r/Homebrewing • u/Professional_Pen69 • Jul 14 '26

Triple decoction czech

I made a triple decoction mash today. I expected a moment of artisan brewers smugness to go through the decoction mash process. Nope.

Instead I feel relief. I feel an emotional bond with long distance rowers. My arms are worn down to nubs. Stirred constantly alternating hands but quite the workout.

Wort is in the fermenter. Yeast is pitched. I couldn't find the clean up fairy. Fingers crossed she does her visit tonight!

Edit. I did my clean up the next day. Im quite fit, but man, my arms really did take a bit to recover.

Ive had a moment to reflect on the making of this triple decoction. The cool part was as the third decoction went through the boil the pilsner malt changed colour from milky white to a light caramel colour.

On clean up there wasn't scorching on the base of my G30, so my stirring worked. Initially I scraped some black goo off as I was ramping up to boil so I wasn't convinced that the G30 heating element was a good option for decoction. That proved to be unfounded, just the porridge needed constant stirring.

I gained an appreciation for recirculation in the mash and PID temp control. It really does make it easy to hit your numbers, and control the brew day.

I also appreciated the skills of European master brewers who choose to keep the artisanal techniques alive and their ability to deliver exceptional beers. It's a labour of love.

would i do it again? depends how the beer turns out, but I feel this is a process that needs refining as it has so many variables and im keen to continue. although I will rope in a mate to help as the porridge stirring is a proper endurance workout.

21 Upvotes

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4 comments sorted by

5

u/seamus_quigley Jul 14 '26

Decoction brewing is definitely best done with friends.

2

u/IakwBoi Jul 14 '26

I’ve never done a decoction but once I boiled a wort from 6 gallons to 3 gallons and I did feel a little smug about that

2

u/TheGey-88 Jul 14 '26

Man I remember making my one and only triple decocted Czech in July🥵☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
It turned out great, which was good because it was beer for my wedding, but I’m surprised it didn’t turn out salty with as sweaty as I was next to my burner that day.
Not a lesson I will forget….say it with me class,
“DON’T BREW TRIPLE DECOCTIONS IN THE SUMMER.”

1

u/ant_topps Jul 16 '26

Still on my to do list.