Getting into All Grain

[Bruno_78]

I am soon going to be getting into all grain brewing, and I have done a lot of reading on the subject. But there is one thing that is still a little foggy. What is actually going on during the mashing process? Is the grain just sitting in the hot water for a period of time? Does the brewer have specific tasks during this time? I've got a pretty full understanding of the boiling stage, fermentation, bottling and of course, drinking. It's just mashing part that I don't fully comprehend.

Thanks in advance.

[Tweek]

The brewer is just "sitting" there during this time. I myself like to take this opportunity to drink a couple beers. Basically what is happening is that you are stewing the grains in hot water (at a specic temp typically around 152) and the heat/water is converting the enzymes in the grain to sugar. Then when it is done converting all the enzymes into sugar you do your sparging , which is where you collect all that sugar water or wort.

[Beerconnoisseur]

What Tweek said. But, the enzymes are what convert the grain starches to sugars. The enzymes are active at different temperatures, so you pick one (or more) temperatures to give you the precise characteristics you want your beer to have. Then, the sparging (@ 170 degrees) stops the enzyme conversion; the additional heat is what breaks them down once they've done their job.

Tweek knows all this, of course. He just likes pulling the leg of new AG brewers. ;)

EDIT: Palmer's online book, found here (http://www.howtobrew.com) is a great reference you can use, too.

[Tweek]

lol! yeah sometimes in my effort to keep it simple I skip over a few things :)