Adj. strike temp for heat loss in mash tun?

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pdbreen

pdbreen

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Hi - when I'm looking at a typical recipe that says mash at 153 for 60 minutes and I know my mash tun will typically lose about 4 degrees over that time, should I:

a) start mash at 157 so the final temp of the mash is 153
b) start mash at 155 and finish at 151 so about half of the mash will be higher/and half lower than 153
c) start mash at 153, finish at 149 because all recipes assume heat loss

I'm having problems with over-attenuation and not enough body, so I'm assuming the answer isn't (c) which is what I have been doing.

I tried searching the forums, but only found threads on how to hit your desired mash temp which isn't a problem for me. I can hit what I want - just need to figure out what I want!

Thanks!
 
Why not add some boiling water about half way through to bring the temp back up? You could also use the decoction method to increase the temp part way through.
 
Assuming you want to make no changes to the brewing process you have I would vote B. With A you risk denaturing of the proteins/enzymes needed for conversion at the lower temps.
 
I think I vote for "none of the above". First, make sure you preheat your MLT. Let that sit for about 15 minutes, then drain it. Add strike water that is approximately 11 degrees warmer than your desired mash temp. Stir well, and stir some more. Check the temperature in several areas. If it's the same, you're done stirring. If not, stir until the temperature is the same throughout the mash. By then, you should be at the mash temp. Cover it well (through a sleeping bag over it if you're using a stainless pot that loses heat). You shouldn't drop more than a degree or two over the mash. If the recipe says "mash at 153", that is the mash temperature NOT the strike temperature. My strike temperature for my system is about 166 for most of my beers.
 
Ah - I used the wrong words - let me go back and edit. I'm not talking about strike temp, I'm talking about the starting mash temp (which I have no trouble hitting).

Thanks for catching my mistake!
 
Then your answer is b. The given mash temperature for a recipe is a starting point. For each system you will have to tweak it a little to hit your FG. If you have found that starting your mash at 153 is drying your beer out a little too much then raise your starting mash temperature.

Unlike Yooper I do not preheat my tun. Instead my strike temperature is probably 1-2F higher than hers would be to get the same starting mash temperature. I cover my cooler tun with a bath towel and lose about 2F over 60 minutes - unless it is really cold and blowing outside. Then I bring the mash indoors...

GT
 
YooperBrew said:
I think I vote for "none of the above". First, make sure you preheat your MLT. Let that sit for about 15 minutes, then drain it. Add strike water that is approximately 11 degrees warmer than your desired mash temp. Stir well, and stir some more. Check the temperature in several areas. If it's the same, you're done stirring. If not, stir until the temperature is the same throughout the mash. By then, you should be at the mash temp. Cover it well (through a sleeping bag over it if you're using a stainless pot that loses heat). You shouldn't drop more than a degree or two over the mash. If the recipe says "mash at 153", that is the mash temperature NOT the strike temperature. My strike temperature for my system is about 166 for most of my beers.
Click to expand...

Well for some reason, he's losing 4 degrees, so he'll need a way of introducing some heat, or insulating his mash tun more thoroughly.
 
klyph said:
Well for some reason, he's losing 4 degrees, so he'll need a way of introducing some heat, or insulating his mash tun more thoroughly.
Click to expand...

Or live with it and adjust his mash temps upward slightly to compensate. As long as his process is consistent he can adjust the initial mash temperature to get the final product he wants.

GT
 
You can also just drizzle some boiling water down the sides of the tun once or twice during the mash. That will reduce heat losses without denaturing the enzymes.

Insulation is good.
 
i'm going to try a new method next time i brew. lets say that the strike is 166. i'm going to heat my strike up to 166, then dump it all in to the tun, and let it sit for 10 minutes. next, i'll drain the water back into the pot, and then re heat it back to 166 to make up for the temp loss.

i think i can get very consistent results doing this. also, after doing this, i should know just how much heat my mlt sucks away during pre heating...
 
eggbeater59 said:
i'm going to try a new method next time i brew. lets say that the strike is 166. i'm going to heat my strike up to 166, then dump it all in to the tun, and let it sit for 10 minutes. next, i'll drain the water back into the pot, and then re heat it back to 166 to make up for the temp loss.

i think i can get very consistent results doing this. also, after doing this, i should know just how much heat my mlt sucks away during pre heating...
Click to expand...

Eggbeater I brew in a coleman rectangle cooler and do basically the same thing you're doing only I don't bother bringing it up to the exact mash temp. I basically get it to the point where it's about to boil and add it to the mash tun. Let it sit for 15 min (as Yooper said) drain your water and re-heat it back to your strike temp. If it's cold outside I drag the cooler inside and cover it w/ towels. Usually 1-2 deg loss after an hour which is not going to hurt a thing. :mug:
 
eggbeater59 said:
i'm going to try a new method next time i brew. lets say that the strike is 166. i'm going to heat my strike up to 166, then dump it all in to the tun, and let it sit for 10 minutes. next, i'll drain the water back into the pot, and then re heat it back to 166 to make up for the temp loss.

i think i can get very consistent results doing this. also, after doing this, i should know just how much heat my mlt sucks away during pre heating...
Click to expand...

meh....too much work. How about heating the mash water to 10-15 degrees above your strike temp and add that to the cooler. Wait 15 minutes for the MT to pre-heat, then see what the temp of the water is (it should still be above your strike temp). You can easily mix your mash water temp down to strike temp pretty easy at this point.
 
broadbill said:
meh....too much work. How about heating the mash water to 10-15 degrees above your strike temp and add that to the cooler. Wait 15 minutes for the MT to pre-heat, then see what the temp of the water is (it should still be above your strike temp). You can easily mix your mash water temp down to strike temp pretty easy at this point.
Click to expand...

This is my process. Works fine.
 

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