difficulty hitting mash temp

[paulg]

I consistantly seem to be getting my mash temp under the expected temp and have to add boiling water to raise it to 66 degrees
today i added water at the temp required according to brewmate ,having pre warmed my mash tun(thermo pot) with a kettle of boilng water. After getting strike temp at 72 degrees added grain only to find mash temp 64 degrees so had to add boiling water until mash was at 66
this means my grain to liqour ratio is not 3:1 but slightly more,what if any problems does this cause, and any ideas how to get mash temp right first time
thanks in advance Paul

[orlando]

By taking measurements at all points of the process if you find they are consistent, even in error, it at least gives you the opportunity to adjust accordingly. From your description of what you do I would say it is just a question of raising your initial liquour temperature by 3 or 4 degrees and then see what temp you hit. The only temp you don't mention is the grain temp so I would measure that too then you should be able to adjust with pretty good accuracy. I find that I have to adjust temps throughout the year because of the changes in ambient temperatures so it is not something you can hit on and just carry out every single time without adjusting.

As for grist:liquour ratio there are some effects but they are less critical. A slightly wetter mash will have a slightly lower volume density so will lose heat a little quicker which may have implications for enzyme conversion and may therefore require greater attention to insulation. The upside is that lautering is usually easier

[byron]

Hello Paul,
It's also Nick (aka byron7) from Athens here

Regarding the 3:1 ratio, I believe you will find this article here quite informative
http://byo.com/stories/techniques/artic ... ymes-dance

As for the mash temperature this is odd. I checked the figures with my program as well, (brewtarget), and seems your temp to be quite close to mine so I suspect that your grain ambient temp is rather colder than what you think. This probably can change the temperature. Do you keep your grains in a cold place like a refrigerator?

Cheers

Yay! my first post here

[gregorach]

Personally, I've never found a strike temp calculator that actually worked for me... If you know you're consistently too low at a strike temp of 72, simply up your strike temp by a couple of degrees. Experience beats theory every time.

[Wolfy]

As you brew on your system more you will get to know how it works and be better able to estimate what is required to hit your targets.
You've hinted that you are often under the target mash temperature, so next time you know that your strike water should be a little warmer, so just adjust it a little and pretty soon you'll get it spot-on.

Changing the grain to liqour ratio just a little bit, should not pose any problems at all, the last few beers I have made have been up around 4:1.

[Blackaddler]

Personally, I've never found a strike temp calculator that actually worked for me... If you know you're consistently too low at a strike temp of 72, simply up your strike temp by a couple of degrees. Experience beats theory every time.

Same here, pretty much.

Everyone's kit/procedure will be slightly different, so you have to learn by experience.

I use Jim's strike temperature calculator and add 3C, which seems to work for for my current setup.

[Manx Guy]

I too had difficulty hitting mash temp consistantly...

It seems that I was allowing enough time for my MT to 'warm up'...

So I now add the liqour to the MT at about 80-85 degrees and stirr for a while, then take a few temp readings of my already measured grain and use the average and input into beer alchemy. I then allow the liqour temp to drop to the strike temp. which takes 5 mins at the most.

Job doen and my MT maintains the mash temp for 2 hours at a ratio of 2.5-3:1 but for 4:1 (for Kolschs or other German styles etc) it does drop a bit but this helps attenuation in these styles so is desireable to soem degree.

Good luck & happy brewing


Guy

[micromaniac]

i never pre heat my tun i now know the temps by heart throw in water at 83/85 leave ten mins strike temp 75/76 add grain stir in while adding, mash temp 66 .and adjust slighty in summer this is with 10.5 kilo of grain at room temp

[Eric]

i never pre heat my tun i now know the temps by heart throw in water at 83/85 leave ten mins strike temp 75/76 add grain stir in while adding, mash temp 66 .and adjust slighty in summer this is with 10.5 kilo of grain at room temp

You mean it can be done without software? Another philistine on this forum?

[barney]

i never pre heat my tun i now know the temps by heart throw in water at 83/85 leave ten mins strike temp 75/76 add grain stir in while adding, mash temp 66 .and adjust slighty in summer this is with 10.5 kilo of grain at room temp

+1


20ltr of water (for 2kg ltr mash) @ 75/76 hits temp bang on 66, a hotter mash needed just add 23ltr water.

Mash out with 10ltr at 100 degrees to give 75 mash out.

80% efficiency every time.

[Steve B]

Are you measuring the true temp of the liquor? I only say this because I started out with a boiler with the element on the bottom and hit the right temp pretty much all the time. I moved to a bigger boiler that had its elements a few inches off the bottom - till I twigged that the water was still much colder underneath the element, I really struggled and my strike temps were way off. Stir the water thoroughly, and then measure the temp before mashing!

[micromaniac]

i never pre heat my tun i now know the temps by heart throw in water at 83/85 leave ten mins strike temp 75/76 add grain stir in while adding, mash temp 66 .and adjust slighty in summer this is with 10.5 kilo of grain at room temp

You mean it can be done without software? Another philistine on this forum?

who neads software when ive got a brain and a memory

[guypettigrew]

Measuring the temperature of the mash is a nightmare!

Different lateral and vertical positions of the probe on my digital thermometer can give wildly different readings for the first 10 minutes or so.

Over time I've learned to drop mash liquor at about 80C into the tun, wrap it up and leave it for about 20 minutes, then go back and adjust it to the temperature suggetsted by "Andy's strike temperatur calculator" from this site. The grain's then added with much gentle stirring.

Dough balls need to be broken up, grain needs to be moved up and down the tun and the thermometer needs to be tried in loads of positions. The end result, though, is that the mash always hits the desired temperature. Andy's calculator works well for me.

I then leave the probe in the mash so I can see what's happening during the 90 minutes or so. Once the temperature has stabilised it only drops about 0.5C during the mash. The key, for me at least, is getting an even temperature throughout the porrige at the beginning.

Guy

[Eric]

i never pre heat my tun i now know the temps by heart throw in water at 83/85 leave ten mins strike temp 75/76 add grain stir in while adding, mash temp 66 .and adjust slighty in summer this is with 10.5 kilo of grain at room temp

You mean it can be done without software? Another philistine on this forum?

who neads software when ive got a brain and a memory

Ah, the need for a memory, yes, I'd forgotten that.