Mashing at 63.5 degrees

[sweatysock]

Hi all, went on a brewery tour recently and the brewer said he mashed at 63.5 degrees. I was surprised at this, but obviously he must know more than me. He has a degree in brewing! That would say to me it should be dry but the beer was cracking. As far as I know this is on the hairy bottom edge of mashing. Grateful for your views on this.

[Eric]

Most of us would seem to mash towards the upper end to avoid getting thin beers. In some cases this will counter the extra heat losses of smaller scale operations. I know my system loses very little in the centre of the mash but there can be a distinct and substantial temperature gradient over the short distance to the sides of my coolbox.
You can also use a less attenuating yeast, but maybe mostly, some folk know just what makes really great beer apart from the science and theory.