How much Amylase?

[MattyL]

OK, I still have the bucket full of my gelled corn/barley mix I screwed up the other day. It's a solid block of goo. It's been sitting, sealed and covered in the garage for the past 5 days. My Amylase should be here today which I need to convert my starches to usable sugars. My mash mix is currently right at 6 gallons. Is there a trick to using this stuff or just heat up the gooball to say 150ish toss some powder in and hold for an hour or two? How much Amylase will be needed for 6 gallons? Is the amount critical or is it better to overdose it?

What should I expect to happen once 'm up to enzyme holding temp and add the Amylase? Will this stuff start to turn to liquid fairly quickly or is it a drawn out process? I assume that the liquid being created will be my wort and I should siphon this off the top then allow to clear for a day or two? or do I let it clear up and then siphon? Or do I ferment on the grains and worry about it later? I read that using malted barely will carry over some tannins during fermentation and the grains should be removed prior to fermenting.

Also, is there any use for the spent grains once I've converted the starches and siphoned the wort off? Is this where I would double back to create a batch of sour mash?

[rtalbigr]

It's magic. It'll turn to liquid as quickly as you stir it in. I generally throw in about a tablespoon but a teaspoon or two will probably do it. Best temps are 152-158F although it will work up to about 162F. You're gonna have a real mess trying to get that goo up to temps, hope you got strong arms and plenty of endurance cuz you're gonna have to stir like a crazy man to keep that stuff from stickin and scorchin. If I were you I'd work on maybe a gallon at at time, probably add some water to help ya stir. You got a job ahead a ya son.

Big R

[Dnderhead]

if you had added a bit of enzymes at start/or part way threw cooking, it would not have gotten so thick.

[MattyL]

COOL, thanks for the info. I already heated this crap up. Youre right, it sucked stirring it and it did scortch a bit (I think) right at the start. I had the fryer fired up and had to wizz. when I came back i smelled it burning. hopefully it's not too bad. Once it got around 100 or so my arm were pretty F-ing tired so i figured id dump in a tablespoon of A. you're totally right, as it started to liquify, I was thinking "holy shit, this is magic" Im about to go try to strain the wort off. theres a lot of chunks in there yet.

Dnderhead, I woulda loved to add this stuff last week, but i didn't have it yet, nor did I know what I was doing (probably still don't)...remember the "screw up" post. yeah, I'm THAT guy. Thanks again for all the info and the help you gave me. I think I've got this pegged. I don't think I'll have as much volume as I was expecting so I might add 2 gals of water and 2 lbs of sugar as well....wuddya think?

[Dnderhead]

you dont need much during cooking. this will be deactivated,but it helps a bunch with the stiring

[Bull Rider]

I use a commercial paint stir attachment that hooks up to my Dewalt drill motor. Just run it at low speed and no worries.

Get the one that they use to stir five gallon pails of paint.


Bull.