160ºF + mash temp?

[de5m0mike]

I'm looking to brew my first wee heavy soon. Also going to be my first 1.100 O.G. Anyway, I read at the link below that these are often mashed at temps above 160ºF but I haven't been able to find a single recipe anywhere online that says anything above 158ºF. Anyone ever mash above 160ºF.

Scotch Ale Recipes: Beer Styles | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith

 

[Golddiggie]

Mashed my first wee heavy at 154F and it came out GREAT... Just remember, the higher the mash temp, the higher your FG will be. I plan on mashing my re-brew of that batch (could be the next batch I brew) at about 152F. I'm looking to get the FG a bit lower than the first time...

 

[Thundercougarfalconbird]

You can mash at 160, your attenuation will be a lower % giving you a sweeter beer.
Check out
The Theory of Mashing - Home Brewing Wiki

 

[rjschroed]

here's the thing I would think about. . . starting that high, your gonna have problems getting a good attenuation anyways. Two pieces of advice I'd give are 1) If your gonna do this AG with no simple sugars added, mash low, boil long, plan for low efficency. I've read and heard numerous reports that the best gravity you can hope for from you first runnings is 1.080. Sounds like a good style to partigyle with to me. 2) If your planning to add simple sugars, keep in mind that they aid in attenuation, then I'd mash higher.

I know that the style has a certain sweetness to it, just consider your mash profile and ingredients along with how fermentable those things will make your wort and you should be all set.

 

[de5m0mike]

Not sure if it matters but I plan to use BIAB to accomplish this. My estimates are 20.78 pounds of grain with 74.38% efficiency. Should get a first run-off gravity of 1.116. Expected end of boil gravity (after adding sparge water) is 1.100 water. Yeast is Wyeast 1728-Scottish Ale. Attenuation 69-73%

 

[sheeshomatic]

Not sure if it matters but I plan to use BIAB to accomplish this. My estimates are 20.78 pounds of grain with 74.38% efficiency. Should get a first run-off gravity of 1.116. Expected end of boil gravity (after adding sparge water) is 1.100 water. Yeast is Wyeast 1728-Scottish Ale. Attenuation 69-73%

Where are you getting the 74% efficiency number from? Is that your average efficiency at lower OG brews? If so, it will go down as your grain bill goes up.

 

[de5m0mike]

With BIAB I usually get 90% efficiency. 74% is based on a drop in efficiency due to the increased gravity. There are some pretty smart guys over at BIABrewer.info • Index page who have developed a calculator that pretty accurately predicts efficiency. If you are interested, you can read more about it here.

BIABrewer.info • View topic - A New Approach to BIAB Calculus using Conversion Efficiency

 

[sheeshomatic]

With BIAB I usually get 90% efficiency. 74% is based on a drop in efficiency due to the increased gravity. There are some pretty smart guys over at BIABrewer.info • Index page who have developed a calculator that pretty accurately predicts efficiency. If you are interested, you can read more about it here.

BIABrewer.info • View topic - A New Approach to BIAB Calculus using Conversion Efficiency

Perfect. Just checking.

 

[asterix404]

Just to point it out, mashing at 160 will produce a very thick beer, and your beer at 116GP will already be really thick. You might want to drop that to like, 152-154. If you want to chew the beer that is plenty okay too (It's how I like my stouts), just figured I should let you know. I generally would do a stout at about 158.

 

[rjschroed]

Again, and maybe I'm wrong, but I remember hearing Palmer and JZ talk about the inability to get above about 1.080 on your first runnings in the brewing big beers series on brew strong. They explained it rather technically, getting into congress mash and everything. it's been awhile and I don't remember the exact details of the why. Just remember the what. . . maybe want to check it out, or at least keep some DME on hand.

 

[DannPM]

Mashing at 160 with an OG of 1.1 is how you make malt syrup, not wort.

 

[bigbeergeek]

^ Agreed. Mash no higher than 153 and select an appropriate yeast strain. Beers over 1.100 often have significant residual sweetness without the addition of simple sugars to the fermentables.

 

[de5m0mike]

Just to point it out, mashing at 160 will produce a very thick beer, and your beer at 116GP will already be really thick. You might want to drop that to like, 152-154. If you want to chew the beer that is plenty okay too (It's how I like my stouts), just figured I should let you know. I generally would do a stout at about 158.

What is 116GP?

Will my water to grist ratio effect this at all? I will be mashing 2.88 L/KG.

Is there a way to estimate attenuation based on mash temp?

 

[de5m0mike]

Also, just as an update, I've since changed my mind and will be shooting for an Original Gravity of 1.080 instead of 1.100.