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Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 11:56 am
by nzl.james
Hi all,

I was cooking my first large scale mash and it smells burnt and has some black kernels swimming in the mash.

Is it worth continuing?

It is a 100 litre mash with 22kg corn. I added the corn to a boiling pot with the gas still burning and continued cooking with gas for about 1 hour. I have let it sit overnight. Its time to add the malt (65deg C) but I'm not sure if I should waste the malt trying to continue?

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 12:07 pm
by Expat
In my experience, scorch carries over into the product, so it may be better to cut your losses. YMMV

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 12:12 pm
by seabass
Expat wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 12:07 pm In my experience, scorch carries over into the product, so it may be better to cut your losses. YMMV
That's been my experience as well. I hoped I could remove it by redistilling, but I was mistaken. It was terrible.

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 2:21 pm
by cob
could be you could make some smokey holler hand sanitizer, and sacrificial run product. :think:

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 2:35 pm
by HDNB
seabass wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 12:12 pm
Expat wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 12:07 pm In my experience, scorch carries over into the product, so it may be better to cut your losses. YMMV
That's been my experience as well. I hoped I could remove it by redistilling, but I was mistaken. It was terrible.
+1

yup we all try that.

once.

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 3:31 pm
by nzl.james
Haha thanks for the advice. Looks like a pretty clear consensus.

I have transferred the mash to a plastic drum, added 3kg of distillers malt and 2 packs of high temp alpha amylase (24grams total, that's the only enzyme I had) at a temp of 60deg C.

I want to continue the process for practise as I'm new to corn mashes. I was trying to add the minimum malt so not to waste it, but I still want it to convert and ferment.

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 5:43 pm
by rubber duck
No. A burnt mash is pretty much a lost cause.

Re: Can a burnt mash be saved?

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 9:55 pm
by NZChris
The advice around here is usually pretty good James. If you search the forum you will get a bunch of threads contributed to by distillers who have made the same mistake before you. I've done it myself. I used it for lighting fires and for a sacrificial run on a new still head.

I can imagine Her Indoors not being too happy if you kick twenty gallons of porridge over on her lawn though. :D