Best starting temp

I am mashing an all grain brown ale for 60 minutes at 154 degrees. I plan on putting 4 gallons at 164 in a 5 gallon water cooler and adding 9.25 of grains...does this sound right?


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dhelegda said:

I am mashing an all grain brown ale for 60 minutes at 154 degrees. I plan on putting 4 gallons at 164 in a 5 gallon water cooler and adding 9.25 of grains...does this sound right?


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That figures out to about 1.7qts per pound. To my thinking that's a bit too much strike water. Try to stay between 1.25 and 1.5 qts per pound unless you have a recipe that calls for something different. I'd probably use between 12 - 14 qts for that beer.

dhelegda said:

I am mashing an all grain brown ale for 60 minutes at 154 degrees. I plan on putting 4 gallons at 164 in a 5 gallon water cooler and adding 9.25 of grains...does this sound right?


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The calc over at Green Bay Rackers says 167.

duplicate

Puddlethumper said:

That figures out to about 1.7qts per pound. To my thinking that's a bit too much strike water. Try to stay between 1.25 and 1.5 qts per pound unless you have a recipe that calls for something different. I'd probably use between 12 - 14 qts for that beer.

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But yeah, What ^ said

I always use 1.6 quarts per pound. Denny Conn recommends basically using half of your total water volume for your mash and the other half for your batch sparge, or at least keeping them within a gallon or so of each other, 1.6 qt per lb usually works out perfect. I've had great success with this method and I make delicious beer! For my strike water I heat it about 8 degrees higher than my actual strike temp, add it to my cooler mash tun, put the cover on, check it 5-10 minutes later and its usually right where I want it to be, then I add my grains. This takes care of heat the mash tun will absorb.

So 3.5 gallons of water for 9.25 pounds of grain would be better?


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At 167 degrees starting temp?


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dhelegda said:

At 167 degrees starting temp?


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You should do OK with that.

Puddlethumper said:

You should do OK with that.

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I want to do great not ok!


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dhelegda said:

I want to do great not ok!


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LOL, you'll do fine. Great comes with experience and practice ... and sometimes a little karma.

You'll get as many opinions on mash thickness as you will on any other topic in brewing. Most of the experts recommend between 1 - 1.5 qts per lb of grain. Some will argue a looser mash is better for lighter beers and a tighter mash is good for higher gravity beers. Then you'll get a bunch of others that will argue exactly the opposite. I've had good luck in the 1.0 - 1.25 qt. range.

The bottom line is that if you stay within those general guidelines and do everything else pretty close to right you'll end up with a pretty darned good glass of beer. From there you need to figure out what works best for you, your water, your brewing rig and, most importantly, for your tastes. But brace yourself, it's going to take some time. But then, that's the puzzle all of us are trying to work at every time we fire up our burners. Some are just a little farther down that road than others.

Cheers!

Thanks, the last all grain kit I brewed had specific directions, it said to heat x amount of water to x degrees for mashing, then to prep x amount to sparge with. This one said mash grains for 1 hour at 154.


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dhelegda said:

Thanks, the last all grain kit I brewed had specific directions, it said to heat x amount of water to x degrees for mashing, then to prep x amount to sparge with. This one said mash grains for 1 hour at 154.

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Probably it is best to view those directions as targets. The people who put kits together realize that most of the people who buy them will be inexperienced or occasional brewers. I suspect the directions would, therefore, take a fairly neutral or "middle of the road" approach assuming the brewers would stray somewhat. But even with some variances in execution the finished beer would still be good. (Therefore they'll sell you another kit!)

As in cooking, when following a recipe you should endeavor to get as close as you can. But sometimes you'll find yourself going over the target strike water volume as you add hot water or ice to adjust mash temperature. And unless you've invested a lot of money in a RIMS or HERMS system, you won't be able to keep your mash at exactly the recommended 154F.

All of these things are part of the learning curve. As you brew more you'll dial it in tighter each time. But while you are learning, you'll still be drinking some really good beer. As I said earlier, excellent comes with practice!

Cheers!

Anywhere from 1 to 2 qt/lb will give you the conversion, pH and wort quality for a great beer. So, here's how it plays out for a 9.25 lb grain bill and 5.5 gal to your fermenter. In the real world just round off all the numbers. Measure the volume of your first runnings and subtract that from 5.5 gallons to get your sparge amount.

1.1 gal (grain absorption) + .2 gal (dead space) = 1.3 gal (mash loss)
5.5 gal (to fermenter) + 1 gal (boil-off) = 6.5 gal (pre-boil volume)
6.5 gal (pre-boil) / 2 = 3.25 gal (per lauter)
3.25 gal (1st lauter) + 1.3 gal (mash loss) = 4.55 gal (before 1st lauter)
4.55 gal and 9.25 lbs of grain = 2 qts/lb mash thickness
3.25 gal for single sparge



edited to add boil-off

JustLooking said:

. Measure the volume of your first runnings and subtract that from 5.5 gallons to get your sparge amount.

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Great advice, but wouldn't 6.5 gallons be the correct final number? What about loss during the boil?

Puddlethumper said:

Great advice, but wouldn't 6.5 gallons be the correct final number? What about loss during the boil?

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Only if you want 6.5 gallons in your fermenter. :cross:


Draining your mash tun twice doesn't double your grain absorption.

JustLooking said:

1.1 gal (grain absorption) + .25 gal (dead space) = 1.35 gal (total loss)
?

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Yup, my bad. Missed that line in your calculations.

Cheers!

Puddlethumper said:

Yup, my bad.

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Nope, it was my bad. I did leave out boil-off. (Edited to include it.)

That mash thickness is getting borderline. I'd probably add a 1.5 gallon mash-out infusion before the first runnings. Subtracting that from the 4.55 gallons required to get equal runnings would bring the mash thickness to about 1.3 qts/lb during the mash.

JustLooking said:

Nope, it was my bad. I did leave out boil-off. (Edited to include it.)

That mash thickness is getting borderline. I'd probably add a 1.5 gallon mash-out infusion before the first runnings. Subtracting that from the 4.55 gallons required to get equal runnings would bring the mash thickness to about 1.3 qts/lb during the mash.

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1.3 hits about dead-center and I don't think he'd go too far wrong with a brown ale. I use that as a general target, absent recipe directions, and it seems to work pretty well with my rig and procedures. Others will certainly recommend something different, one way or the other.

Every set up is different. I use a 10 gal converted cooler as a mash tun. I always preheat the tun with 1.5 - 2 gallons of near boiling water prior to mash. Dump, then use 1.25 quarts per lb. I find that 175F'ish strike water will give a 154-155F starting mash temp. It is way easier to throw some pre-chilled water or ice cubes in to lower temperature than trying to add hot water if you start out too cool.