Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Im just wondering why some guys mash for up to 8 hrs. If we can do an iodine test after as little as one hour and make the assumption that there's no remaining starch in the mash then what would be the point of mashing for longer?

I forgot to mention that I was specifically referring to single malt whiskies.

I keep mashing till gravity stops rissing. 5ish hours for 14kg grain at 3l/kg thickness..

bluc wrote:I keep mashing till gravity stops rissing. 5ish hours for 14kg grain at 3l/kg thickness..

Ok so what's your pre-sparge gravity and FG when mashing a scotch style. Also what FG do you aim for?

Still very new highest sg I have had is 1.069 pre sparge I am not sure off hand but all my mashing info is in this thread https://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10493 :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I think that you aim for as high a pre-sparge gravity as possible because when you sparge you’re getting the last of the sugars out, but there’s a trade off in that you dilute the final starting gravity... if that makes sense?!?

If you start of with a lower gravity and then sparge, your starting gravity will be diluted (Read lower) and you’ll end up with a lower yield. I’ve done 5 AGs now, the first 3 ended up being 1.040–1.043 and we ended up with 1.2-1.3L @ 65% that’s from 15Kgs of grain... so I was not overly excited by that yield.

Taste tests on these are remarkably smooth, tho!
Mtge last 2, we sparked for 5 & 9 hours. The SG were 1.081 & 1.086, these are just about finished fermenting so not sure how much they will yield, but from initial playing around I’m expecting 3-4L @ 65%... so will see.

If they turn out NOT to be as smooth/good then I’ll be working towards a lower SG as suggested above. These guys have been at it a lot longer than me and have been very open in sharing...

Look forward to hearing your thought on the higher gravity ezi. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

bluc wrote:Look forward to hearing your thought on the higher gravity ezi. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I have everything crossed! Hard to drive, but I’m getting used to it! 8-}

yes, let us know your results ezi.
my first all grain: 12kg grain + 35L strike water, 2.5h mash at 66C, pre-sparge SG: 1.074, sparged with ~15L to get volume to ~42L. post sparge SG: 1.070, fermented for 2 weeks, final SG 1.020. yield: 2.6L @85% after cuts (probably close to 4 L total). quite smooth but needs ageing.
cheers rs

@rumsponge Nailed it :D