Glossary
Step mash
A mash raised through several held temperatures in turn, each chosen to favour a particular enzyme.
Also called temperature-programmed mash, stepped mash.
The full record
Step mash has its own catalogue entry with the detail this page summarises — causes, thresholds, related styles and evidence.
Step mash — Raise the mash through a sequence of held temperatures, each chosen to favour a particular enzyme, for precise control over fermentability and protein.
Rests are typically used for protein breakdown around 50 °C, beta-amylase around 63 °C and alpha-amylase around 70 °C. With modern malt most of these are optional, but they remain useful with undermodified malt, with large proportions of unmalted adjunct, or where a brewer wants precise control over fermentability.
Related
- Infusion mash — The single-temperature alternative.
More vocabulary
Arrested fermentation · Barrel ageing · Batch sparging · Biotransformation · Blending · Bottle conditioning · Bottom fermentation · Burtonisation · Cask conditioning · Centrifugation
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.