What temperature should I mash at？

Some craft beer enthusiasts often struggle with which temperature range to use for saccharification and how long is the right time for home brewing? Because in the saccharification process, the action of various enzymes determines the proportion of fermentable sugars in the wort, the proportion of fermentable sugars determines the final fermentation degree, and the final fermentation degree determines the alcohol content and characteristics of the beer, and temperature affects the enzymes. important conditions for activity.

To prevent the destruction of various enzymes in malt due to high temperature conditions, the temperature change during brewhouse is generally from low temperature to high temperature. The best temperature of an enzyme is maintained for a certain period of time to decompose the corresponding substrate as much as possible. This period of time is called the resting time, and the temperature is called the resting temperature. The resting temperature of the saccharification stage should be adapted to the best temperature of different enzymes as much as possible, so on exert the largest potential of various enzymes.

The most important enzymes in the saccharification process are protease, alpha-amylase and beta-amylase. The best temperature of protease in the mash is 50°~55°C, and the protein is rested in this temperature range to decompose the protein to the required degree. The length of resting time is related to the quality of malt. Malt with insufficient solubility can prolong the resting time of protein to make up for the lack of germination. Malt with good solubility can shorten the protein rest time to avoid excessive protein decomposition. The normal protein rest time will not exceed 1 hour.

The best action temperature of amylase is 60～65 ℃: at this temperature, insulation saccharification makes reducing sugar increase in the mash, and the color that starch and iodine (0.02mol/L) react in the mash becomes lighter, until colorless and mashed completely. The rest of this time is the useful and most important resting stage of saccharification, due to the action of beta-amylase, the starch hydrolyzes the next maltose in turn. So, it is also called maltose rest, and normal malt can be completely saccharified within 1 hour. Alpha-amylase is still active at higher temperature, such as 70 ℃～72 ℃, keep warm for a period of time at this temperature, give full play to the effect of alpha-amylase, and the dextrin that produces can be continued by the residual starch. Enzyme action to improve starch use. This time does not need to be too long, 20 minutes is enough.

Also, if the activity of β-glucanase and phosphatase is to be utilized, a lower feeding temperature (35～40°C) can be adopted, and a period of rest at the feeding temperature can be used, or it can be and warming up to protein rest. temperature.

Be warming up to filtration temperature 76 ℃～78 ℃ after saccharification finishes, this temperature can stop the work of enzyme, make saccharification no longer continue, also improve filtration temperature while stabilizing saccharification process, can reduce wort viscosity like this, improve Filtration speed, because the viscosity of the mash at 78°C is only 1/2 of that at 40°C.

The above are the normal saccharification process temperatures, and there are also special saccharification processes. Such as the jump saccharification method: after saccharification with a concentrated mash at 35°C, add 100°C hot water to make the mash temperature reach 72°C (the best temperature for α-amylase). With this method, the action temperature of β-amylase is skipped at 65°C. Although α-amylase is saccharified, most of its products are dextrins, which cannot be utilized by yeast, resulting in a lower final fermentation degree of beer ( about 40%). Saccharification at 75°C can increase the activity of α-amylase by 5~10%. This method is used to produce low-alcohol or non-alcohol beer.