The Great Decoction Experiment
Welcome to the web page for "The Great Decoction Experiment"!  The purpose of the experiment is to attempt to determine the flavor impact of decoction on various beer styles.  For the sake of accuracy, we're going to confine our goals to 2 things....can you tell the difference between decocted and non decocted beers, and which do you prefer.  The concept came about after I brewed 2 back to back batches of North German pils last year and found that there was no detectable difference between a decocted batch and a single infusion batch.  Here's the basics...

You need to brew 2 batches of beer using the same recipe.  On one recipe, use a decoction mash.  On the other, use an infusion mash.  I'd like to see you use a step infusion mash that duplicates the temp. steps of your decoction.  That will eliminate one variable from the results.  But if you want to do a single infusion, that's OK, too.  Just be sure that when you report your results, you tell me what the grist bill and mash schedule was for each batch.  As much as possible, use grains and hops from the same bags for each batch to eliminate that variable.  Let the 2 batches age for about the same length of time...at least a month or 2.  Then set up a blind tasting to compare the 2 batches.  What you want to get from the participants is an idea of which beer they preferred and if they think they can tell which was decocted and which wasn't.  There is some speculation that decoction makes more difference for darker beers than lighter ones, so if you have the time and energy, try 2 different styles.  I'm going to be doing batches of Munich dunkel for the dark beer and N. German pils for the light beer,  but feel free to choose your own style or styles.

In the upcoming weeks, I'll post forms here to report the recipe and mash schedule for each batch and to report the tasting results.  I'd like to get everybody's info by early May so we can publish the results in Zymurgy in summer or fall.

Check back in here every so often, as I refine the goals and specs and post the forms.  If you have questions, send me email at here.

Thanks for your help in this!  Maybe we'll come up with a definitive answer, but at the least, I hope we can give homebrewers everywhere some intelligent feedback on our own experiences.
 
 

          ------------------>Denny
 
 

WHAT TO DO
It's important that both batches be as similar as possible.  Use the exact same malt, hops, and yeast in the exact same amounts.  There has been speculation that the temp schedule also has an impact, so it would be great to do a step mash schedule that mirrors the decoction schedule.  However, I'm also interested in seeing how the simplest way to brew (i.e., single infusion) compares to the most difficult way (multiple decoction).  Keep careful records of the extract recipe (including brand of malt).  I'll post a brewer's report form here soon, and besides the ingredients I'll want to know things like mash temp, mash time, boil time and how many decoctions you did and how long each was boiled, OG, FG, and efficiency.  If you have ideas about other things to track, please email me.

After the beers have aged a sufficient amount of time, set up a blind tasting.  I'll post report forms for those here, too.  As the brewer, you shouldn't participate in the tasting, but there will be a place on the report form to write your own comments about the 2 beers.  In the interest of brevity (and laziness!), I'm going to assume everyone knows how to set up a blind tasting, but if not, let me know.

REPORTING YOUR RESULTS
Below are links to the Brewer's Report form, Taster's report form and Taster's Report Cover Sheet.  Thanks to Dave Kravitz and Nick Zeigler for their help with the forms.  You can right click on each and choose "Save As" to download them.  Fill out the Brewer's report as fully as possible .  Add any info that you've collected that I've forgotten to ask for!  Print out a copy of the Taster's report for each participant in the blind tasting.  If possible, have a copy of the BJCP style guidelines available to check each style.  Remember, the beers don't necessarily have to be appropriate to style, though.  Although we're mainly interested in comments about the malt flavor and body of each style, comments about other characteristics are appropriate in the context of their balance with the malt.  Once again, add any info you feel should be on there that I've left out.  You can email the results to here  or mail hard copy to:

Denny Conn
261 E. 12th  Ste. 260
Eugene  OR  97401

Again, if there's info that you think should be included that I've missed, please let me know ASAP and include it on your own data sheets.  OK, here are the links...
 

 Brewer's Report Form
 Taster Report Form
 Taster Report Form Cover Sheet