scottland
Well-Known Member
I've done quite a bit of searching, but I figured I would start a new thread on this.
What is everyone's thoughts on fermentability of recirculated mashing, and more importantly how your mashout effects it?
Related to my setup: prior to building my HERMS, I just did infusion mashing in a insulated igloo cooler, and that worked great. A 1.055 beer fermented with say WLP001 would attenuate as follows: 148mash ~ 1.009, 152mash ~ 1.011, 155mash ~ 1.014. I always batch sparged, and used the first batch sparge as my mashout( heated the sparge water enough to raise the grain bed to 168). Now I realize with this approach my first runnings were still converting.
With my new HERMS, my attenuation has sucked. I've verified my new RTD therometer with the known good one I used to use. I've also verified the temp of the mash using my known good thermometer. I've mashed batches at 151-152, and 1.055 beers fermented with WLP001 are finishing at like 1.015-1.016. This has happened for three batches in a row, so i'm obviously creating less fermentable wort.
My Process:
Strike at my desired mash temp, or a degree or two less.
Recirculate for the length of the mash, HERMS controls the temp.
Start a 15min ramp to mashout temp of 168*
Begin fly sparging, sparge water at exactly 168*
Now my belief is since I have a 15min ramp to mash-out temps, my wort spends enough time in the alpha amalyse temp range(155+) to create a good amount of unfermentable dextrins. So where do I go forward from here? I like to mash thin, so doing a dedicated mash-out really isn't practical, and I'd really like to continue fly sparging. My two thoughts are:
A. If my intended mash temp with my old system is: 152*. Recirculate at around 148* for 60min, then do my 15min ramp to mash out. I feel like the lower rest will offset the dextrins created in the 155+ range.
B. If my intended mash temp with my old system is: 152*. Recirculate at 152* for 60min. Skip the ramp to mash out, just start sparging with 168* sparge water.
What are your thoughts on this? Anyone else running into similar issues, and if so, what have you done to fix it?
What is everyone's thoughts on fermentability of recirculated mashing, and more importantly how your mashout effects it?
Related to my setup: prior to building my HERMS, I just did infusion mashing in a insulated igloo cooler, and that worked great. A 1.055 beer fermented with say WLP001 would attenuate as follows: 148mash ~ 1.009, 152mash ~ 1.011, 155mash ~ 1.014. I always batch sparged, and used the first batch sparge as my mashout( heated the sparge water enough to raise the grain bed to 168). Now I realize with this approach my first runnings were still converting.
With my new HERMS, my attenuation has sucked. I've verified my new RTD therometer with the known good one I used to use. I've also verified the temp of the mash using my known good thermometer. I've mashed batches at 151-152, and 1.055 beers fermented with WLP001 are finishing at like 1.015-1.016. This has happened for three batches in a row, so i'm obviously creating less fermentable wort.
My Process:
Strike at my desired mash temp, or a degree or two less.
Recirculate for the length of the mash, HERMS controls the temp.
Start a 15min ramp to mashout temp of 168*
Begin fly sparging, sparge water at exactly 168*
Now my belief is since I have a 15min ramp to mash-out temps, my wort spends enough time in the alpha amalyse temp range(155+) to create a good amount of unfermentable dextrins. So where do I go forward from here? I like to mash thin, so doing a dedicated mash-out really isn't practical, and I'd really like to continue fly sparging. My two thoughts are:
A. If my intended mash temp with my old system is: 152*. Recirculate at around 148* for 60min, then do my 15min ramp to mash out. I feel like the lower rest will offset the dextrins created in the 155+ range.
B. If my intended mash temp with my old system is: 152*. Recirculate at 152* for 60min. Skip the ramp to mash out, just start sparging with 168* sparge water.
What are your thoughts on this? Anyone else running into similar issues, and if so, what have you done to fix it?