Good call on the enzymes. Easy fix for a bad mash.
If it ever happens to you again, consider adding cold water
Ice is nice!I have cooled over heated mash with ice. A 10 gallon mash will drop about by 4 deg F with a pound of ice in under a minute. .4 oz of ice per gallon of mash per deg F drop needed is a quick formula I use when needed. Never had fermentation problems with a quick correction.
Can you recommend some accurate thermometers? I've noticed as much as 10 degrees difference between thermometers.You want to use a thermometer that's accurate and reacts reasonably fast.
That is very interesting. I pay strict attention to mash temperature and grain to water ratio. I have never missed a mash temp that much but I have had beers that finished high like 1.025 on a Wee Heavy and it was cloyingly sweet. However, this could be a result of the yeast not attenuating the wort fully for some reason. I'll have to check this out on a couple beers.Check out some of Brulosophy's experiments on Mash Temps. Most of their data suggests that even though the final gravity might be on the high side, tasters are not able to tell a difference between a high mash temp compared to a low mash temp. Your beer should be fine!
Here is an example: Mash Temperature: 147°F/64°C vs. 164°/73°C | exBEERiment Results!
It was suggested but the yeast had already been pitched.Brewer that lives under a rock question: I couldn't help but notice that a quick iodine test wasn't suggested. Has the iodine test been relegated to the rather large pile of archaic techniques that used to be standard practice?
It was suggested but the yeast had already been pitched.
The Thermapen (the Mk4 model now) is the tool of choice among many of us. Fast and accurate.Can you recommend some accurate thermometers? I've noticed as much as 10 degrees difference between thermometers.
Brewersfriend will calculate your strike water temp and volume for the perfect mash temp every single time. The most I was off was maybe 2 degrees from target rest! It's awesome.
Absolutely. That's why I use Beersmith.That calculator assumes everyones' mash tun has the same thermal mass, which is definitely not the case.
[...]One thing I learned, you need to come in high from the get-go. Then ease it downward if needed.
What size kettles do you have? I would rather come in high because I can drop the mash temp with ice very quickly. Depending on the mash it can take much longer to raise it. I have 27 gal pots.Why is that - seems like the unsafer choice of the two options (come in high vs come in low). Is this a system issue?
I rely on Beersmith3's strike temperature calculator which has been amazingly accurate for my system over the years. I take an IR gun average of the mlt interior and FB while using my 2' long digital thermometer to get the grain temperature from the middle of one of the buckets, plug those numbers in, and it bangs them against my equipment profile and spits out a strike temperature.
If I was winging it, I'd come in low rather than high. My herms rig can move the mash between 1 to 2°F per minute depending on the recipe - total mash mass varies, like the 1.108 beast I cooked up today moves a lot slower than then 60 point wheat beer I brewed last.
In any case, I always do a rest at 160-162°F just for grins, before proceeding to mash out and fly sparging. I think it makes for a bit more fermentable wort...
Cheers!
True, but it works for the typical cooler type mash tun.That calculator assumes everyones' mash tun has the same thermal mass, which is definitely not the case.
I agree but I never miss it by more than a few degrees.Triple 20 gallon kettles, bg14 burners on high pressure propane under hlt and bk.
I get what you're saying but there's heightened risk on that side of the equation
Cheers!
The Thermapen (the Mk4 model now) is the tool of choice among many of us. Fast and accurate.
They're pricey, yes, but if brewing (and cooking) is your forte you won't regret it. You'd never go back.
They go on sale from time to time, subscribe to their newsletter. They also have "open box sales," that's when I got mine. Box was brand new, and had never been opened. Instrument was brand new too.
This blue one is on sale right now.
One thing I learned, you need to come in high from the get-go. Then ease it downward if needed.
Why is that - seems like the unsafer choice of the two options (come in high vs come in low). Is this a system issue?
I'm not sure how fast enzymes denature. It's surely not instantaneous.I would think you'd risk denaturing beta by coming in high, at which point easing down would find less beta available.
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