I use a gatorade cooler as my mash tun, I usualy factored a 10 degree loss when i added the water and was usualy prety close. I like the idea of putting some boiling water in there first to warm things up.
Tom
Tom
tommymac said:I use a gatorade cooler as my mash tun, I usualy factored a 10 degree loss when i added the water and was usualy prety close. I like the idea of putting some boiling water in there first to warm things up.
Tom
Drunkensatyr said:What helped me back when I started All Grain was to pre measure out all the hops, and moss and seal them in numbered zip bags and wrote the minutes to set my timer to for the next add. I remember the 1st few batches were a mental drain and it was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the boil without having to think about what I was doing.
I respectfully disagree about the 2-3 degree temperature drop of strike water upon introduction to the grain in an insulated mash tun. My average temperature drops on my first two ice chest tuns were 13 and 9 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. I preheat the empty tuns with the hottest tap water I have (but not boiling water). I think the lesson here is that every brewing rig is a little different, and you've got to learn your system's ins and outs. Personally, I'd rather overshoot my target temperature by a few degrees and stir the mash with a couple of frozen water bottles than undershoot and start the cycle of boiling water additions -- which wastes time and dilutes the precious ratio of water to grain.
Stupid question:
I'm currently doing extract with steeped grains, boiling my wort in a stock pot. I think that produces about two gallons of "concentrated" wort which is combined with three gallons of water to create five gallons of wort that I then pitch and ferment.
If I were to go all-grain and end up with a five gallon batch, would I create 11 gallons of "malted water" which then needs to be boiled down to 5 gallons of wort and doesn't require any further water addition?
I'm getting ready to do my first AG batch very soon and as I mull through every detail I can, I'm wondering how do you guys cool your samples quickly for gravity reading of mash and sparge runoff? I also get frustrated when I can't take gravity readings when I'm boiling a starter.
--Thanks for your suggestions.
This may or may not be a stupid question but why are you guys so concerned with the loss of temp of the strike water when it hits the grains when you could just preheat the grains in the oven to net you a 0* loss of temp?
My initial reasoning dictates that you would not want to heat the grains up due to possibly rendering them impotent (for lack of a better term)??
But then I cannot see why you wouldn't preheat them because you are adding 155* water to them anyway, and THAT doesn't hurt anything, but on the other hand putting the grains in water (or a soluble mixture) IS different than dry heat.
I think I am moving to AG sooner than I expected. I am already sick of extract twang and I haven't even drank my first batch entirely yet.
This may or may not be a stupid question but why are you guys so concerned with the loss of temp of the strike water when it hits the grains when you could just preheat the grains in the oven to net you a 0* loss of temp?
ive been brewing mash/extract for about ten years. i love the beer i make. however, know i must move to all grain at some point. that's just how i am. is there a particular book or perhaps a video that can walk me through it? i have read the process over and over but i am still sketched on trying it. any help is greatly appreciated
2. Heat your strike water about 2 or 3 degrees above your target temp
You won't get 3.75 gal. from the mash because the grains will absorb some. However, by the sparge the grains are saturated, so the amount of sparge water you put in is the amount you'll get out.
makes sense, so what are we talking like a gallon or 2 from the mash? plus the 6 from the sparging, 7-8 gallons, boiling that down to 5?
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