kombat
Well-Known Member
I wanted to brew last Saturday but I knew I'd be a little pressed for time as we had a commitment for lunch. So I decided to try my first overnight mash to see if it might be a viable option for my beers in the future.
So Friday night, I heated my water, milled my grains, and doughed in a pale ale in my 48qt Coleman cooler mash tun set up indoors (it was below 0° F Friday night). I covered the grain bed with aluminum foil, wrapped cling wrap around the lid edges (didn't really stick that well), then I covered it with a blanket, and finally an old sleeping bag. Mash temperature was a pretty consistent 155° throughout the grain bed.
The next morning, 10 hours later, the temperature had dropped to 140° F. I'd only lost 15 degrees, which I figured was pretty good for 10 hours. I recirculated until clear while heating my sparge water, then proceeded with my brew day as normal.
A couple of things I noticed that I'm concerned about. The wort colour seemed considerably darker than I expected - is that a side effect of such a long mash, or would it be totally unrelated? Also, I checked my mash pH, and it came in around 4.2, which seems awfully low to me. Is that something to be worried about, or is lower safe and only higher values worrisome? I checked it twice, using those little matchstick-shaped single-use sampling strips.
The wort smelled great and it's fermenting away now at 63.5° F (wort temperature, US-05 yeast). I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
So Friday night, I heated my water, milled my grains, and doughed in a pale ale in my 48qt Coleman cooler mash tun set up indoors (it was below 0° F Friday night). I covered the grain bed with aluminum foil, wrapped cling wrap around the lid edges (didn't really stick that well), then I covered it with a blanket, and finally an old sleeping bag. Mash temperature was a pretty consistent 155° throughout the grain bed.
The next morning, 10 hours later, the temperature had dropped to 140° F. I'd only lost 15 degrees, which I figured was pretty good for 10 hours. I recirculated until clear while heating my sparge water, then proceeded with my brew day as normal.
A couple of things I noticed that I'm concerned about. The wort colour seemed considerably darker than I expected - is that a side effect of such a long mash, or would it be totally unrelated? Also, I checked my mash pH, and it came in around 4.2, which seems awfully low to me. Is that something to be worried about, or is lower safe and only higher values worrisome? I checked it twice, using those little matchstick-shaped single-use sampling strips.
The wort smelled great and it's fermenting away now at 63.5° F (wort temperature, US-05 yeast). I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
