Tomorrow I plan to do my first AG. I'm using John Palmer's suggested recipe (Oak Butt Ale). According to his procedure, you would put the grain in the mash tun and then add the strike water a gallon at a time. On the other hand, at our club brew's AG class last week, we were told to add the water and then stir in the grain. My plan is not to pre-heat the mash tun and heat the strike water to 168 which according to Brewsmith should get me a mash temp of 152. In the class, our mentor added the 168 strike water, let it cool until it stabilized at, say, 160, and then added the grain a bit at a time stirring all the while.
Now to quote Palmer in "How to Brew", he says "You want to add the water to the grain, not the other way around." That doesn't leave much to interpretation.
Which will work best?
Now to quote Palmer in "How to Brew", he says "You want to add the water to the grain, not the other way around." That doesn't leave much to interpretation.
Which will work best?