This xBmt was completed by a member of The Brü Club as a part of The Brü Club xBmt Series in collaboration with Brülosophy. While members who choose to participate in this series generally take inspiration from Brülosophy, the bulk of design, writing, and editing is handled by members. Articles featured on Brulosophy.com are selected by The Brü Club leadership prior to being submitted for publication. Visit The Brü Club website for more information on this series.

Author: Scott Mendes

Time is everything when it comes to brewing beer. It can be the deciding factor for a great brew day or whether one transpires at all. The changing of time and process length to achieve different results is practiced across many, if not all, aspects of brewing. These methods can often be used to produce similar results to that of a standard brew day but in a shorter timeframe. Missed your target OG? Boil longer to achieve the target gravity. Is the set it and forget it method not working out for that party you promised to bring beer to? Speed up the process and force carbonate the keg. Want juicy flavor and aroma without the bitterness? Move boil additions to flame out and whirlpool.

But what about mashing? Can the same ideology be applied? A 60 minute mash is regularly considered to not only be the standard approach but also part of the brewing process that shouldn’t be deviated from too much. At least that’s what blogs, books, and forum post have led me to believe time and time again. What if there was another way? A time saving method with no adverse effects on the quality of beer produced. As part of the Bru Club Experiment series, I decided to conduct the 60 vs 20 minute mash experiment in hopes of answering some questions I wanted first-hand answers to.

| PURPOSE |

To assess the differences between a 20 minute mash rest and a 60 minute mash rest in beers that are otherwise treated identically.

| METHODS |

I chose to brew a Blonde Ale recipe of mine for its light and simple profile to allow any and all differences to be perceptible.

Blushh Blonde Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 4.8 gal 60 min 25.6 IBUs 3.9 SRM 1.047 1.008 5.1 % Actuals 1.047 1.007 5.3 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pale Malt, 2-Row (Rahr) 6.125 lbs 81.67 Great Western White Wheat Malt 10 oz 8.33 Vienna Malt (Weyermann) 8 oz 6.67 Honey Malt (Gambrinus) 4 oz 3.33 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Magnum 6 g 60 min Boil Pellet 14.4 Centennial 6 g 30 min Boil Pellet 8 Willamette 11 g 15 min Boil Pellet 4.9 Willamette 11 g 10 min Boil Pellet 4.9 Centennial 11 g 5 min Boil Pellet 8 Miscs Name Amount Time Use Type Whirlfloc Tablet 1.00 Items 10 min Boil Fining Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Safale American (US-05) DCL/Fermentis 77% 59°F - 75°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 53 | Mg 7 | Na 5 | SO4 77 | Cl 64



Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

I started my brew morning by adding distilled water to my Grainfather and starting a session through the Grainfather Connect app. While water was heating, I added the required amount of brewing salts and acid in order to achieve my desired water profile.

I weighed out the grains for both batches but only milled one set at a time since I would be brewing the batches consecutively.

Once the mash water reached the programmed temperature of 149°F/65°C, I mashed in. About 30 later, I started heating sparge water on my kitchen stove and added the specified amount of brewing salts. When the 60 minute mash was done, I sparged then used my HotRod heat stick to assist in the boiling process.

Over a 60 minute boil the hops were added per the recipe’s schedule.

When the boil was finished, I ran through the Grainfather CFC into a sanitized 5 gallon glass carboy.

After sealing the carboy with a solid rubber stopper and putting it in my fermentation chamber, I gave my Grainfather a good cleaning in preparation for the next batch. Aside from mashing for only 20 minutes, the second batch was treated identically to the first. The time period that passed between batch being finished was just under 4.5 hours. Some differences were immediately noticeable.

Refractometer readings showed a smaller difference in OG than I expected.

I let the worts sit in my chamber until both were stabilized at 65°F/18°C before pitching 2 packs of Safale US-05 into each one.

Observing the fermentation over the course of seven days was the single most fascinating aspect of this experiment. One could assume a shorter mash would equate to less robust fermentation, but that is not what I observed at all. Fermentation seemed to not only kick off a little faster in the 20 minute mash beer, it also appeared to be more active. Active to the point where I considered changing the airlock to a blow off hose. This made absolutely no sense to me, it still doesn’t. The kräusen developed and filled the headspace of the carboy to the very top. The 60 minute mash beer had plenty of kräusen development, it just wasn’t the same level of activity and always seemed to be a day behind the 20 minute mash batch.

One area in which I was completely blindsided by was the shorter mashes effect on color. I had read about how long boils can produce darker wort, but have never heard of a longer mash doing the same. Assuming that was what happened in this instant case. The first apparent difference between the batches were noticed when I placed the carboys of wort side by side. At this point in time the 60 minute batch had been settling inside a fermentation chamber for about 4 1/2 hours and the 20 minute batch just finished being transferred; once fermentation kicked off, the difference in color between the batches was less stark, though I still noticed a difference toward the end of fermentation

By day 7, gravity readings had become static with the 60 minute mash beer at 0.003 SG points lower than the 20 minute mash beer.

I swapped out the airlocks for solid stoppers and began cold crashing. Neither beer was fined with gelatin. A few days later, I pressure transferred the beers to sanitized and CO2 purged kegs that were then placed in my keezer.

The beers were conditioned on gas for a week before being served to participants.

| RESULTS |

A total of 20 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 2 samples of the 60 minute mash beer and 1 sample of the 20 minute mash beer in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. At this sample size, 11 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, though only 9 (p=0.19) made the accurate selection, indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Blonde Ale mashed for 60 minutes from one mashed for 20 minutes.

My Impressions: Fully aware of the variable, these beers tasted incredibly close to one another, though I was convinced I perceived slight nuances that differentiated them. I felt the 60 minute mash beer had slightly more body and left a lingering coating of flavor in my mouth after every sip. Despite finishing with a higher FG, I perceived the 20 minute mash beer as thinner and slightly dryer in the finish. Convinced I’d be able to distinguish these beers, I attempted 4 blind triangle test myself and picked the unique sample only once, and that honestly was a total guess on my part.

| DISCUSSION |

Mashing is said to have a noticeable impact on such areas as body, mouthfeel, head retention, flavor, and yeast attenuation. All pretty important areas that can easily make or break a beer. Going into this experiment, I totally expected the 60 minute mash beer to not only be easily distinguishable from the 20 minute mash beer for me, but anyone who tried them. In my mind, there was no way a 40 minute mash swing wouldn’t have repercussions for the end product. In the end, these beers turned out more alike than not, as tasters were unable to reliably tell them apart.

Appearance-wise, the 20 minute mash beer ended up being a tiny bit darker, which I attribute to the fact the it didn’t drop as clear as the 60 minute. Neither batch was brilliantly clear, but there was a noticeable difference when placed side by side.

Another area that was impacted by the 20 minute mash was attenuation. The 60 minute mash batch went from a 1.046 OG down to a 1.007 FG for an apparent attenuation of 85% while the 20 minute mash batch started at 1.045 OG and ended at 1.010 FG, putting it at 78% apparent attenuation.

I learned pretty quick when I started homebrewing that every homebrewer has their own methods. Methods they would often advocate as being the way to do something. I imagine this has been going on long before I got into the hobby. Unfortunately, one size does not fit all when it comes to brewing. What works for you may not work for me. What works at the commercial level, may not work the same when homebrewing. Because of this, the level of experimentation on the homebrew scale seems to be constantly evolving. Homebrewers are always asking themselves, “what if I do this with that?” and so on. Having this type of mentality is half the fun and what has kept me, and I’m sure others, interested in homebrewing.

If you step back and forget the 60 minute mash batch ever existed, I have doubts anyone would speculate about anything being done differently with the 20 minute mash batch, and the feedback from participants was high for both beers. I’m not sure this method can work for any given style, but I definitely plan on experimenting with it more to find out.

| About The Author |

Scott is a homebrewer from New Bedford, MA who is passionate about learning, brewing, and discovering styles he’s never heard of before. His obsession with homebrewing began in June 2017 and somehow he has managed to not only remain married, but he’s also a great dad. While his favorite style of beer to drink and brew is the all divisive New England IPA, he’s in fact a lover of all things IPA, Pilsner, and Stout. In hopes of refining his brewing process, he’s always in search of new ingredients, equipment, and methods to put to the test.

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