All grain mash issue

Just figured out my temp readings have been off by about 10 degrees so I was mashing lower that I thought. I was at like 140 rather than 154. It has been about an hour. What should I do?

What are you mashing in?

I would get an accurate thermometer for the next brew...

I think most of the starches will have been extracted already. You could try applying heat, or pouring in some hot water to get it to your actual mash temp goal. Hold it at the higher temp for an hour, if possible, before sparging.

What were you using for a thermometer?

Worst case, your brew will finish with a low FG and have very little body to it. If you really wanted to have a more medium body, then you can either try to rescue this mash, or just say F it and start over. All depends on if you have more grain on hand to do it again, or not...

I have a thermapen but last weekend it started giving me irradict readings and then it seemed normal again. It was one of the old ones that aren't splash proof. I ordered a a new style to use for brewing that was splash proof and it was suppose to be here today but do to a blizzard it was delayed. I thought my other one was working fine but apparently I was wrong.

That sucks... I'm looking at getting a new thermometer soon too... I want one that has a long enough probe that I can get deeper readings of both the mash and as I'm heating up the mash/sparge water. I'm limited to about 5" depth right now.

So for this brew, you can either increase the temps, and see what you get, or mash again with some fresh grain if you have enough on hand... One of the reasons I'm liking having base malt on hand, and enough other grains to make most of what I like to... I can brew at almost any time now. Also means If I mess something up really badly, I can just mill some more grain and start over again. :rockin:

I am using a cooler for a mash tun. The whole issue was my thermometer that was giving me false high readings. I think it got damp last brew session but I figured it dried out and was working properly. My plan was to use it only for cooking again and then use the new thermapen for brewing but that got hosed up too. I added my first sparge round to the mash and got the temp up to 155.

cleinen said:

I am using a cooler for a mash tun. The whole issue was my thermometer that was giving me false high readings. I think it got damp last brew session but I figured it dried out and was working properly. My plan was to use it only for cooking again and then use the new thermapen for brewing but that got hosed up too. I added my first sparge round to the mash and got the temp up to 155.

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good idea, i'd give it around 90min total mash to ensure full conversion. you're just going to end up with lighter body and a lower FG, its not the end of the world, unless it was an oatmeal stout or something

Yeah, what ARE you brewing???

It is the fat squirrel clone.