I preheated my cooler too long and when I added my strike water to the grain the temperature jumped to 198 degrees. The strike water was only 165 degrees. It took my about a half hour of adding ice, some cold water and stirring but I am now down to 169 and I will keep the lid open till it gets down to 156. Is this beer ruined? I tasted the mash and it tasted pretty sugary. Please advise.
Mash Temp. Too High
- Thread starter arog3000
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What temp was the water you used to preheat the cooler? Having a hard time understanding how 165 degrees would jump to 196 degrees.
I don't use a cooler, but if I did, I'd preheat the cooler with water just above the mash temp.
I don't use a cooler, but if I did, I'd preheat the cooler with water just above the mash temp.
BendBrewer
Well-Known Member
Mash should be sugary. That's the idea. Make sure to stir after allowing the ice to melt.
Rule #1? You can't worry.....
(Now I think there are 2 typos. Guessing he got it down to 159.)
Rule #1? You can't worry.....
(Now I think there are 2 typos. Guessing he got it down to 159.)
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
Yes, please explain your process. Unless your grain was at 200+ degrees, there is no way that adding strike water at that temp would result in a mash temp in the 190s.
Me thinks your thermometer is out of whack.
Me thinks your thermometer is out of whack.
I just used hot water from the sink. I believe it was about 185 - 190 and I closed the lid for probably a half hour. This is the second time I mashed and the first time I didn't preheat and was only able to get up to 142.
wedge421
Well-Known Member
Check your thermometer. Or invest in a solid digital one.
BendBrewer
Well-Known Member
There is still no freaking it heated up to that.
Maybe I'm confused, but from reading your posts it sounds like you think the mash tun will keep getting hotter and hotter the longer you preheat it with a volume of tap water. 190F tap water is incredibly hot, btw, and even if it is that hot, there is just no way you could add 165F water and your grist and get a temp of 198F.
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
There is not enough thermal energy stored in the cooler to raise the temp of the mash that much.
In the future, try adding your strike water at about 170F to the cooler. Close the lid and let it sit 5-10 minutes. When the temp drops to about 11F above your grain temp (in the 160s), add the grain, stir and you should be able to hit your mash temp.
Oh, and calibrate your thermometer.
shortyjacobs
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry....I am a bit confused and a lot doubtful.
You put 190-200*F water in the cooler, (by the way, if your hot water is really that hot, wow. My hot water tank, turned up very high, is only 145), and closed the lid and let it sit for 30 min.
Then you dumped out the hot water, added grain, and added 165*F strike water?
It's absolutely impossible that your mash hit 189*F then. Even if the cooler really was preheated fully to 190*F, it just doesn't have the thermal bulk. Sans grain, I'd be amazed if a 190*F cooler could head 165*F water up more than a degree or two. With 70*F grain, it's just patently impossible.
Either your thermometer is borked, (this is my guess), or you are magic. When you say you have a nice digital thermometer, is it one that looks something like this?
If so, if you get ANY moisture in the part where the wire enters the metal probe part, it will read anything from -200 to +500*F. Could this be your issue?
Also, after adding strike water, wait 10 minutes before taking a temp reading. It takes a while for everything to equilibrate.
You put 190-200*F water in the cooler, (by the way, if your hot water is really that hot, wow. My hot water tank, turned up very high, is only 145), and closed the lid and let it sit for 30 min.
Then you dumped out the hot water, added grain, and added 165*F strike water?
It's absolutely impossible that your mash hit 189*F then. Even if the cooler really was preheated fully to 190*F, it just doesn't have the thermal bulk. Sans grain, I'd be amazed if a 190*F cooler could head 165*F water up more than a degree or two. With 70*F grain, it's just patently impossible.
Either your thermometer is borked, (this is my guess), or you are magic. When you say you have a nice digital thermometer, is it one that looks something like this?
If so, if you get ANY moisture in the part where the wire enters the metal probe part, it will read anything from -200 to +500*F. Could this be your issue?
Also, after adding strike water, wait 10 minutes before taking a temp reading. It takes a while for everything to equilibrate.
That's what I was trying to say.
And ditto on adding strike water to the cooler and then adding the grist, rather than trying to take into account how much heat the cooler will absorb. One less variable.
cimirie
Well-Known Member
If your tap water really is 180-190, you have way bigger problems than mash temp. You can significantly reduce your monthly electric bill (or gas if that's what your house has) by dropping the temp setting on your water heater. A normal house has it set anywhere from 125-140. 180 tap water is incredibly dangerous. That's why heaters aren't set that high (most can't be set that high).
This is the reason most people tend to be leaning towards a thermometer problem. Tap water just doesn't get hot enough to preheat the cooler that much. And if, by some strange happenstance, it did preheat that high, the thermal mass of the barley an liquor would have brought down the temp significantly. I'd also bet it's a thermometer.
This is the reason most people tend to be leaning towards a thermometer problem. Tap water just doesn't get hot enough to preheat the cooler that much. And if, by some strange happenstance, it did preheat that high, the thermal mass of the barley an liquor would have brought down the temp significantly. I'd also bet it's a thermometer.
Crazytwoknobs
Well-Known Member
Sounds like sweet wort/sugars got up inside the thermometer above the top of the probe. A similar thing happened to one of mine, and it wouldn't read anything other than 149+, seemingly random numbers too... Mash was 161, boil was 149....
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
Not to be a pain, but if you have a spare thermometer (non-digital preferably) laying around, you should double-check your current temp.
IF your thermometer was the issue and was reading 198F when the mash was probably in the 150s, then if you cooled it down 30F with ice, you will be sitting at 120F for the end of the mash. (That's assuming any thermometer error is linear, which it may not be)
I believe you are all correct. I just put a regular thermometer in and it is reading low. I have to start over. Sucks because this is only the second time I have mashed and only the second time I have used this thermometer. Oh well.
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
Whoa! Don't start over.
Check the gravity of the runnings first. In reality, it only takes ~30 minutes for full conversion, you may be okay...
Check the gravity of the runnings first. In reality, it only takes ~30 minutes for full conversion, you may be okay...
Crazytwoknobs
Well-Known Member
Yeah, and since you were most likely stirring for much of that time while adding cooler water, there's a good chance it's fine.
cimirie
Well-Known Member
*Deleted*
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
Temperature corrected?
Depending on the recipe, that sounds pretty good. What was your predicted OG?
Ace_Club
Well-Known Member
What is your boil size? Take the boil size, subtract how much wort you got from your first runnings. The remainder will be the amount of sparge water needed. Sparge water, for me, is typically between 170F to 180F.
In the future, i would add water that is hotter than your strike (be careful with water upwards of 185 or so as it could warp the cooler.. or at least it did to mine) and close the lid. this will heat up the cooler... when it reaches your strike temp, add the grains and stir it all up.
This will prevent this issue.
This will prevent this issue.
