Mash Technique

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Haldedrums

Active Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Location
Charleston
If I am mashing grains at 170F Forman hour (approx. 12 lbs. and 5 gallons), draining the wort, then adding 4 gallons at 160F to the grains, stirring, and draining to get my pre-boil volume, is this a good technique to sparge? I am working without a pump, so this seems tone the easiest for me.

Thoughts?
 
I've only done 2 partial mashes, however I know you don't want to mash that high. You run the risk of extracting tannins. You want to mash somewhere between 148-156 I think is the typical range. Shooting for 152 is usually a good starting point. As far as sparging, you want the sparge temp to be around 170, which means the water you add will need to be considerably hotter. Probably around 180, but it depends on your mash temp and your volume.
 
I've only done 2 partial mashes, however I know you don't want to mash that high. You run the risk of extracting tannins. You want to mash somewhere between 148-156 I think is the typical range. Shooting for 152 is usually a good starting point. As far as sparging, you want the sparge temp to be around 170, which means the water you add will need to be considerably hotter. Probably around 180, but it depends on your mash temp and your volume.

Right. At 170, you'll denature the enzymes so you won't be able to convert the starches into sugars. So, don't mash that high!

You want to mash at a temperature that will optimize both beta and alpha amlyase, so going toward the middle at 152 is a good bet for most beers.

Then, at the end, you can sparge with water that can get your grainbed to 170 do denature the enzymes.
 
I usually start with 3 gallons at 173 added to room temperature grains and end up at 152 after 15 minutes. I sparge twice with 183 for about 20 minutes each time including stir time and end up at 170 after two sparges.
 
I'm thinking he meant that he heats his strike water to 170, so the actual mash temps should be about right. For your grain load you are going to want to start with a smaller amount of water. Probably somewhere around 4.25 oz. Its all based on a water to grain ratio and you want to stay under 1.5 quarts per pound of grain. I usually stay around 1.4. So for 12 lbs of grain X say 1.4 = 16.8 quarts or 4.2 gallons.

From that depending on your efficiency you will probably collect around 2 gallons or so from your first running, so you'll want to sparge with 4 gallons so that your achieve 6 gallons (considering that is what you want to boil to accommodate for evaporation.) You sparge with about the exact amount of water you'll need because the grain will have already soaked up all the water it can during the mash and you will be able to collect pretty much all of the sparge water.

I hope that made sense...
 
Thanks everyone! Will definitely make some adjustments. Man there is so much to learn about AG brewing. So much fun!
 
Back
Top