Extract Decoction?

[iahebert]

So... been about 6 months since I’ve brewed, and I’m looking to get back into it, but more of a 'let's ease back in with an extract' batch.

Thinking about doing a bock or doppelbock, and I want something really malty and sweet. What I’ve seen says that a decoction mash is what I need to really obtain that sweetness, but with an extract batch, I don't know if this is something that can be achieved.

Is it possible (aka would it make any difference) to do some sort of decoction boil? Say I took a bit of my boiling wort out, boiled it down, added to the boil, and even repeated. Does anyone think that would do anything to the final product or am I just crazy and off-base?

[Beer Martin]

You could do a partial mash on the stove in a 1 or 2 gallon pot.

Use about 2-3 pounds of grain (what ever you can fit in your pot and give you room to stir).

Put the grain in the pot and add about enough water to cover. Semi-slowly (about 15-30 mins) raise the temperature to about 150 degrees F. Hold at 150 for about 20-30 minutes. (The grain will absorb some of the water, make sure it doesn't go dry, just top it off as needed, but don't flood the pot or you'll have some trouble with the decoction.)

Now after the 20-30 minute rest at 150, raise the temperature to boiling. Stir the hell out of the grain (your arm will feel like death if done properly). Just keep the thick grain bubbling for 15-45 minutes. It will look kind of like a porridge if done correctly (not real watery).

Here's the biggest hurdle. You need to sparge (or run hot water through the grain (at about 170 degrees).

A few sparge ideas:

1) Batch type sparge: You could pour the grain into a grain bag into your brew pot. Add room temp water until the liquid gets to about 170. Let it sit for 5-10 mins then just pull the grain bag out (dont squeeze, but let it drip). Just top off your brew pot with your normal boil volume and proceed as usual for the extract batch.

2) I'd still try to get the mash into a grain bag (just be carefule). If you have a metal collinder (strainer), you could put your grain bag into it then just run water through the bag into the brew pot.

3) If you havea minimash setup, just sparge as usual.

Good luck, make some good beer!
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[Beer Martin]

Is it possible (aka would it make any difference) to do some sort of decoction boil? Say I took a bit of my boiling wort out, boiled it down, added to the boil, and even repeated. Does anyone think that would do anything to the final product or am I just crazy and off-base?

No, I don't think that would give you what you want. Just a lot of extra work. You'll need to actually mash and boil some grain.

The positives are you can rig something using things you already own to accomplish this.
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[texasliam]

You could do an extract boil with half the water. That will carmalize the wort to some degree, and lowers the hop utilization which increases the impression of sweetness. I used to make beer the wrong way doing this back a while. I had orange colored wit beer, sweet as can be.
Liam

[markaberrant]

Just get some munich extract if you can.