Me and 430 billion of my little friends are brewing this Friday, will be doing a decoction mash (single) for the first time. My idea is to pull the thickest part of the mash and heat in the alpha amylase range for a few minutes before taking it up to a boil. Then add back to mash and hope I hit my temps. For simplicity will fly sparge. These are the guidelines I'm basing my plan on. Any ideas or suggestions or pitfalls to avoid would be appreciated (and yes, I will have my stir-arm well rested).
I've decocted twice. I'd recommend pulling too much into a pot vs too little. You can always just add what is needed to hit your next temperature and leave the rest in the pot until you sparge. Yes, you'll want it thick. When you're in the pot, it's very likely that it will try to stick to the bottom of the pot. You'll probably need to stir very frequently for the first 10 minutes. After you start to get to a boil, the decoction magically loosens up. You don't need to stir as much. This is a worse idea than buying a boat, BTW. Good luck.
I brewed a single decoction on 09/20 for the first time. I pulled a gallon of wort and boiled it down to a pint during the mash. Thick, gooey substance not unlike LME. But I had no troubles during the process. I did stir the pot the entire time for fear of scorching.
Thats not decoction mashing, thats pulling a gallon of wort and boiling it down to a syrup. See this for a description: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Decoction_Mashing
^ Touche. But the word decoction means to concentrate a liquid by heating or boiling. So, maybe not a decoction mash, but still a decoction. I've never attempted any sort of step mashes.
As inchristin said, it's a good idea to pull a bigger decoction than you think you'll need. Also, don't plan anything else for the rest of your day.
A long time ago it was explained to me that a decoction was when you take some apart to make it, a concoction was when you put something together to make it. Concoction has a definition of boiling together. Just saying the brewing definition as discussed in Kaiser's page is what most agree on, but what you did could fit in as you boiled separate then added back.
I did my first decoction in May for an Oktoberfest which is now on tap and tasting great! It has a rich malt flavor which I think the decoction contributed to. I was planning to do the Hochkurz double decoction from the page linked by the OP, but wound up forgetting/skipping the second decoction. As others mentioned above, pull more than you think you need. I pulled extra and still had to add boiling water after returning the decoction to the main mash. Get stirring helpers if you can. My friend, my son, and I just kept trading off stirring responsibility for both 20 minutes raise to saccharification temp and 20 minute boil. It worked out very well, and none of us felt like our arm was going to fall off. Plan for higher efficiency. I usually get around 74% and got 83% with this decoction. When finished, enjoy the beer and don't let anyone tell you decoctions are not worth the effort! I'll be doing my next one for a Maibock in about a month.
Double Whammy? After spending all of yesterday on a boat, I decocted today. I have to say it wasn't quite as much of a minefield as I was expecting. On the 10 point Misery Scale I would rate it about 5.5, which for a homebrewer is a road well traveled. I do appreciative the advice given above . . . the trouble spots were pretty much as predicted.
I really loved this video, Not sure if you've seen it but I loved it! It inspires me to want to try it. Good luck on your brewday!!!
