Brew day and having problems

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cutarecord

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Feb 3, 2012
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lee's summit
so Im doing a partial mash brew and i think i had temp problems when i was mashing my grain. The thermometer crapped out and was giving me false readings. HOWEVER i didn't realize this until i was adjusting the temp. I think i might have gotten my mash temp up around 180 but there really no way to tell. I finally figured out that my reading was wrong because my mash was WAY cooler than the thermometer was telling me.

In Essence, i had temps too high and now temps too low. Im bringing back up to 158F but i've been mashing now for about 90 min on a 5 gal batch...

can i mash too long and i think my temp was prob too low... what can i expect/any suggestions?

thanks guys, this is my first brew-mergency
 
Stop mashing. You're wasting time. With modern malts the conversion of starch to sugars happens in the first 15 minutes or so. The problem with all the books that we read and all the information that people preach is it's based on stats from thirty or forty years ago. Start sparging and see what you get.

By the way, I can vouch for the conversion being that short through my own testing and watching one of the local brewmasters for a day here in town.
 
cool cool man. thanks for the input. my local brew guy tells me all the time about how dated most of the "current" methods and books are. not the first time i've heard that tale.
 
If your mash temperature was too low, then a longer mash is probably a good thing. I usually mash for 90 minutes at 150F. I may get conversion sooner than 90 minutes, but with a 90 minute mash I get a lower FG than if I stop earlier. Double D's comment may be true for his ingredients and mash temperatures, but it certainly isn't true for my ingredients and mash temperatures.

-a.
 
I usually buy sacks of Muntons from the LHBS. Unlike me, it's not beyond its best used by date, but it does have lower diastatic power than American 2 row.

-a.
 
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