Mashing Ratio

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Pommy

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I had brewing networks strong brew playing in the background, the one from 19 June live from NHC 2010, and Im sure I heard them saying that a thinner mash was actually better and around 2qt per lb was reasonable, even possibly thinner. Did I miss hear that or what? I think they said the reason breweries use lower ratios is to maximise capacity of the equipment. Just thought I'd put this up here to see what everyone on here thinks and might help a few people out. Im going to have another listen later on because I just bought a 52qt cooler to convert to a mash tun and a thinner mash might help me out when doing 6g batches. What ratio do most people use? I know 1.25-1.5qt/lb is what I normally hear.

Heres the link to the research referred to: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.ph...ncy_in_single_infusion_mashing#Mash_thickness
 
My understanding was that it's actually inconclusive and doesn't make a significant difference within the useful range anyway.

I nominally shoot for about 1.5 for normal gravity batches, but I don't pay close attention to that. Temp and pH, yes.
 
Yeah that was my understanding after reading up on it. I'm assuming the easier control over the pH would be the main reason for keeping the mash on the thicker side then?
 
I like to go about 1.75 qt. /lb., for a number of reasons that have been extensively discussed on this forum. That being said, that ratio can come out a bit higher or lower, and I don't care. One reason is that I buy some pH insurance by using Five Star's 5.2.
 
IIRC - Palmer has some info on mash thickness and I seem to recall that 1.5 qt/gal was about where you run into diminishing returns for efficiency.

I use 1.5 qts/gal. It is sometimes necessary to go with less water due to mash tun size.
 
I use whatever ratio gets me equal runoffs, since I'm batch sparging. That's about 1.8 qt/lb for an average-gravity beer, but could be as low as 1.2 or as high as 2.2, depending on the boil volume and grain bill size.

A thinner mash is certainly easier to stir, and loses less heat over the course of the mash.
 
Pommy said:
I had brewing networks strong brew playing in the background, the one from 19 June live from NHC 2010, and Im sure I heard them saying that a thinner mash was actually better and around 2qt per lb was reasonable, even possibly thinner. Did I miss hear that or what? I think they said the reason breweries use lower ratios is to maximise capacity of the equipment. Just thought I'd put this up here to see what everyone on here thinks and might help a few people out. Im going to have another listen later on because I just bought a 52qt cooler to convert to a mash tun and a thinner mash might help me out when doing 6g batches. What ratio do most people use? I know 1.25-1.5qt/lb is what I normally hear.

Heres the link to the research referred to: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Effects_of_mash_parameters_on_fermentability_and_efficiency_in_single_infusion_mashing#Mash_thickness
Click to expand...

I was there at the 'cast and yes, you heard right. Since I read Kai's work a few months back and went to a thinner ratio, my conversion efficiency has gone way up at no expense to beer quality.
 
Denny said:
I was there at the 'cast and yes, you heard right. Since I read Kai's work a few months back and went to a thinner ratio, my conversion efficiency has gone way up at no expense to beer quality.
Click to expand...

I was there also (and funnily enough, sitting next to Denny!). About a year or so ago, after talking to Kai I went to 1.5 quarts/pound. My mash pH was fine, and now I'm toying with 1.75- 2 quarts/pound. I get full conversion, usually by 45 minutes but I'll often leave it for the full hour just because that's how long my HLT takes to heat up the sparge water. The beer quality is good, and my efficiency is a bit higher.
 

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