I do BIAB, but this can be applied to anyone mashing...what's the "correct" way to take a temperature reading? I've found that temps vary on where in the kettle my thermometer is. I read that a lot of people using thermapens but that only has a 4.5 inch probe, so is that deep enough?
accurate mash tmperature reading
- Thread starter danomyte
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If you stir like mad, you should have pretty consistent temps for about 3-4 minutes throughout the mash. Bu this is only after heating has ended and resultant carry-over heat has normalized (pot is the same temp as the liquid inside)...this means direct heated step mashing takes experience with your personal equipment.
That said, use a long probe dial thermometer and just calibrate it ever few sessions. This how I know my grainbed is +-1 f for a few minutes after I stop stirring.
That said, use a long probe dial thermometer and just calibrate it ever few sessions. This how I know my grainbed is +-1 f for a few minutes after I stop stirring.
4.5 inches with the thermapen is deep enough. I know because I can take 4 different readings with my thermapen and average them, and when I run my recirc pump with a calibrated thermometer on the output, it agrees with my thermapen reading(s).
I brewed a batch with a local production brewery for GABF last year, and they took their mash temp the same way, a very short probe in several different spots, with temperatures averaged.
There's lots of thermal mass in your mash tun, so if you dough in thoroughly at the outset, and are relatively well insulated, the temperature shouldn't stratify too much.
I brewed a batch with a local production brewery for GABF last year, and they took their mash temp the same way, a very short probe in several different spots, with temperatures averaged.
There's lots of thermal mass in your mash tun, so if you dough in thoroughly at the outset, and are relatively well insulated, the temperature shouldn't stratify too much.
I've only got one BIAB under my belt, but I took temperature readings every 15 minutes throughout the 60 minute mash. Each time I went to take a temperature reading, I removed all the insulation (blankets & more blankets), stirred the mash thoroughly, then took my temperature reading.
Granted, I insulated well enough so that over an hour, I only lost 2 °F even though it was ~35 °F outside.
Granted, I insulated well enough so that over an hour, I only lost 2 °F even though it was ~35 °F outside.
I think reading all over in your mash would be the "correct" way. That way you can see if you have hot / cool spots and see how consistent your temps are in various places.
I've used both static (ie, screw-in to mash tun in a certain spot) and short-probe digital thermometers and until I got a lengthy probe with my ThermoWorks unit and started prodding around, never noticed how much of a difference the temps would grow to in different spots in the equipment I use(d) after a 60 minute mash (sometimes 10-12 degrees), regardless of an aggressive dough-in. I took it as a weakness in the two mash tuns I had used (one a vertical GOTT-style plastic, one a keggle with an insulation jacket) and decided to go RIMS in response, which poking around in the entirety of the mash yields at most a half-degree delta.
stpug
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To me, the correct way to take a mash temperature is to stir it up a bit and then get your temperature. That ensures the mixing of various temperature zones to equalize to a single temperature. I have found this method to be the most reliable for me. YMMV
Depending on how often you're stirring (ie, if you take temp at dough-in, and then don't take another temp reading until the mash is done), this could mask potential differences in the bed that had set in since your last stirring. If you stir more often during the mash, it could help equalize any stratification, at the possible cost of lautering aid by the grain bed being set for longer (though if BIAB like the OP, no worries there).
azazel1024
Well-Known Member
I do BiaB and I personally use a digital candy thermometer that has a 10" probe and I can clip it to the side of my pot. If things are deep enough so that I have at least 3" below the level of the mash, that is what I do. If not I hold it in there with most of the probe submerged.
I don't calibrate the thing that often. Maybe twice over the ~2 years I've been brewing, but it doesn't seem to be drifting (accurate to within 1F at freezing and boiling (for my altitude)).
I always "settle" on a reading once I've stirred it up for at least 60 seconds of vigorous stiring of the mash or wort.
I tend to do 60 minute mashes (75 minutes if I am mashing "cold" in the 140 range) and I'll stir about every 15 minutes and generally also reapply heat for the ~60 seconds that I am stirring it up. Longer if the temp dropped more than the 1-2F that it typically does per 15 minutes in the pot with lid on (if brewing outside and cold/windy it'll tend to drop 3-4F per 15 minutes, so I'll reapply heat every 8-10 minutes and stir. In the summer in the sun it might only be 1F in 20 minutes, so I might only stir and reapply heat once at the 30 minute mark).
*edit* a note, I generally only reapply heat when stiring on "low heat".
I don't calibrate the thing that often. Maybe twice over the ~2 years I've been brewing, but it doesn't seem to be drifting (accurate to within 1F at freezing and boiling (for my altitude)).
I always "settle" on a reading once I've stirred it up for at least 60 seconds of vigorous stiring of the mash or wort.
I tend to do 60 minute mashes (75 minutes if I am mashing "cold" in the 140 range) and I'll stir about every 15 minutes and generally also reapply heat for the ~60 seconds that I am stirring it up. Longer if the temp dropped more than the 1-2F that it typically does per 15 minutes in the pot with lid on (if brewing outside and cold/windy it'll tend to drop 3-4F per 15 minutes, so I'll reapply heat every 8-10 minutes and stir. In the summer in the sun it might only be 1F in 20 minutes, so I might only stir and reapply heat once at the 30 minute mark).
*edit* a note, I generally only reapply heat when stiring on "low heat".
You may find you lose way too much temp doing it that often. That was my experience. I have it dialed now though. I dough in, take a temp, if it's where I want it, I insulate the Mash Tun and let science do her thing. I generally lose 4F per hour in my stainless Mashtun with a reflectix wrap, but if I want to micro control it, I can recirc and direct fire it on low heat....usually I just strike in, and don't fire the burner until it's time to mash out.
bobeer
Fermentation Specalist
I biab'ed for a couple years and I always found it to be a pain to keep temps constant. I usually just kept the thermometer in the kettle and moved it around every so often and took a few readings. From there I'd either take it off the burner or turn the burner on for a quick second. Probably not the most precise way to take the mash temp, or keep it at a constant temp, but the beer always turned out pretty well so I just went with it.
Easy. Build a recirculating E-BIAB system with a PID controller, temp probe and 240V/5500W element. Well, maybe not THAT easy, but it does provide a very accurate and constant mash temp.
OT: if I was going to buy something like this off the shelf, is breweasy or Braumeister my only viable alternative or is there something more affordable/maybe better available.
Not sure about the available turn-key systems. I built mine out of a 15 gallon keggle on a cart from an old gas grill and the control panel in a leftover plastic Craftsman toolbox. The wiring is based on one of PJ's excellent diagrams found here in our electric brewing section. It was an interesting and fun project, although cutting and drilling through the stainless can be a booger.
Possibly the most affordable already-built one is this - http://www.highgravitybrew.com/store/pc/BIAB-Electric-Brewing-System-p3987.htm
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