Problem right now with BCS cause mash to top 180 - is it ruined?

I have a setup with a BCS controller. It seemed like the temp was not comming up as fast as I expected, so I opend the lid to find the mash water boiling. I hit the all stop button on the BCS and it then updated the page and it registered 178* for the mash temp (still 148 on the recirc temp). I rebooted the BCS and it won't come back up. It was at this temp for probably 15 - 20 minutes. I still can't get the BCS to work but I am considering trying to salvage this in manual mode. Is the mash ruined? It is a pilsner & vienna light and malty style beer. I was planning a mash of 152. Is it a waste of yeast and hops to continue or should I just dump it?

What does the wort taste like? How clear is it?
How long was it at your intended mash temp?


At 178F you are not going to get any more conversion out of that mash since the enzymes are denatured. However, you may very well have converted enough beforehand to make a decent beer.

I don't really understand your description of "light and malty". Do you mean like a maibock?

The wort isn't teribly clear mostly because I've been stirring it like mad trying to get the temperature down. It was at the target temperature or within a degree or two for about 20 minutes. Then it went up to 180 ish for at least 15 minutes before I caught it. It started going down from there for about 20 minutes and is now at 166*. The refractometer says 1.061. It is 17.5 pounds of grains (mostly pilsner and vienna with a pound of crystal 8, some melanoiden and carapils). It is a batch sparge and I have not sparge yet. I doughed in to 6.25 gallons of water so thats what it was in.

As far as the style goes - it is my own thing - sort of a pilsner grainbill and hops bill with an ale yeast - I was going to split this and use euro ale and east coast ale.

Depends at how long it was at which temps. If it "came up slow" as you said and the temps it was ranging were in the 140's and 150's for say, 30 minutes...you may have gotten near-full conversion. If it skyrocketed through the 140's and 150's then you probably didn't get much conversion. Take a gravity reading. Might just need to boil-off some more wort and end up with a smaller batch.

Edit: sounds like you may have gotten decent conversion. Your gravity is fairly high for preboil. What is the OG supposed to be?

OG should be 1.051, but I have not sparged yet.

I guess I'm worried more about tannin extraction and bad tasting beer than efficiency at this point.

You had an acidic wort and didn't go too terribly high for too long. I wouldn't worry an awful lot. Worst case it just won't be your best beer ever but I'm quite certain it's going to be drinkable.

I won't worry about tannin extraction.

The most important thing is not the gravity, it is the % of wort that is fermentable sugars. Unconverted starches aren't fermentable, nor are dextrins (at least, not by your typical beer yeast). If as said you gradually rose through the mash temp range, you probably got enough conversion that you shouldn't have to worry about it making a decent beer. It may be a bit maltier and/or cloudier than normal, but it ought to be drinkable.

Iodine test?

Thats a bummer that the BCS did that to you. Ive been using one but mostly just on manual mode except for holding recirculation temp. did you ever find out why it got messed up?

I'm in the camp of it'll probably produce a drinkable beer. It's a roll of the dice and a 50/50 decision if it's me. All the pros and cons have been covered. The decision you have to make has to do with if you want to expend the additional time and resources on something that will "probably be drinkable" or if you just want to scrap what you have, hold onto the hops and yeast and try again with new grains. I understand that you've probably already come to a decision on this, just curious what it was.

Man... The BCS has been screwing me for years too!



(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

While we are off topic, pm me about the BCS. I was considering one.