Interpreting recipes

[hoppyscotty]

Hi, new to brewing and still only 3 or 4 brews. Have 'invested' in a Brewzilla and done a couple of brews on it so far. Currently to keep things simple I'm currently all grain recipe kits from the Malt Miller with pre-measured packets for the grain, hops and yeast and use Brewfather to plan the brewday. I'm looking at a Verdant IPA recipe kit from Malt Miller for the next brew and in the method description excludes a mash out. Not sure if this is standard for this style of beer, but I've always done a mash out and sparge with the Brewzilla and got good results pretty much hitting my numbers so reluctant to deviate from my normal process unless, of course, there is a specific reason related to that style of beer.

Am I being too anal with the process or are these published methods deliberately a bit loose and not too specific to account for the variety of kit and methods people have? Other Verdant IPA recipes I've seen on YouTube and other places seem to include the mash out as usual.

Thanks, Scott

 

[Banbeer]

Hi Scott, some brewers mash out some don't. I myself have only just started to do it recently as I read on here somewhere (can't remember where) that it can help a brew. If I am in a rush I will leave it out and haven't noticed any differences to BHE or the final taste.

 

[Tom Parsons]

I can't believe mashing out will ever have a negative impact on a brew. Feel free to do it whatever the recipe says. It's not uncommon for recipes to be a little 'breif'.

 

[Galena]

I have never done a mash out, who knows if my brew may have been better with one, however John Palmer authoor of How to Brew says this:

Even though the brewing process does not require it, many brewers perform a mash out before the wort is drained from the mash and the grain is rinsed (sparged) of residual sugars. This stops all of the enzyme action, preserving your fermentable sugar profile, and makes the grain bed and wort more fluid. For most mashes with a ratio of 3-4 litres/kg a mash out is not needed because the grain bed is loose enough to flow quite well. For a thicker mash it might be helpful to prevent a set mash or stuck sparge, that is, where there is no flow. A mash out helps prevent this by making the sugars more fluid.

 

[Stonedhouse]

I've done Brews in a Brewzilla Robobrew both with and without a Mash out and have not noticed a perceivable difference in the outcome.

I have always found my sparging to be slightly faster rather than slower than preferred (I use both lower screens and the top screen in the Robobrew) so I would not want to do anything that makes the grain bed more fluid to speed the sparge up even more, hence now moving away from Mashing out.

Whilst you are still getting to grips with things I would always recommend leaning towards what the recipe says each time, until you feel up for experimenting. The Malt Miller recipes have always done me well by the way.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thanks. I'll stick with the recipe then. Wasn't sure if it misses out the mash out step because its not called for or necessary, or just not being particularly specific and leaving it upto the brewer to apply their usual brewing process. I quite like doing the mash out as it feels like a specific act that marks the end of the main mash process, but if its not essential I'll follow the recipe guidance. I need to get a copy of that John Palmer book. It seems to crop up alot as one of the go-to guides.