[Like all, "The Basics," in the General Brewing Skills, Equipment etc, section, the following is not a definitive guide. It is simply a guide that will get a new brewer under way safely and with confidence. Please advise BIABrewer of any errors. Please justify, in full, any contrary topics that you may choose to start in this forum. If well-written and justified, they will be, "promoted," as best as we are able.]

[center]All brewers, new and experienced, are encouraged to start new topics in this section provided they have read the below.[/center]

[center]Currently being written by BIABrewer.[/center]


Overview

Mashing is the process where we add the grain to our hot liquor (water) and sugars are then leached from the grain into the liquor. This liquor becomes, “sweet liquor,” during the mashing process.

The temperatures and times at which grain is mashed affects some characteristics of the final beer. Some beers are mashed at different temperatures for varying lengths of time. New brewers need only concern themselves with what are known as, “single infusion,” mashes. Single infusion mashes hold the mash at a single temperature for the entire mash time. (BIABrewer recommends you mash for 90 minutes.)

Single infusion mashes are done somewhere between 62 C and 70 C. As a generalization, a beer that needs to be thin and dry would be brewed at the lowest end of the scale whilst a full-bodied, possibly sweet beer would be brewed at the higher end.

Many expert brewers brew gold medal winners just only single infusion mashes so the new brewer should never feel that recipes using this type of mash are lacking in any way. BIAB lends itself well to all types of mashing so if you develop an interest in other types of mashing down the track, all is well and good.

[center]All brewers, new and experienced, are encouraged to start new topics in this section provided they have read the above.[/center]