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infusion -vs- step mash question

Does infusion mashing produce beer with the same efficiency as step mash?

I'm trying to break the 1.06og threshold each time I mash, and so far with no real effort hit 1.054-1.05.

My typical grain bill for a 5.5 gallon result is

11.5 lbs. Base 2 row 1/2 lb Adjunct 3/4 lb Wheat

My water ratio is 1.5qts / lb. I hold my mash temperature between 154-158 for 90 min.

My thoughts are a) the crush of the grain is not consistent. b) my water is too soft (like Pilsen) c) infusion mashing cannot produce beer with the same efficiency as stepping.

Thanks

Reply to
Leon Dale
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Yes, in theory...efficiency isd more related to grain crush and your lautering system.

Likely...I started crushing my grain more and my efficiency went up markedly

Have you had it tested? In theory, unless it's REALLY soft and has virtually no calcium, you should be OK

Not true...90% of the beers I make are single infusion. I use step mashing to control the body of the beer, not the efficiency.

----------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

So,

What about Batch Sparge? I stopped the sprinkler system, cause I thought too much heat loss and for a fact too much time.

Crush your own grain. How fine (subjective) do you go?

Add Calcium to the mash water. My calcium content as reported by the H2O board is 10ppm.

Thanks,

Leon

Denny C> Le> >

Reply to
Leon Dale

I'm a big batch sparge advocate...I worte an article for "Brew Your Own" a few months back detailing the technique. I have a more complete version on my website at

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(warning: the hbd server is down at the moment, so you may not be able to get to my page right away)

Well, as someone said "Crush it til you're scared!" I have quite a bit of flour in mine, but there are a lot of husks for filtering. Also, I use a stainless steel hose braid in my cooler, so it's pretty much immune to stuck runoffs. That lets me use a finer crush. With batch sparging, my efficiency runs 75-85%.

Seems low, but I don't have any reference material nearby at the moment. I'd advise you to check at

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----------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

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