Mashed way too hot, what now?

I must not have mixed things well (a problem with little kids running around causing trouble), because after 90 min I measured the mash before sparging and it was at 175 - so I assume it started close to 180 based on my normal heat loss. I'm not sure what to do now - if I had any base malt around I'd just let it cool and then add some to convert, but I'm out and won't be able to get any for at least 24 hours. I can't imagine that letting the hot mash sit for a day will do anything good, I'm not looking for a sour beer. Do I have any options or do I just give up and start over?

I never throw out a beer until I know it's absolutely ruined.

That being said... I think you'll have fairly bad astringency problems here from the high mash temps. Did you by chance check the pH of the mash? If you're pH was too high (caused by high temps, certain grains, and water) then you'll have a very bitter, astringent flavor to your beer.

Join the club. I did my first AG a few weeks back and when my strike water hit the temp I wanted, I mashed in. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the burner off for about the first 20 minutes. When I realized it, I was at 170. I've kegged now and will be tasting it in a few days. The sample when I kegged wasn't too bad, but the ABV is low.

Can you get some amylase enzyme within a couple days? Then just pitch now and add the enzyme when you get it.

Don't give up. Use the amylase if you can. Wait it out and see how it turns out. I had that happen once, not that high, but I did end up with a mash of 164 (turns our my thermometer was off by 12 deg). The beer did not attenuate well at all. I started at 1.060 and only got down to 1.025 despite raising ferm temps and pitching active yeast. The beer was ok, but not very enjoyable. I ended up blending it with a much lighter version of the same style and that helped.

check your thermometer to see if you really mashed that high. Maybe(hopefully) something happened to your thermometer

so, you don't mention if you did a starch test. Get a bottle of iodine and have it in your workspace. Get a white saucer from the kitchen, drip some fluid from the mash on it, then put in a drop of iodine. Does it turn jet black or deep inky purple very dramatically? Or does the iodine simply dilute out and turn the whole thing a bit more brownish-red?

If it turns black, there is unconverted starch. That's not good because yeast cannot eat it (simple explanation).

If it doesn't turn black, your starch is already converted and you have nothing to worry about.

Conversion with pale malt can occur in five to fifteen minutes, and a traditional 60 minute mash is just based on tradition, not conversion needs with a modern malt. So you may be just fine.

jacksonbrown said:

Don't give up. Use the amylase if you can. Wait it out and see how it turns out. I had that happen once, not that high, but I did end up with a mash of 164 (turns our my thermometer was off by 12 deg). The beer did not attenuate well at all. I started at 1.060 and only got down to 1.025 despite raising ferm temps and pitching active yeast. The beer was ok, but not very enjoyable. I ended up blending it with a much lighter version of the same style and that helped.

Click to expand...

How does the high FG change the drinking experience? Lower ABV of course, but what other qualities come into play that make it not enjoyable?

I am on my 4th AG brew and have been mashing at 155 or so and thinking of going a little higher to get a sweeter brew for the wife. Am i off base?

Higher mash temps will yield less fermentable sugars and leave you with a maltier beer. Lower mash temps are the exact opposite. They'll give you a highly fermentable wort that will finish dry. There's a lot more to it, but that's the basic gist of it.

Yes, i was just curious what jacksonbrown didn't like about his brew when he mashed hot. Just too malty?

I'd imagine you would have a beverage that turns out like Malta Goya

jaginger said:

Yes, i was just curious what jacksonbrown didn't like about his brew when he mashed hot. Just too malty?

Click to expand...

It was just too sweet, not even an explicit malt flavor. Just sweet. And way too thick.

I decided to just go ahead and hope for the best. I figure that since the temps were still not uniform in the mash after 60 minutes, there were probably parts with enzymes left in tact - so I just stirred as best I could and let it sit form another 30 minutes. I have no idea if it worked - I've never had problems with conversion, so I don't have any iodine around to check, I'll get some for the future. The runnings did taste just as sweet as always, so maybe I got lucky.

I'll be heading to my LHBS later this week and I'll pick up some alpha amylase - I've never used it before, so I don't really know how it should work. How late can I add it? Ideally I'd like to wait and see how things go, and add it if the FG seems too high. Will that work, or is it too late by then? Also, how do I stop it? As I understand the normal process, mashout (or the boil) denatures all the enzymes - so without that, will I end up will an extremely dry beer?

I did this once with a bad thermometer. End product tasted like Dr. Pepper with too much syrup - unpleasant. Mixed it with an Imperial stout that came out a little hot, and the end product was a pretty decent porter. I replaced the thermometer though, rather than count on future compatible mistakes.