Method 1: Old Traditional Bard's
Working notes from real 2018 sessions, not a validated homebrew protocol — values are starting points, and the scale-translation warnings apply to all four methods.
Where this comes from: 2018 Robobrew session notes
This is one of four mash methods Bard's documented in 2018 while adapting its production process to homebrew scale, run on a Robobrew — a recirculating single-vessel electric system (why that equipment class matters).
The 153°F rest sits below the 154–178°F range where sorghum starch opens, so the hard boil is what gelatinizes this mash. Skip it, or trade it for more time at 153°F, and most of the starch stays closed and the extract stays in the tun. Run the boil. Why, in full, below.
Why time cannot substitute for temperature here
Sorghum starch gelatinizes across 154–178°F (68–81°C). The 153°F rest in this method sits below that range and is not what opens the starch — the hard boil is, and it is the reason this method reaches full gelatinization when the other three homebrew methods only reach part of it.
That makes the boil load-bearing. Skipping it because 153°F looks like an ordinary mash rest, or trading it for a longer rest at the same temperature, will leave most of the starch closed and the extract in the tun. Time cannot substitute for temperature here: starch that gelatinizes above your rest temperature will not gelatinize at any duration.
This is also why the method needs a boil kettle alongside the mash vessel, and why it is the longest of the four. The Reliable Mash solves the same problem the other way — a 190°F liquefaction with a heat-stable alpha-amylase instead of a boil. See Gelatinization.
Two figures here differ from The Maltose Mash — on purpose, not by error
This method and the Maltose Mash describe the same lineage, and two of their numbers differ by design rather than by error — both reviewed against the enzyme documentation on 2026-08-15 and both left as written.
The 153°F rest, against the Maltose Mash's 155°F. Sorghum gelatinizes across 154–178°F. The Maltose Mash sits just inside that range because it begins opening starch before climbing to a 190°F liquefaction. This method sits just below it on purpose — the hard boil that follows opens everything at once, so the rest is staging, not gelatinizing. Full reasoning.
The 25-minute low rest, against the Maltose Mash's 30. These are not the same step. The Maltose Mash doses a protease and holds 30 minutes for FAN; this method adds none, and rests to hydrate the grist. The difference in duration is incidental to a difference in purpose — and the Maltose Mash carries a foam question that this method, running no added protease, does not.
The 0.5 L/kg cold-water figure is a starting point, not the whole cooling job
This method adds 0.5 L/kg cold water after the boil and then says to add water until the grist reaches 132°F. Both are true, and the second is doing more work than the first: cooling a mash that far by water alone would roughly double it.
What you cool with decides the volume. Ice is about 3.4× more effective per kilogram than 60°F tap water, because melting absorbs heat before the meltwater warms at all — which is why production used a glycol-chilled liquor tank or ice rather than tap water. The full comparison, and the warning about using bagged ice as an unqualified brewing-water input, is on The Maltose Mash.
Treat 132°F as the target and the volume as yours to plan — then record what you actually added.
Old Traditional Bard's, Homebrew Scale
- Protocol
- GFB-HB1
- Version
- 2018 notes
- Effective
- August 2026
The pre-2020 production process adapted to a Robobrew — the longest of the four 2018 methods and the closest to what actually made Bard's beer. A low rest, a hard boil to force gelatinization, then a cool fungal-alpha conversion held to the minute. Needs a boil kettle alongside the mash vessel.
Critical: Enzymes go into the foundation water before the grain. The fungal alpha-amylase at step 6 is fragile — add it only after pH and temperature are both correct, and hold the 132°F conversion for exactly 100 minutes, not about.
Stage before grain-in
Enzymes into the foundation water
- Do
- Add the heat-stable alpha-amylase (Termamyl SC DS class) and the brewing blend (Ondea Pro class) to the strike water.
- Add
- Termamyl SC DS class
- Ondea Pro class
- Advance when
- Enzymes are in and the water is moving.
- Record
- Products, doses, and lots
Low rest
- Do
- Mash in sorghum malt at 2.2 L/kg, adding grain slowly with stirring. Rest 25 minutes.
- Add
- Sorghum malt at 2.2 L/kg
- Advance when
- Rest complete, mash even.
- Record
- Mash-in temperature and time
Intermediate hold
- Do
- Ramp to 153°F and hold 20 minutes.
- Add
- None
- Advance when
- Hold complete.
- Record
- Ramp time and hold
Force gelatinization
- Do
- Transfer to the boil kettle and boil 60 minutes. Watch for scorching.
- Add
- None
- Advance when
- Full 60-minute boil complete.
- Record
- Boil duration and behavior
Dilute, add structure, come back cool
- Do
- Add 0.5 L/kg cold water and the rice hulls, stir well, transfer back to the mash vessel, and add water to bring the grist to 132°F.
- Add
- 0.5 L/kg cold water
- Rice hulls
- Advance when
- Grist at 132°F, evenly mixed.
- Record
- Dilution volumes · Temperature at return
The 100-minute fungal-alpha rest
- Do
- Set pH to 5.0–5.3 with phosphoric acid. Only after pH and temperature are both right, add the fungal alpha-amylase (Fungamyl BrewQ class) and the brewing blend. Recirculate at 132°F for exactly 100 minutes.
- Add
- Phosphoric acid to pH 5.0–5.3
- Fungamyl BrewQ class — only after pH and temp are right
- Ondea Pro class
- Advance when
- The full 100 minutes has run.
- Record
- pH before enzymes · Conversion start and end times
Vorlauf, sparge, lauter
- Do
- Vorlauf, sparge, and lauter. Expect a slow bed and be patient.
- Add
- None
- Advance when
- Wort collected at or near target extract.
- Record
- Runoff time · Gravity vs the 15.0°P target
| Step | Action | Target | Add | Advance when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dose: more detail | Add the heat-stable alpha-amylase (Termamyl SC DS class) and the brewing blend (Ondea Pro class) to the strike water. | Foundation water dosed — |
| Enzymes are in and the water is moving. |
| 2. Mash in: more detail | Mash in sorghum malt at 2.2 L/kg, adding grain slowly with stirring. Rest 25 minutes. | 122°F (50°C) 25 min rest |
| Rest complete, mash even. |
| 3. Ramp: more detail | Ramp to 153°F and hold 20 minutes. | 153°F (67°C) 20 min | None | Hold complete. |
| 4. Boil: more detail | Transfer to the boil kettle and boil 60 minutes. Watch for scorching. | Boiling 60 min | None | Full 60-minute boil complete. |
| 5. Return: more detail | Add 0.5 L/kg cold water and the rice hulls, stir well, transfer back to the mash vessel, and add water to bring the grist to 132°F. | 132°F (55.5°C) with grain — |
| Grist at 132°F, evenly mixed. |
| 6. Convert: more detail | Set pH to 5.0–5.3 with phosphoric acid. Only after pH and temperature are both right, add the fungal alpha-amylase (Fungamyl BrewQ class) and the brewing blend. Recirculate at 132°F for exactly 100 minutes. | 132°F, pH 5.0–5.3 100 min |
| The full 100 minutes has run. |
| 7. Run off: more detail | Vorlauf, sparge, and lauter. Expect a slow bed and be patient. | 15.0°P (1.061) As the bed allows | None | Wort collected at or near target extract. |
Run each step with its checks and context
Use the run sheet during a routine mash. Use these expanded steps when setting up the process, training an operator, documenting a deviation, or diagnosing unexpected behavior.
Enzymes into the foundation water
Objective
Active enzyme in the water before any grain touches it — the difference between a mash and a gelatinized brick.
Operating instruction
Add the heat-stable alpha-amylase (Termamyl SC DS class) and the brewing blend (Ondea Pro class) to the strike water.
- Termamyl SC DS class
- Ondea Pro class
What good looks like
Enzymes are in and the water is moving.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Products, doses, and lots
Low rest
Objective
Hydrate the grist and give the protease-side activities their window.
Operating instruction
Mash in sorghum malt at 2.2 L/kg, adding grain slowly with stirring. Rest 25 minutes.
- Sorghum malt at 2.2 L/kg
What good looks like
Rest complete, mash even.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Mash-in temperature and time
Intermediate hold
Objective
Step the mash up through the working band on the way to the boil.
Operating instruction
Ramp to 153°F and hold 20 minutes.
What good looks like
Hold complete.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Ramp time and hold
Force gelatinization
Objective
Cereal-cook logic applied to sorghum: brute heat instead of a liquefaction hold.
Operating instruction
Transfer to the boil kettle and boil 60 minutes. Watch for scorching.
What good looks like
Full 60-minute boil complete.
Watch for
Scorching, and a mash thickening past workability.
If this happens
Stir; the step-5 dilution and hulls exist because a boiled mash is thick.
Record
Boil duration and behavior
Dilute, add structure, come back cool
Objective
Get the boiled mash back to the vessel at conversion temperature with a bed that can run off.
Operating instruction
Add 0.5 L/kg cold water and the rice hulls, stir well, transfer back to the mash vessel, and add water to bring the grist to 132°F.
- 0.5 L/kg cold water
- Rice hulls
What good looks like
Grist at 132°F, evenly mixed.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Dilution volumes · Temperature at return
The 100-minute fungal-alpha rest
Objective
Fungal alpha-amylase does the fermentability work — maltose-leaning, the design later published as The Maltose Mash.
Operating instruction
Set pH to 5.0–5.3 with phosphoric acid. Only after pH and temperature are both right, add the fungal alpha-amylase (Fungamyl BrewQ class) and the brewing blend. Recirculate at 132°F for exactly 100 minutes.
- Phosphoric acid to pH 5.0–5.3
- Fungamyl BrewQ class — only after pH and temp are right
- Ondea Pro class
What good looks like
The full 100 minutes has run.
Watch for
pH drift between acid addition and enzyme addition.
If this happens
Re-check and correct pH before the enzymes go in — added hot or sour, the fungal alpha is wasted.
Record
pH before enzymes · Conversion start and end times
Vorlauf, sparge, lauter
Objective
Collect the wort from the hardest runoff of the four methods — huskless grist plus a boiled mash.
Operating instruction
Vorlauf, sparge, and lauter. Expect a slow bed and be patient.
What good looks like
Wort collected at or near target extract.
Watch for
A stuck or channeling bed.
If this happens
Rest the bed, loosen the top, resume slowly — do not rake heat into it.
Record
Runoff time · Gravity vs the 15.0°P target
A later revision drops the boil
The archive holds a second pass at this method that keeps everything in the Robobrew: instead of transferring to a kettle and boiling, it ramps to 203°F and holds 60 minutes in place, and adds 40 mL Viscozyme alongside the Termamyl at mash-in (the 2018 session's recorded figure — no grain-weight basis survives, so treat it as a session note and follow supplier dosing for your batch). Same cereal-cook logic, no transfer — the 203°F hold does the gelatinization work the boil did. If your system holds 203°F reliably, that revision is the easier day.
What makes this one different
The boil. Steps 4–5 take the mash to a full 60-minute boil — cereal-cook logic applied to sorghum, forcing gelatinization by brute heat rather than holding a liquefaction temperature. It's the most equipment-hungry step of the four and the reason this method takes longest.
Enzymes added last, not first. Step 9 is emphatic in the original notes: dose Fungamyl and Ondea Pro only after pH and temperature are correct. Fungal alpha-amylase is fragile — put it in hot or sour and you've wasted it.
The hold is exactly 100 minutes, not “about.” The run sheet reads 45 at this step; the operating document and this page both record 100, and the 45 is treated as a transcription error. Fungal alpha at 132°F is doing the fermentability work here, and the hold length is the lever on wort sugar profile (why that matters).
Watch for
Scorching during the boil; a thick mash after step 5 (the 0.5 L/kg dilution and the hulls exist for that reason); pH drift between steps 8 and 9; and a slow lauter — huskless grist plus a boiled mash is the hardest runoff of the four.
Report back
Nobody has published results for this method at homebrew scale — which means your batch is data. Report efficiency, mash behavior, runoff, gravity against the 15.0°P target, fermentation, and what you'd change. See Research Ask #3 and tell us what happened.
Related
- Mash Methods at Homebrew Scale
- The Reliable Mash — the production original
- The Maltose Mash — the fungal-alpha conversion here is the Maltose Mash's design, at homebrew scale, in 2018