trouble keeping temp up

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thomasben

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Mash tun will lose degrees around the edges no matter if its wrapped in blankets and totally shut closed.

Any suggestions? Losing about 5 degrees on a 90 MIN mash. Coleman extreme 70qt
 
That's really too much loss for that cooler.

I think you might just be mashing in a bit too low and not giving the cooler adequate time to absorb ITS entire share of the heat.
 
Are you brewing outside in the wind/fog/rain? I have only ever had a drop like that once, when a cold fog suddenly rolled in halfway through my mash and literally sucked all the heat out of it.
 
Why are you mashing for 90 minutes? Super low mash temps? For most beers even 60 minutes is "good enough" and you could probably get by with 45 minutes.
 
Mashing inside, no exterior conditions. Mashed at 90min to get the fermenatables from flakes wheat and oats etc...
 
Only lose about .5 degree per hour in my 10gl Igloo?? I know the Coleman Xtremes won't keep my ice from melting as promised!
 
tangofoxtrot308 said:
Only lose about .5 degree per hour in my 10gl Igloo?? I know the Coleman Xtremes won't keep my ice from melting as promised!

Don't know what kind of ice you got, but I find they overstate it by a day at most (eg 4 days instead of 5 for the regular ones), and I've heard many people say roughly the same. But that's probably just a result of real-world use vs lab testing in ideal conditions.

4 days is still a ridiculously long time though, and the more expensive Xtreme Ultimate coolers can pull off 5-6. But that's only if you do what you can to HELP your cooler keep ice - if it's frequently being opened or left open for long periods of time, it will melt quicker. If you leave the cooler out in the sun instead of keeping it in the shade, it will melt a LOT quicker. But either way, they are damn good coolers.
 
around the edges

That doesn't suprise me a whole lot... after you stir it, how much has the entire mash lost? one or two degrees I bet. The cooler is performing exactly as it should. Lemme guess, you aren't stirring at all during those 90 minutes, right? Which is fine, but it is also why the grain at the edge drops so much.

BTW, if you want to get the most out of adjuncts like corn, oats, or wheat, here's what you do:

Boil a couple gallons of water. put the adjuncts in the water and remove from heat. Stir it up and put the lid on. Walk away for an hour or two. Come back to find mushy porridge and adjust temp and volume as necessary to use this to strike your mash (just as you would if it were just water). You will get maximum conversion of adjuncts this way, and your mash will be 60 minutes or less as it should be.
 
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