Mashout

[alb]

I saw some comments about mashout in the double crush thread and I remembered this interesting blurb from How to Brew by John Palmer. I still usually do a mashout, but I don't have a good reason, I guess.

What is Mashout?

Before the sweet wort is drained from the mash and the grain is rinsed (sparged) of the residual sugars, many brewers perform a mashout. Mashout is the term for raising the temperature of the mash to 170°F prior to lautering. This step stops all of the enzyme action (preserving your fermentable sugar profile) and makes the grainbed and wort more fluid. For most mashes with a ratio of 1.5-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, the mashout is not needed. The grainbed will be loose enough to flow well. For a thicker mash, or a mash composed of more than 25% of wheat or oats, a mashout may be needed to prevent a Set Mash/Stuck Sparge. This is when the grain bed plugs up and no liquid will flow through it. A mashout helps prevent this by making the sugars more fluid; like the difference between warm and cold honey. The mashout step can be done using external heat or by adding hot water according to the multi-rest infusion calculations. (See chapter 16.) A lot of homebrewers tend to skip the mashout step for most mashes with no consequences.

[Beer-lord]

I still sometimes mash out with a BIAB which is not needed.

[bpgreen]

I generally don't, but my efficiency isn't all that great, and that may be one of the reasons.

[John Sand]

A good quote, thanks. I don't really mash out, though sometimes I sparge with hot water.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I guess old habits are hard to break. I started doing a mashout when I first brewed on my system and just continued doing it.

[BigPapaG]

With the Partial Mash brews I do...

No mashout.

I do sparge with 170°F water though.

[HerbMeowing]

I suspect a fair amount of the Palmer quote wouldn't survive http://brulosophy.com/exbeeriments/
---
My process:
Mash ends. Draw 1st runnings.

Sparge1 hot enough to raise grain-bed temperature to 168°F.
When grain bed temperature = ~150 ... sparge water temperature = ~200°F.
YMMV.

Sparge2 hot enough to return grain-bed temperature to 168°F.
Usually the lo-170s.

Can't complain.
Average extract efficiency ~85% (yield 31).
---
Taste test a pinch of mash after your last sparge.
You'll know you done good if t'ain't the least bit sweet.
.

[FedoraDave]

I've never performed a mashout, and while I've had a couple of stuck sparges, they weren't because the grain bed was too thick; they were because of equipment failure/user error. If I'm using a good amount of wheat or oats or rye in my recipe, I add rice hulls.

My procedure is similar to Herb's. Draw the first runnings, sparge for 15 minutes with very hot water (I usually go with temps between 170 and 175). Collect those runnings and sparge again for 15 minutes with 170 - 175 degree water to reach pre-boil volume.

I usually hit my projected OG, or come within +/- 0.002, but I'm making beer, not sending a rocket to the moon, so I don't get my shorts in a wad over the numbers too much.

[MrBandGuy]

I still sometimes mash out with a BIAB which is not needed.

See, I've found higher efficiency when I DO mash out, and I always BiaB. But, I don't always sparge, so that's the trade off I guess.