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Mash Methods at Homebrew Scale

In 2018, Bard's adapted its production process to a homebrew-scale recirculating system and documented four different mash methods: different enzymes, different temperatures, different philosophies, all aimed at the same 15.0°P wort. All four are published here, each on its own page.

This isn't theory scaled down. These are working notes from real sessions on a Robobrew, written by the people who ran the production process: four routes to the same target, each with named enzyme products, pH targets, and hold times. We have found nothing like them published for gluten-free brewing.

Start here: the standard​

MethodThe ideaRestsWhy it's first
The Reliable Mash — Bard's Production StandardThe current production baseline, translated to 5 gallons (18.9 L)190°F (88°C) → 145°F (63°C) → 180°F (82°C)This is the process Bard's actually settled on. Run this one first; run the others to compare

And the research brew​

MethodThe ideaRestsWhy it's here
The Maltose Mash — the research brewBard's original production chemistry, translated to 5 gallons: protease rest, hot liquefaction, cool fungal-alpha conversion for a maltose-forward wort122°F (50°C) → 155°F (68°C) → 190°F (88°C) → 132°F (56°C) → 180°F (82°C)The mash we would brew, and the one with no recorded result at any scale. Run it beside the standard and you have answered Research Ask 4

The four documented methods​

The exploration that came before the process locked in, four routes from Bard's 2018 homebrew-adaptation work:

MethodThe ideaRestsDistinctive move
1. Old Traditional Bard'sThe pre-2020 production process, boil step and all122°F (50°C) → 153°F (67°C) → boil → 132°F (56°C)A full 60-minute boil, then fungal-alpha conversion held to exactly 100 minutes
2. Hot Amylex Two-StepThe enzyme supplier's process: hot liquefaction, then a glucoamylase finish167°F (75°C) → 149°F (65°C)pH adjusted up to 6+ for the hot rest, then down to 5.2 for conversion
3. SEBAmyl Two-RestTwo long rests, no boil, no transfer163.4°F (73°C) → 145°F (63°C)The simplest to run on a single vessel; the same 1.25 qt/lb (2.6 L/kg) mash as the other single-vessel methods
4. Craig's HybridThe best-guess synthesis after running the others122°F (50°C) → 190°F (88°C) → 145°F (63°C)A viscosity enzyme, a specified mill gap, and lautering on the ramp

All four target 15.0°P (1.061). Method 1 is the closest to what the old production process ran; Method 3 is the easiest first run; Method 4 is where Craig's own thinking landed.

The shapes, side by side​

Six documented schedules on one chart: the standard, the four 2018 methods, and the Maltose Mash. Solid segments are documented holds; dashed diagonals are ramps, drawn without a slope you can measure, because the sources record hold temperatures and times but not ramp rates. Toggle schedules in the legend to compare any pair:

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What applies to all four​

  • Enzymes go in the water before the grain, and heat-fragile enzymes go in only after pH and temperature are right. The single most repeated instruction in the source notes.
  • These are 2018 working notes, not validated protocols. Enzyme products change names and formulations (the notes themselves track two renames); match the enzyme class and follow your supplier's dose.
  • Equipment matters: all four were run on a recirculating single-vessel electric system. See why that class fits this process.
  • Your batch is data. None of the four has published homebrew results. Report per Research Ask #3: what you ran, what you changed, what happened.

How these relate to the production pages​

The Reliable Mash above is our arithmetic translation of the current production baseline: the standard. The four 2018 methods are older and more varied. Method 1's fungal-alpha conversion is the design now published as The Maltose Mash, and translated to the bench above; running it at home is running brewing history forward.

Research needed