easiest/best way to add strike water to mash tun?

I've done two all grain batches and i've run into a bit of an issue: adding strike water to the mash while maintaining a good temp. i'm a small guy so it's hard for me to add several gallons of water to a mash tun by myself safely. i've been using a pot to add the water slowly from my kettle until i can pour the rest in. this has cause me to end up with a strike water temp a little lower than i'd like (probably due to putting a room temp pot in the strike water), which has lead to me having to add some really hot water to help get it to where i'd like. does anyone know of a better technique to get a consistent mash temp?

This is likely to start a debate - but why not add grain to water that's at the correct temp? That's what I do, and it makes it easy to notice dough balls as soon as they happen, besides being safer than pouring hot water.

Keep good notes for YOUR system and adjust accordingly. I lose about 15 degrees when I add strike water to my tun and then let it sit for about 15 minutes to warm it up. It holds temps better with this warm up. Then I typically lose about 10 degrees when I add my grain to the tun. So on average, if I add my strike water 25 degrees hotter than I need, I can hit my mash temp dead on.

Beer smith software has been dead on for me in determining strike water temp required to hit a certain dough in. You enter the temp of your MLT and grain and it compensates. How about siphoning with a big hose from your HLT to MLT if you don't have a ball valve?

Get a http://store.brooklyn-homebrew.com/weldless-pot-spigot-ball-valve-stainless-steel/dp/2673 for your pot. Works on Stainless and Aluminium. It flows fast and you wont lose temp playing around with bailing from one pot into you Mash Tun. After that use http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/ or beersmith or http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php or http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml to calculate the strike and mash water temps. I've been disabled for 4 years and can't lift very much. If you think about how to set up your equipment you can figure out an efficient way that wont be to hard on the body. Best of luck.

This may not help, but I usually brew with a friend and we have a system that takes about 30 seconds: one person pours the water and the other person pours the grain. Both pours happen simultaneously and from opposing directions (facing each other, pouring "into" each other's pour), so there is a perfect mix on the way into the tun. One or two quick stirs to make sure all's well and then the lid goes on.

jeffjm said:

This is likely to start a debate - but why not add grain to water that's at the correct temp? That's what I do, and it makes it easy to notice dough balls as soon as they happen, besides being safer than pouring hot water.

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It really comes down to how much grain you are talking about.

Get a one gallon plastic rubbermaid pitcher and easily transfer 3 quarts at a time.

Heat your strike water a little higher than Beersmith tells you. That way by the time you get all the water in there all you'd have to do is stir the water till you get down to your proper temp before mashing in. This also gives your tun some time to preheat.

wilserbrewer said:

Get a one gallon plastic rubbermaid pitcher and easily transfer 3 quarts at a time.

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This is what I do now. I'm a big guy, who used to do water deliveries to businesses, so lifting 5 gallons of water is just another day at the park for me. So I just put on some heavy leather gloves, and poured the water. Then after 2 batches, my brain finally kicked in and said, "Your luck is going to run out one day" So now I start off with two pots of water. One has about a gallon in it, this I bring to a boil, pour that into my mash tun and then seal it up and wait for the rest of my water to heat. This gets things nice and hot inside, then I've just figured out the temp I need to make the rest of my strike water to allow for the cooling I get while I use a pitcher and scoop the rest of the water into the tun.

It has made figuring out the strike temp a little more difficult, especially in winter and the fluctuating temps, but my space just doesn't allow for a nice gravity feed rack. Which, if you have the space, would maybe be what you want to consider. Get a valve on your pot and use gravity to feed the mash tun.

Putting a weldless spigot in your pot is invaluable. I use beersmith to get the target temp of my strike water, when hit just open the valve. A minute or two later my MLT is full of water. Stir in the grain for a minute. Wait another minute and check temp, nails it within a degree every time. Hitting the target temp at dough in has to be one of the most important steps in AG brewing, IMO.

I use beersmith to calculate the water temp I need for the temp of the grain, MLT, etc. Then I bump up a few degrees (Always easier to cool a mash tan to heat it up!)

I am able to pour all of my mash and sparge water in by myself, but if you can't, or it takes a bit longer, then just add a few more degrees to your water. No biggie.

And I've also found that a large whisk is much faster at breaking up doughballs than the mash paddle I used to use.

I always heat my strike water 20 degrees higher than the mash temp. That way I don't pre-heat the tun and I have a few degrees wiggle room when I add the grains. So if my mash temp calls for 152 I add 172 water to the tun then add grains and stir until I hit the mash temp, close her up and come back in an hour. Never fails. For me if I have to be anything I would rather be a few degrees warmer. That way I have the right amount of water and I can stir down to temp. Personally if my mash temp is a few degrees low I don't like to add more water. Just me being anal I guess.:rockin:

I would agree with most people here and hear your strike water about 20 degrees hotter than you need, then while you're transferring it with a 4 quart pot, temps should drop to about what you need your strike water to be.

And if its still too hot once you've transferred, leave the top off of your mash tun (assuming you're using a cooler?) and wait until your proper strike temp! Easy peasy.

I BIAB so I don't have to deal with transferring. But I would like to move to using a cooler. Best of luck!

Callacave said:

Heat your strike water a little higher than Beersmith tells you. That way by the time you get all the water in there all you'd have to do is stir the water till you get down to your proper temp before mashing in. This also gives your tun some time to preheat.

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I do something like this. I always heat my water to 180 (beersmith usually recommends 162-165 for me), then dump it all in the cooler. Slowly add and mix the grains, and I usually end up at around 155 when this is done. If that's my mash temp, close lid and ready to go. If I'm shooting for a 150 mash, it only takes a minute or two of stirring the mash to bring the temp down.

Much easier to cool a slightly too warm mash than warm a slightly too cool mash. At least for me who only has one burner and one brewpot.

jeffjm said:

This is likely to start a debate - but why not add grain to water that's at the correct temp? That's what I do, and it makes it easy to notice dough balls as soon as they happen, besides being safer than pouring hot water.

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^^^^I do this. Tried both ways and this is a helluva lot easier. Even with a lot of grain it's easier than handling and pouring hot water.

I'm a big guy too, but this just seems so much easier.

jbags5 said:

I do something like this. I always heat my water to 180 (beersmith usually recommends 162-165 for me), then dump it all in the cooler. Slowly add and mix the grains, and I usually end up at around 155 when this is done. If that's my mash temp, close lid and ready to go. If I'm shooting for a 150 mash, it only takes a minute or two of stirring the mash to bring the temp down.

Much easier to cool a slightly too warm mash than warm a slightly too cool mash. At least for me who only has one burner and one brewpot.

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Are you setting the temp of your MLT and grain in beersmith and checking the adjust for equipment temp check box? My grain and MLT have been at about 66 lately, basement temp. Beersmith has me heat the strike to about 167 to get about a 152 mash for example and its been almost dead on every time. Bottom line, you can test with your equipment and get close but there are variables every time. Using a program that takes into account the temp of the MLT at the time you add the strike water, the temp of the grains, and the amount of grains, is going to get you extremely close each time. Hitting too high is not that big of a deal you just have to stir with the lid off for a few mins. Doughing in too low though is a bigger PITA and missing big in either direction can screw up a batch. This part of the beer making process is very precise, kind of like baking (is a science) vs cooking (is an art). There's not much room for interpretation.

I really should rethink things myself. Im constantly lifting or dumping many gallons of hot water throughout my brew day. I have found that going a few degres warmer than a strike temp calculation is a good idea. Some stirring or having a bottle of cold water will get me down a few degrees quickly

Bamsdealer said:

I really should rethink things myself. Im constantly lifting or dumping many gallons of hot water throughout my brew day. I have found that going a few degres warmer than a strike temp calculation is a good idea. Some stirring or having a bottle of cold water will get me down a few degrees quickly

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The biggest improvement you can make IMO is a ball valve to eliminate dumping. It's under fifty bucks and You will wonder why you didn't do it sooner

bd2xu said:

The biggest improvement you can make IMO is a ball valve to eliminate dumping. It's under fifty bucks and You will wonder why you didn't do it sooner

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Funny you say that. I actually do, but the hose fitting on the valve is only a quarter inch. Plenty for sparge water but not so good f or draining wort from the pot and impractical for adding strike water to my mlt. Instead of a fifty dollar fix, three should take care of it.

Ah, yes. Get a half inch, and drill a bigger hole. I transfer about 4 gallons of strike in about a minute I think.

I know this is not what most want to hear, but getting a brew stand and and/or using pumps makes all of this so much easer. You can be off a little and fix it no problem.

I use any of the online calculators for strike temp, heat my water to a couple higher than target and pour the volume into the mash tun. I have my tun on the ground, and rest the kettle/hlt on the table and tip it over and let it pour into the tun.

Let it sit for a few minutes to heat soak the tun, then bring it down to the strike temp by stirring. Then, you just pour grains in. I never get dough balls, and my mash temp is within 1 degree of target.

i haven't read all the responses but i've been adding half the strike water at abour 12F over my goal. then i add the grain and check the new temp after stirring. then i use the other half of the strike addition to correct the temp.