Victor's Grape Arbor
Victor's Grape Arbor
Simple Infusion Mashing Instructions
I. Bring One (I) quart of water per pound of grain to 160°F (EXAMPLE: 8 lbs. of grain = 8 qts. water).
2. Stir mash every 3-5 minutes and maintain as constant temperature as possible above 152°F for one hour.
3. After one hour of mashing, taste the mash; it should be sweet. Test the mash for starch by taking a tablespoon of wort and put it on a plate. Add a drop of iodine and stir. No color change indicates a successful conversion. If the color changes to blue, this indicates that starch is still present; Continue to mash for 15 minutes. (Discard the test sample).
4. Sparge (rinse) the mash with 175°- 180° water until the sparge water runs clear.
5. Boil the wort, adding the hops incrementally every 10 minutes for one hour. Add the higher alpha acid hops (boiling) in the beginning and the lower alpha acid hops (finish) the last 3-5 minutes. Add one level tsp. Irish Moss the last 12-15 minutes of the boil.
6. At the end of the boil, turn off heat and let the pot stand for 10-I5 minutes.
7. Strain out the hops and using a wort chiller, cool the wort to 50°-55°F for lagers, or 65°-70°F for ales.
8. Pitch the yeast. Dry yeast should be hydrated in 8 oz. 85°-95°F water with one tsp. dextrose or dry malt 15-20 min. before pitching. Liquid yeast cultures should be activated as per instructions on the package. Always acclimate the yeast culture to the same temperature as the wort before pitching.