First All Grain - Temps out of Whack

[brew-bandit]

So I did my first all grain yesterday and all was great until I discovered my digital thermometer was screwed up. Look like water go in the probe and it was reporting crazy temps.

I was shooting for a mash temp of 152 but I think I probably spent about 20min between 140-145. Then 25 min at 154 then about 15 at 156! Did a mashout at 168.

The SG came out at 1.062 at 70 degrees so that looks good. After boil the OG came out at 1.078 at 65 degrees and 4.5 gal of wort!

It tasted great and it is churning away in the carboy!

Here is the recipe for this simple SMaSH using BIAB

13# Maris Otter
0.5 oz Citra @ 60 min
0.5 oz Citra @ 30 min
0.5 oz Citra @ 15 min
0.5 oz Citra @ 0 min

2 packs US-05

Cant wait for my next batch

 

[GreenSpyder]

Congratulations on your first AG batch! Looks like all is going well.

 

[gotbags-10]

Dialing in mash temps has always been my all grain nemesis.

 

[brew-bandit]

Thanks for the replies. I figured temps would be hard to control but without a good thermometer it is even more difficult!

Good news is that it appears I made beer. The yeast started taking off after a couple of hours and was really chugging by morning and went for about 3 days. In the next week or two I will take a gravity reading to see how it worked out.

Happy brewing.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Get a relatively inexpensive long lab thermometer (the old-school glass and alcohol type) as you back-up. They take forever to stabilizing a reading but unless you break them, they cannot go out of calibration and do not cost much.

 

[RM-MN]

Get a relatively inexpensive long lab thermometer (the old-school glass and alcohol type) as you back-up. They take forever to stabilizing a reading but unless you break them, they cannot go out of calibration and do not cost much.

Add a digital that stabilizes quickly to that glass thermometer and use the glass one to verify that the digital reads the correct temperature at the mash temp range. You won't need to verify every time but the digital one is nice as you get near strike temp since it will read the changing temperature quickly and you won't accidentally read the Celcius scale when you meant to read Fahrenheit.

 

[brew-bandit]

Thanks again, I have a couple of back options for next time so it shouldn't be an issue.

The great news, for me, is I pulled a sample today after a week and the gravity measured 1.011!! Also, I tasted it and it was very good. My wife, who hates IPAs, really liked it. But I really didn't go hop crazy since this is my baseline learning brew to build on.

Thanks for all your help here and the rest of the forum. This community is an awesome resource.

 

[BigFloyd]

You're not alone. Messing with trying to get precise (and consistent) mash temps ended up being a big reason (besides me liking to tinker) that I broke down and built a PID-controlled 240V E-BIAB system.

Don't worry. Each time you do this, you will learn and it will get better.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Temps would be relatively easy to hit if you use a decent calculator and measure your strike volume accurately. I fill to a given height rather than try to measure multiple pitchers that are being dumped and refilled.

If you know the strike volume, grain temp, and grains you should be able to hit your strike temp and mash temp easily. Obviously being off on your strike temp will effect your mash temp, so a decent thermometer is key.

Also I recommend stirring the strike water before dough in to make sure the temperature is consistent throughout the pot, and dough in slowly and evenly. Make sure you smash all the dough balls, a whisk comes in handy here. Then stir with a paddle or large metal spoon to make sure it's mixed thoroughly, a whisk can do it too but it's more difficult.

As far as decent calculators go, I will of course recommend using my own to determine your mash volume, strike volume, temps etc.
Go to Pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc and you should be good to go. Measure your boil off rate, and your kettle interior diameter and you should be ready to brew!