yes a very newb question concerning mashing...

[Tremblay]

Hello y'all ! Im new to this forum, have been brewing coopers for the last year, Ive done two AG brews recently, but for this HefeWeizen ill be brewing this weekend, Ive got a little concern, Here it goes.

The recipe calls for a step mash, going from 123 to 148, then 155 to 170 degrees, Ive built a nice mash tun with a copper manifold from a cooler and it works real nice, however, evidently, I cant put that on the burner to gradually bring the temp up from 123 to 170. Ive also got a turkey fryer which I fitted with a faucet, I can also wrap it up with that insulating aluminum thinger. Now what im wondering about is, If I do the mash in the turkey fryer and follow the gradual temp raise, can I then transfer the mash (basically dump it) into my mash tun to filter it/sparge it and then transfer back into my turkey fryer for the boil? Is there any other way around this? My pot is not equipped for filtering... Thanks guys, I know you'll be able t o help me out with your expertise !!

 

[Firebat138]

i guess you could step at 123... then drain and heat up the wort and dump back in to get to temp and etc...

 

[rjsnau]

I have basically the same setup you have and what I would do is use some brewing software like Beersmith to calculate the step mash. You basically would dough in with less water and then use a calculated amount of boiling water to raise each step. The 155 to 170 is a standard mash out and this is what I always do.

 

[prrriiide]

You could do it in the boil kettle as a BIAB. Then all you have to do is lift out the bag, let it drain, then teabag it into the sparge water in your cooler. Drain the tun back into the boil pot and you should have near your full volume.

What you suggest (transferring to tun for filtering/sparging should also work, but I really wouldn't want to try and lift a hot 7 g pot full of hot mash and pour it into the cooler.

Another alternative is that this might be a golden opportunity to learn decoction mashing.

 

[Stauffbier]

Use this; http://rackers.org/calcs.shtml/

Pay attention to the "rest calculator" for your situation..

 

[arkowa]

You could do what you described, dumping the pot post mash into the tun for sparging.

Other options: Eventually you will break down and buy software - promash, beersmith, etc. The software has tools that will calculate add-in water temperature. Meaning, you can heat strike water in your pot, hit your first step. Add ____ quarts of water at _____ F at _____ minutes. Mash out at ____ F with ____ Q of water. Sparge with 170F water. The program will calculate the appropriate temperature for your add ins. The turkey fryer can be used to heat each of these additions.

I question the importance of the step mash.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/step-mash-vs-infusion-66622/

148 infusion will give a dryer beer, with conversion of more fermentable sugars - if you want to go that way and avoid the whole step troubles. I believe John Plise - cofounder of the Brewing Network - mashes most of his at something crazy low like 146. (Traditional bock or Flanders Brown - Jamil Show podcast.. cant remember which show that came out in)