 and 140 degrees, and anything kept at such temperatures for more than four hours is to be suspect.


Keep it under four hours and you should be OK.
 
As long your tempreture is within a few degrees of your desired temp (154) then time shouldn't matter. If the recipe is calling for 45 minutes and you were to mash for 70 just to feel like you are sure then I say run with it.  Remember, it is your recipe now bummer. lol. 
 
I talked to a brewer at Stone Brewing Company, and he told me that they tried starting the lauter immediately after mash in was complete on a batch of Arrogant Bastard. He told me that they got nearly the exact same efficiency as with a 45 minute mash schedule. I've never tried this myself, but I have gone with a 30 minute mash with no problems.

Darin
 
What about mashing overnight?  If I want a full bodied beer and I mash in at 156-158 and then go to bed and wake up the next morning to finish up, assuming the mash didn't fall below 140 what will that do to the character of the beer and is there a problem with letting it rest for 8 hours?

I think I know based on my thread from yesterday and Fred's answers but I'd like to see if mashing overnight is really a viable option?

thanks

WR
 
There are many brewers that mash overnight, and going below 140F is not the end of the world. 

There are many, many bugs on the grain, but nothing will grow in beer that will kill you, has to do with the pH of beer.

My suggestion is to try it and see what you get,  adjust your process from there.

Fred
 
Going below 140 isn't the end of the world, but it does invite contamination. 
I will never mash overnight because I prefer a low bodied beer from a mash that is between 145 and 150.  Such mashes, overnight, without properly insulated equipment, invite infection.

I suppose if you have a well insulated mash tun, and you want a full bodied beer, that starting a mash in the high 150s and leaving it overnight would leave a full bodied mash sitting in the 145 or so degree range with minimal bacteria growing in it.

I wouldn't do it.  Last two times I tried overnight mashing I ended up with foamy sour bacterial nastiness.
 
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