All-grain brewing is a term used by homebrewers to describe a beer made by the homebrewer from grain rather than malt extract. The term may be misleading; "all-grain" beers may contain sugar or other adjuncts, spices, or flavorings, and of course extract is simply a concentrated "all-grain" wort.
What "all-grain" really means in the homebrewing community is that the brewer creates the wort from crushed grain through a process called "mashing". Most home brewers begin by brewing their first few batches, at least, using extract, before adding the extra complication (and equipment cost) of all-grain brewing.
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All-grain equipment
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There are a few key pieces of additional equipment needed to make all-grain batches:
- Grain mill
- The raw grain must be crushed before being added to the mash. If you want to avoid buying this fairly expensive piece of equipment, many homebrew stores will crush your grain for you, or, for smaller batches, you can crush your own using a bottle or rolling pin.
- Hot liquor tank
- Mashing and sparging (rinsing) the grain requires a large amount of hot water. Because you will be draining the wort out into your boil kettle, you will need a separate vessel to heat and store this hot water.
- Mash tun
- This is the vessel in which the grains will steep.
- Lauter tun
- Most homebrewers use a single vessel as both a mash tun and a lauter tun. The lauter tun is the vessel in which the sugars are rinsed from the grain.
Mashing
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Mashing is the process of soaking the grain bill in hot water for a period of time to allow the enzymes to convert starch into sugar. It also extracts colors and flavors from the grain. The following articles provide in-depth information on the science and theory behind the mashing process.
Mashing procedures
This section will become obsolete once the mashing procedures article is completed
Most modern malts require minimal time to convert the starch to sugar. Conversion times can be from as little as 20 minutes. Most homebrewers prefer to mash for at least 40 minutes with 60 and 90 minutes being typical whilst some homebrewers have been known to successfully leave a mash overnight with good results. To be sure of full conversion, i.e. no starch left, an iodine test can be used.
- Single Infusion Mash
- The mash water is added all at once and the mash is held at a steady temperature for the entire mash session.
- Step-Mashing with Hot Water Infusions
- Several "rests" are taken at certain temperature plateaus, with the heat being increased via the addition of hot water to the mash.
- Step-Mashing with Direct Heat
- Several "rests" are taken at certain temperature plateaus, with the heat being increased via a heating source applied directly to the mash tun.
- Decoction mashing
- The parts of the mash are boiled and added to the main mash to reach the desired mash rests
- Other mashing procedures
- cereal (adjunct) mashing, ...
Water Ratios
Depending on the type of mashing process, the overall water/grain ratio is an important figure. It affects the enzymatic activity and to a lesser degree the extraction of tannins from the husks. Thicker mashes tend to produce more fermentable worts due to the protective effect that they have on the beta amylase. Thinner mashes are better suited for the production of lighter coloured and more delicately beers (Munich Helles or Pilsners for example) since they result in more of the desirable first wort and less sparge water is used, but they are generally not as efficient as thicker mashes since less sparge water is used. These are common ratios used by home brewers:
- 1.1 - 1.25 quarts water per pound of grain (2.2 - 2.5 l/kg): American and English style Ales, high gravity beers
- 1.3 - 1.5 quarts water per pound of grain (3 - 3.5 l/kg): dark lagers, decoction mashes
- 1.8 - 2.0 quarts water per pound of grain (4 - 5 l/kg): light and delicate lagers
Though these water/grist ratios are general guidelines, they often need to be abandoned if the equipment (e.g. mash tun volume and total grain weight) is the limiting factor
Strike Temperature
The Strike Temperature is the temperature of the wort after the heated strike water is added. While it varies depending on the variables, it is generally 10-15 degrees (f) higher than the target wort temperature; however, this is far from exact and is not reliable if using an insulated mash tun where adding direct heat is not possible. Using a calculation of the grain weight, water volume, and desired wort first strike temperature, you can determine the required temperature of the strike water prior to adding it to the grain. Given the variables involved, this temperature will differ from batch to batch. Most brewing software programs contain a calculator widget that easily calculates this figure for you. Alternately, utilizing an algebraic equation, the calcs can be done manually; John Palmer's How To Brew features a page that lays out the equation in its entirety:
Initial Infusion Equation
Strike Water Temperature Tw = (.2/r)(T2 - T1) + T2
Mash Infusion Equation
Wa = (T2 - T1)(.2G + Wm)/(Tw - T2)
where:
- r = The ratio of water to grain in quarts per pound.
- Wa = The amount of boiling water added (in quarts).
- Wm = The total amount of water in the mash (in quarts).
- T1 = The initial temperature (¡F) of the mash.
- T2 = The target temperature (¡F) of the mash.
- Tw = The actual temperature (¡F) of the infusion water.
- G = The amount of grain in the mash (in pounds).
The infusion water does not have to be boiling, a common choice is to use the sparge water at 170¡F. Then TB becomes 170 ¡F and more water (Wa) will be needed to make up the additional quantity of heat.
Lautering
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The process of rinsing the sweet wort from the grains.
- Fly Sparging
- Mash out, recirculation, and sparging
- Batch Sparging
- Adding the sparge water in batches rather than a continual feed
- No sparge method
