Efficiency vs Mash Temp

Hi everybody,

I am new here.  I have been brewing for about 3 years and have been hanging around HBT.com but I think I'm done with them; they are really getting stuffy over there. 

Anyway, my question is: When you mash at a full body profile, 158f for 45 min, do you lose efficiency?  I typically mash at 154f come hell or high water but I need to get more body in my beers.

Thanks for having me!

You don't lose efficiency but you do have less fermentable sugars.  You efficiency is based on the potential extract of the grain and your actual extract based on your gravity measurements.  For the most accurate efficiency estimation, be sure to cool the wort to 60f and measure the gravity.

The mash temp has a lot to do with the conversion of the sugars and how quickly the enzymes denature. Mash time does have an effect on how much is converted.  60 minutes might give those heartier enzymes a change to do their work though much of the conversion takes place in the first 15 - 20 minutes.  A thinner mash (1.5:1 or 2:1) is a little more efficient that 1:25 or 1:1.

Much of the efficiency as we look at it is from the sparge method.  Being sure to properly compact the grain bed and rinse the sugars from the grains ensures you move most the sugars from the mash tun to the kettle.

I am more concerned with a consistent efficiency so I can be more predictable in the beer characteristics by properly adjusting recipes. I mash the same amount of time using the same, boring process. last time I changed process, my efficiency jumped and my beer was not what I expected or really wanted.

You can also add some malts that buoy up the body. You can add up to 20% of the grain bill of carapils to add body. I use it.

cheers

jomebrew said:

You don't lose efficiency but you do have less fermentable sugars... 

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Ok, so if I have two identical grain bills and I mash one at 152f for 60 minutes and the other at 158f for 45 minutes, I should get relatively the same OG, but I will have a different ration of fermentable vs unfermentable sugars between the two batches? 

Thanks in advance!

McCuckerson said:

Ok, so if I have two identical grain bills and I mash one at 152f for 60 minutes and the other at 158f for 45 minutes, I should get relatively the same OG, but I will have a different ration of fermentable vs unfermentable sugars between the two batches? 

Thanks in advance!

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That is the idea.  The Beta Amylase enzymes denature at 158.  This leaves more unfermentable long chain dextrins, you will have more "weight" and more mouthfeel with the 158f mash temp but about the same starting gravity.  The Beta Amylase enzymes denature at 158.  the final gravity will be higher as well. This does not mean the beer will be sweeter.  These sugars are not sweet to us.

Some also suggest that the unfermentable carbohydrates are later broken down in your digestive system and tend to make the drinker more gaseous.  So, lighter, dryer beers fermented at lower temps might be best reserved for serving to women on date night.  That Belgian Strong or Barely Wine might get her feeling tipsy, it might also make her toot a bit more which can cut the night short

I prefer 151 F it gives me a refreshing drier beer.  I am not a fan of heavy body and gluey mouth feel.
If I want that I'll make a bowl of oatmeal.

As a general proposition  your sugar profile is fixed on stone in the first fifteen minutes of the mash,  so what ever temperature you want to mash at hit it fast.

CR said:

As a general proposition  your sugar profile is fixed on stone in the first fifteen minutes of the mash,  so what ever temperature you want to mash at hit it fast.

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  That may explain why when I did a protein rest for 20 minutes at 120, then a mash at 158 I never got the body I was expecting.  The sugar profile was determined during that ramp up.

When you mash at the lower spectrums say 149f-152f the sugars are more easily fermented by yeast resulting in a drier or cleaner tasting beer. When u mash at 155-158 you have a sweeter tasting end product.

I prefer to mash at 152f personally because I like a clean finish on my beers, they are still plenty malty though.  The best way to add more body to your beers is the use of Cara-pils malts.  I personally use some in every batch of beer I brew, you can even use rolled oats to lend body to your beer but they need to be Rolled Oats (Quaker is fine as long as they are not quick oats). Using oats does end in a cloudier beer though.

Try using a 1/2 lbs of either Cara-pils or rolled oats in your next 5 gallon batch (scale to your brewing volume) and see what a difference it makes in body