First All Grain ... Mash Temp Question

[bkervaski]

Hey guys, great forum, lots of useful info.

I did my first all grain this weekend and it went well except that I couldn't hit my target mash temp which was supposed to be 154 and I hovered around 152 .. so I just let it go 10 minutes longer than the 60 minutes the recipe indicated .. bad idea?

I did adjust my strike temp but I let my grain set outside with me and it probably was 55 degrees .. so I didn't take that into consideration .. I did try to raise it with some hot water but didn't want to get crazy since it was my first.

Also, I learned that it's easy to go through your previous batch while making a new batch, oops

 

[duboman]

At 152 you will not be that far off but the yeast may provide greater attenuation and you may have a bit less body to the beer.

Next time pre-heat the tun with strike water to let it warm up and keep your grain inside until ready to use. Also be sure your thermometer is properly calibrated

 

[binaryc0de]

It should be fine (DWHAHB)... Sometimes I go 90 mins (usually on light lagers) just to be sure I have full conversion. This is were brewing software comes in handy (hitting target temp with strike temp). I typically pre-heat my mash-tun (converted cooler) with 180 degree water before filling it with my strike water. This helps a little. Also the temp of the grains come into play. All these factors can be dialed into brewing software.