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How much does a decoction mash affect color?

R. Gibson

R. Gibson

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I am considering doing my first decoction mash on a Dunkelweizen, and the recipe I am using comes in on the light side...I assume that the maillard reactions during the boiling of the grist will cause the wort to darken a bit. It doesn't appear that BrewSmith takes this into account. Are there any rules of thumb that I could use?
 
What's your recipe ... and what color do you want?
 
I did one for a heff. It is bottled now and I must say real good  :). As far as color I think it came out spot on to what beer smith predicted, I will try and get some picture up to night.

Matt
 
Interesting...no color change at all for a decoction mash? How long did you boil the decocted mash, and how fast did you get it there? What decoction procedure did you use (how many steps, what temps, ramp rates, hold times)?
 
Just added it to the recipe cloud, search Carriage House to find it,  all the details are there. I will all so post a picture this evening when I get home. I love Hefs. and this is one of my best, the decoction mash is well worth the extra time.

Matt
 
Awesome, thanks! I look forward to a picture. I'll have to let you know how my Dunkelweizen turns out!
 
I use a single step decoction for my mash out on every batch, and I've never seen any noticeably color change.  I'm not saying that there is no change in color, just that it is not significant enough to worry about.
 
okay here are a few pictures of my Hef. oh how I love beer...  :-*
 

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I just found a very informative brewing site that I thought I'd share:
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Decoction_Mashing

It doesn't specifically say how much the wort will darken when you decoct, but it does elude to the fact that for light beers, you can basically just bring the decocted mash to a boil for a few minutes, and then return it to the mash tun to simply increase the temperature of the mash. For darker beers, boil for 30-45 minutes to achieve increased maillard reactions, which provide darker color and more melanoidins for enhanced flavor.
 
Braukaiser.com is very informative and definitely one of my favourite sites!

Try the link below and read more about beer colour, alkalinity and mash pH.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Beer_color,_alkalinity_and_mash_pH

Regards,
Slurk
 
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