mash temp and beersmith

[itsratso]

new to biab.also posted on the BS boards. I have noticed that when a recipe suggests an all grain mash temp a lot of times it is way different then the beersmith biab suggested mash temp. what do you guys do when brewing a recipe? go with the recipe temp, go with what BS suggests, something else? tanx in advance.

 

[chickypad]

You have to input the mash temp into Beersmith, otherwise you're just using some default. You will want to use the mash temp listed in the recipe, or choose your own depending on what you want to achieve.

Edit: are you talking about strike temp? Because mash temp for a recipe doesn't change depending on the type of equipment you use - mash tun, BIAB, etc. Strike temp will of course change depending on your equipment and mash thickness. You'll need to set Beersmith up to calculate that properly, or use pricelessbrewing's calculator which is a very good one for all things BIAB.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

The beersmith mash temp default is 153 if I remember correctly, you have to change that for each recipe. If you mean the strike temp, then that's a calculated number based on a number of factors such as mash tun thermal mass, water volumes, grain temp, grain bill, and most good pieces of software should agree on the strike temp for the same input although some are better than others.

For obvious reasons, I recommend checking mine out (super easy to use, and lots of features other software does not include)

 

[itsratso]

so an example to clarify. say I find a recipe here for a russian imp stout and the author gives the mash temp as 152F for 60 minutes. so when I go to BS and pick what mash profile I want to use I pick BIAB - full body and it gives me a mash profile of 156F for 75 minutes (I just made up these numbers as an example). I have seen similar things though where the BS suggested mash temp is very different from the recipe mash temp. I know that everyone will say to just use a mash temp that gives you the fermentability that you are looking for, but the point is, if you are trying to duplicate someone elses results should you go with their mash temp? does it need to be altered for BIAB?

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Don't use those mash profiles, you need to make your own or edit one of them each time.

The mash temp is something you need to tell the software you're using.

 

[Oginme]

so an example to clarify. say I find a recipe here for a russian imp stout and the author gives the mash temp as 152F for 60 minutes. so when I go to BS and pick what mash profile I want to use I pick BIAB - full body and it gives me a mash profile of 156F for 75 minutes (I just made up these numbers as an example). I have seen similar things though where the BS suggested mash temp is very different from the recipe mash temp. I know that everyone will say to just use a mash temp that gives you the fermentability that you are looking for, but the point is, if you are trying to duplicate someone elses results should you go with their mash temp? does it need to be altered for BIAB?

The answer is yes, and no. I find in my BIAB system that I need to mash about 2F to 3F degrees higher to match the fermentability in recipes from most sources such as Zymurgy or Brewing Classic Styles.

Pricelessbrewing is correct though. You will want to make mash profiles which follow the temperatures you want to mash. For me, I have mash profiles for BIAB at every 2F from 146F up to 160F. When a recipe specifies a given mash temperature I usually aim a little higher and select the closest temperature I have. In reality, I find very little difference between mashing at 152F and 154F, but a much larger one between 152F and 160F, so I don't sweat the 1 or 2 degree stuff.

 

[jcglezen]

I found this youtube video helpful in setting up biab mash profile in BS

https://youtu.be/VKiEjhxo2oo