Mash Temp Suggestions Please

Looking for some mash temp suggestions please. I'm planning to mimic a continuous hop but isolate bittering hops from flavor/aroma. Here's the bill:

6.6 lbs (2 cans) Muntons Amber LME
3 lbs Munich Malt
2 lbs American 2-Row
0.5 lbs Dingemans Cara 45 Malt (Lovibond 47)

0.5 oz Warrior Hop Pellets (α = 16.7%) at 60, 50, 40, & 30 minutes
0.5 oz Zythos (Falconer’s Flight) Hop Pellets (α = 10.9%, β = 5.2%) at 20, 15, 10 & 5 minutes
1 oz Centennial Whole Hops (α = 10.3%, β = 3.9%) for Dry Hopping

Wyeast 1450: Denny’s Favorite 50

My boil is about 3.25 gal, so I expect my IBU to be about 82 for a 5 gal batch.

well most people like their IPAs pretty dry so a lower mash temp like 148 would be the low end and 152 would be the higher end for a drier IPA. Being a partial mash you may wanna mash lower since the extract may not finish out where you want it. I would say 149 or 150.

Another alternative is to 2-step the mash, since you've got a small volume.

Start at say 145°C for 30-60 mins, then go to 158° for another 30 mins, finish by hitting 165° for a few.

IPAs do a little better dry, but if you haven't mashed before. Go for a single step between 148 and 158 and it'll turn out great beer, no matter what. Partial mashes are to add some grain flavor anyway, so anywhere in that range will do you well.

If you really want to dry out the finish a little, when using extracts, substitute a little sugar (5-10%) for fermentables (or just add to the bill).

-Mac

Mac951 said:

Start at say 145°C for 30-60 mins, then go to 158° for another 30 mins, finish by hitting 165° for a few.

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pretty sure thats supposed to be an F instead of a C

I agree with mac, use a little sugar to help dry it out. A partial mash is just a small part of the total wort. extracts tend to struggle to get down to there intended FG. the sugar should help to get to intended finish gravity and dry it out.

I'm hesitant to just throw in some sugar. If its the LME that's bringing unfermentables to the party, then it seems like I'll hit about the same FG regardless, and that the sugar will just bump up my OG, maybe making it seem drier, but only by comparison.

*Edit* Nevermind, just reread and saw you suggested to substitute some rather than just throw it in. That would dry it out. Unfortunately I have LME this time, perhaps if I'd bought DME.

Yeah, if you were going to add sugar, I'd do it in the place of some of the extract, but since it sounds like you've already bought the extract, you're kind of stuck. If you wanted to up the OG a little you could still add sugar. You're right that you'd wind up with the same level of fermentables, but a little extra alcohol can make a beer taste drier, even if its not. It certainly sounds like you'll have the IBUs to back up a bigger beer!

I'd definitely agree with mashing low (say 148) to get a nice and fermentable wort. With the amber extract and the C45, you'll have plenty of non-fermentables around, just as well get that base malt down as low as it can go. Also, haven't used Muntons Amber LME, so I'm not sure what the profile generally turns out, but if you like your IPAs on the dryer side I'd leave out the C45 from the mash. The amber extract is already going to have some caramel malts in it, and adding more is going to get you further away from a dryer IPA. On the other hand, if you prefer your IPAs a little maltier (and with 80+ IBUs a little malt backbone will help), you're probably fine. Good luck with the batch!

TAK said:

I'm hesitant to just throw in some sugar. If its the LME that's bringing unfermentables to the party, then it seems like I'll hit about the same FG regardless, and that the sugar will just bump up my OG, maybe making it seem drier, but only by comparison.

*Edit* Nevermind, just reread and saw you suggested to substitute some rather than just throw it in. That would dry it out. Unfortunately I have LME this time, perhaps if I'd bought DME.

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I've successfully stored LME in the fridge for 2 weeks, but what a mess to deal with. I too usually use ALL the LME for a batch, then keep the DME for adjustments. I've sworn a blood oath to not do it again unless I am dividng the LME in half for two batches.

The "problem" is that partial mash can be done at 145°F (SORRY I USE °C at work all day) and get very fermentable wort, but based on volumes, it won't offset the LME, so please don't stretch the mash to get a dryer finish. Don't adjust on this batch, but make a note for next recipe to try ~10% sugar (I love light Brown sugar).

-Mac

Remember no matter what, it is going to be beer, and if you don't take any of our suggestions, you are only treading further from the "normal," meaning you are a brewing Pioneer! BETTER BEER WOOOOOO

I'll be brewing this tomorrow. I think I'll mash somewhere between 145-148F. I'll play the 2-step by ear. Might try the sugar next time, just baking sugar (white or brown), don't need to fork out for the candi sugar?

Just finished the 2-step mash: 148F for 60 min, 155F for 30 min, teabag sparged for 10 min. I left the C45 in because I do want a malty background to backup the IBUs. However, I can already tell just by the smell of the Munton's Amber LME that it's going to be maltier than I actually would have liked. Oh well, lesson to self: stick to unobtrusive malt extracts and rely only on grains for malt character.