Monster Mash Recipe
Introduction by Mark Tumarkin
A few weeks ago, Bruce requested recipe information on the Monster Mash beers. The following is Dave's reply to the Hogtown List with recipe specifics and info. I thought that it should probably be put on our website for archival purposes. Then, I thought no; that's not a good idea since he reveals our deep, dark secret. But what the hell; here it is just to put to rest that old belief that a winning wheat beer needs to have some wheat.
* * * * * * * * * * * Bruce Here's the recipe for the Monster Mash. I'm transmitting via Onelist in case anyone else wants to see it. Recipe for 25 gallons: Malt Bill 22 lbs Weyermann Pilsner Malt 20 lbs Weyermann Light Munich Malt Mashed in at 160¡F which was too high, so we used ice cubes in the mash to reduce temp to 150¡F. Due to various Snafus, the mash lasted almost 2 hours which was well past complete conversion. We sparged into a 15 gallon drum for dispersal to the 5 brewpots. We only measured the O.G. in one of the carboys and it was 1.044. The final gravity in the two batches that I fermented was 1.009. Hop Bill per each 5 gallon brewpot: 3/4 oz. Of 10.2 AA Northern Brewer, 60 min. for 7.65 HBU Bittering 1 oz. Flavor Hops for 10 minutes 1 oz. Aroma Hops at knock out. In each 5 gallon brewpot, the flavor and aroma hops were of the same variety. The five varieties used were Cascade, Centennial, Fuggles, Kent Goldings, and Saaz. The batch with Saaz was the one that won second place in light ales at the Sunshine Challenge entered as an American Wheat Yeast was Wyeast 1056 Chico from a 1qt / 5 gal starter. Fermented at 65¡F. Comments: The beer was much more attenuated than I would have expected based on the high initial mash temp. All of the literature that I have read indicates that Beta Amylase should be denatured fairly quickly at 160¡F. I think that the initial high mash temp resulted in conversion of a large portion of the available starch to dextrin, but that there was sufficient Beta Amylase to further break down the dextrins once the mash temperature was reduced. Since the monster mash, I have experimented with a mash regimen starting with a 10 minute rest at 160¡ and then reducing temp to 150¡ for about an hour. The resulting beers have been very well attenuated, have converted more quickly than with a single temperature rest at 150¡, and mash efficiency has been slightly higher. The Monster Mash beers were ok, but I think that they could have been improved by increasing the starting gravity by about 10% and the hopping rate by about 20%. Unfortunately, we were at the practical limits of my mash tun, and kinda brewing by the seat of our pants. Hope this is of use. DaveBack to December 2000 front page
Hogtown Brewers Newsletter
December 2000