Missed mash temp

So, first run using my cooler MLT set up. I missed my mash temp by 10 or so degrees (shooting for 152, ended up at 145 or so). In trying to regulate my temp, I also added a bit too much water to the mash, and have ended up with approximately 1.75 qts per pound. Would extending the mash help get better efficiency? How bad have I screwed up?

When you added more water, did you get up to temp? 1.75 qt/lb is not too much. Plenty of people regularly use as much as 2 qt/lb. I think as long as you got close to the right temp, you should be just fine. I've started mashing for 75 minutes instead of 60. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes, but I don't see how it would hurt.

I believe a longer mash would be a good idea for the lower mash temperatures. Your wort will be a bit more fermentable with a bit less body, but it will still be fine. I suppose if you really wanted to you could mix your first AG with your first decoction to get your temp back up into the mid-150's. I'd probably just roll with you you've got and mash for 90 minutes though.

If you have time and didn't move on yet, I'd add some boiling water to your mash to get as close to 150 as you can, close it and re-start your timer.

Forgot to mention, maybe it's obvious, but you'll have to sparge less or boil for longer to make up for the volume difference.

You're okay. Add some 200 deg water till you get closer to your mash temp. Lower mash temps make more fermentable sugars. So the worse that could happen is your beer would seem a little dryer than expected.

Couldn't add more water. Mashed for 1:15...sparging now. Not sure how to do a decoction, it will have to be a skill I use next time. Wish me luck

You really don't need to bother learning how to do a decoction for all grain brewing. Just make sure you get your strike temp right next time. I've been using this calculator for a while with no problems.

What are you brewing, the increased dryness may turn out nice.

I am brewing an ESB. I ended up with about 7 gal. total volume. Gravity of the initial mash was about 1.05 (shooting for 1.048 OG) I dont know what the OG post boil is. Also, first time doing all grain. The last 2.5 gallons of wort collected were extremely thin looking. Normal? I know I sparged too quickly. Would this have any effect?


Thanks for all the help.

I assume you are going for ~5 GAL?

If so you might consider adding a fan blowing on the boil to help you get down to you target gravity faster...my $.02

If you were shooting for a 1.048 and had a 1.050 pre-boil I wouldn't worry too much about the speed of your sparge. Personally, I batch sparge rather than fly sparge so I never have to worry about the speed of my sparge. And the last bit of wort is always going to be thinner than the first runnings, so thats not at all strange.

Anyway, at some point in time you will need to figure out your brewhouse efficiency, because if 1.048 is what you were looking for as the OG, you probably ended up in the mid to upper 1.050's after your boil. Not nearly as far off as my first attempt at an ESB, where I shot for a 1.058 and ended up with a 1.085.

By the way, you can calculate your efficiency and figure out what you OG would be using some of the calculators on the same website as the link I posted.