First all-grain, mashed too hot, how badly did I screw up?

[office888]

Recipe:
12 lb Maris otter
3.5 oz Kent Golding (bittering)
3.5 oz Kent Golding (dry hop)
Mash @ 150F for 60 min, mash out at 169F, sparge at 169F to 173F.
90 min Kent Golding.

OG: 1.067
FG: 1.014
IBU: 74
ABV: 7.5%
----------

My water was at about 152F. The second I added the grain, it went up to 170F. I panicked, reduced heat, and added cold water.

It took about 15 min for it to come down to 150F, then it maintained 149-151F for the last 45 min of the boil. I cranked the heat up, and added sparge water, and mashed out at about 175F. I tasted it, it tasted sweet, so I thought it might not be a big deal.

After I did the 90 min hop boil, I sampled it again...definitely tastes like a pale ale.

I pitched the yeast about 12 hours ago, no bubbles in the airlock yet. I've been walking by and shaking the fermenter every once in a while.

Think I'll actually get some beer out of this?

 

[hadabar]

you'll be fine...

if nothing happens in another day or 2 I'd start to wonder but nothing catastrophic...thats a big hop charge...and dry hop...let me know how it turns out

 

[PVH]

This is reminiscent of a recent post asking a similar question. How do you suppose it is possible for the temperature of your mash to go from 152F (with just the water) to 170F after you added the grist?

And did you get that OG from a measurement?

 

[joetothemo]

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Adding grain should have dropped the water's temp (assuming it was cooler than the water...which I am sure it was).

Was the thermometer not all the way in the water when you got your 152 reading?

You'll get beer, albeit...you may miss your FG.

I've only mashed a few times, so others are more qualified to answer in detail.

 

[Rahahb]

Had to have been a misreading prior to adding grains.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

Recipe:
12 lb Maris otter
3.5 oz Kent Golding (bittering)
3.5 oz Kent Golding (dry hop)
Mash @ 150F for 60 min, mash out at 169F, sparge at 169F to 173F.
90 min Kent Golding.

OG: 1.067
FG: 1.014
IBU: 74
ABV: 7.5%
----------

My water was at about 152F. The second I added the grain, it went up to 170F. I panicked, reduced heat, and added cold water.

It took about 15 min for it to come down to 150F, then it maintained 149-151F for the last 45 min of the boil. I cranked the heat up, and added sparge water, and mashed out at about 175F. I tasted it, it tasted sweet, so I thought it might not be a big deal.

After I did the 90 min hop boil, I sampled it again...definitely tastes like a pale ale.

I pitched the yeast about 12 hours ago, no bubbles in the airlock yet. I've been walking by and shaking the fermenter every once in a while.

Think I'll actually get some beer out of this?

I am assuming you were using your kettle as your mash tun right? If so, the bottom of the water will always be hotter then the top. You need to stir it up to get an accurate reading of how hot water is. Keep that in mind for the future, if you are going to continue to use your kettle as your mash tun. As far as this beer goes, it's junk. Send it to me for proper disposal. Seriously, you are fine. Sometimes beers take a while to take off and start fermenting. My first batch didn't start fermenting for 2 1/2 days. They say to not let mash temp get to high because you will start to leach tennins and their off flavor into the beer. With your quick thinking, you probably didn't do any harm to it. You might end up with a sweeter beer but I think you are fine. RDWHAHB

 

[Krrazy]

I'd be interested to know what you're mashing in...from your post it sounds like you "reduced the heat" in some way other than adding the cold water -- was the mash tun being heated directly? Did you stir and make temperature measurements at multiple places to ensure consistency? If your thermometer is digital, could it have submerged while you were adding the grain and gotten water inside the probe and affected the accuracy of the reading?

Like PVH said, it's interesting that there have been two posters with exothermic grain additions in a recent times!

 

[office888]

I was using an old analog thermometer, however, it was just a short one. Maybe plunges ~6 inches into the water. It is the possible that my first reading was off.

Yes, I was using a 5 gallon stock pot as my mash tun. I have not constructed a proper one as of yet, although it's definitely on the to do list.

I wasn't stirring the full pot at first, my spoon was too short. I switched to a bigger spoon which I used to stir the grain upwards in the pot. I think this is what helped me maintain my temperature for the other 45 minutes.

As said, I do not own a hygrometer yet. I'll pick one up from Bell's General Store and take a gravity reading sometime this week.

Thanks for the vote of confidence...I was just a little nervous. I'll do a little better job taking accurate readings and maintaining a consistent temperature next time.

 

[JonM]

We're referring to another recent post where someone added room-temp grains to hot water and believed that the cooler-than-the-water grains made the temp go up, when the apparent temp increase was due to something else. Which, hey, on your first AG, when your brain has a million things to keep straight, easy mistake to make.

All in good fun. Your beer will be fine.

And, as I write this, I'm having a glass of an all MO beer I made a few weeks ago. That stuff is incredible. You'll love it.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

MO? What's that?

 

[hadabar]

maris otter

 

[mabaty]

The whole post does not make sense to me...

 

[office888]

We're referring to another recent post where someone added room-temp grains to hot water and believed that the cooler-than-the-water grains made the temp go up, when the apparent temp increase was due to something else. Which, hey, on your first AG, when your brain has a million things to keep straight, easy mistake to make.

All in good fun. Your beer will be fine.

And, as I write this, I'm having a glass of an all MO beer I made a few weeks ago. That stuff is incredible. You'll love it.

I smelled heavenly. I was almost sad to compost it all. Although I did save a tray worth that I dried... My sister owns some guinea pigs, and they eat it up.

The fermentation finally started up. There's a nice 1" layer of foam on the surface, and the airlock is burping away at about 1 burp every 2 seconds or so.