mashed at 159-162

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blackwaterbrewer

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after a perfect brew, i noticed that fermentation did not begin as quickly as normal. i checked my thermometer in ice water at it read corrctley, 32-33. i then checked the thermometer against my brand new Ranco 111-000 temp controller set at 71. my thermometer reads 65. my mash temp read a steady 154 for the entire 60 min mash, but i guess it could have actually been quite a bit higher.

question is, do i have enough fermentable sugar to begin fermentation and reach a FG in the neighborhood of 1.012-15? my OG was 152, right on target. even if it started fermenting then stuck at 1.020, (which seems to be the case often with warmer mash temps) i would be happy.

looks like i'll be upgrading to a nicer thermometer. any suggestions?:eek::eek:
 
+1 i've been wondering about high mash temps and fermentation too. i'd be more specific about why, but i'd like to keep it on topic. besides, i'm pretty sure the main reason for any mistakes i make is that i have my head up my ass.
 
the beer is fermenting. i am confused about my thermometer. how can it be correct at 32 and 6-8 degrees off at 70? also, how can i know how far off it was reading in the 150's? i am obviously getting a new thermometer, but i would like to know in case this beer is the greatest thing in the world and it mashed at 159!!
 
A thermometer should be calibrated at boiling temperature and at ice water temperature. Believe it or not, one can be exact and one can be way off. Check it against another thermometer in boiling water, and see how close you are.

Hopefully, you mashed at no higher than 158. If you get under 1.018 or so, you will be all set.
 
On one of the recent can you brew it episodes (I think it was the lagunitas censored one) the brewer from lagunitas said he mashed the undercover at 160. I believe Jamil did the same and his got down to about 1.020.

What Style were you brewing?
 
A thermometer should be calibrated at boiling temperature and at ice water temperature. Believe it or not, one can be exact and one can be way off. Check it against another thermometer in boiling water, and see how close you are.

Hopefully, you mashed at no higher than 158. If you get under 1.018 or so, you will be all set.

It's even better to calibrate it at about 150. I've seen them be on at the extremes and off at mash temps....
 
If you mashed a bit warm, then you might end up with a slightly sweeter beer. HAppened to me when I first brewed the haus ale.
 
i use a POC speacial,(piece of crap) 12.95 at LHBS. i didnt know about calibratining at boiling too. i wanted a sweet beer, so even if it stalls at 1.020, which i suspect it will, it won't be all bad. with an o.g. of 1.052 and f.g. of 1.020, i should get about 4.5%. 1.015-18 would be great but i am considering myself lucky that is even fermenting at all. it is swirling around nicely with a 3 inch krausen. lesson learned and i just ordered one of these to hang down into my mashtun.
Handheld Thermocouple Meters And Cole-Parmer Workhorse Thermocouple Thermometer - Cole-Parmer Catalog
 
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