First all grain!

[Scruffy1207]

A little messy, 11 degrees under mash temp, yielded only like 4gallons, didn't pitch yeast because it was too late. I don't know what my brew efficiency was. However I'm doing it two-three more times in a week. Hope it goes better. Any advice?

 

[Justibone]

What did you mash in? If you used a cooler, you just need hotter water. If you mashed in a pot (like I have been doing in my "Back to Basics" blog posts), then either wrapping it in towels or placing the pot inside an oven can help keep your mash temp up... assuming you were mashing hot enough in the first place.

Also, did you calibrate your thermometer? If your mash temp is low, letting it go a little longer can allow higher efficiency, but remember the MALT rule: More Alcohol, Less Temperature -- a low temp mash makes for a dry beer.

What do you mean "too late to pitch yeast"? Unless it's begun to spoil from mildew or something, you can pitch yeast at any time after the temperature drops to 100F or lower.

 

[brew2enjoy]

Did you try using any brewing software? I am still gathering equipment for my first all grain brew, but I will definately be using something like Beersmith to make sure I don't screw up as bad

 

[JonM]

if you're losing that much temp, get some pieces of styrofoam, cut them to size to fit in your MLT, then put them in a heat-resistant crock pot liner bag and lay it on top of the mash. I only recently started doing that and it's been a life-saver. Cheers!

 

[Scruffy1207]

It wasn't that my tun was losing temp, it was that my stroke water wasn't hot enough, and I tried my hardest to get it up but nothing.

The temp wasn't quite down to where I wanted it to be so I sanitized everything and sealed it up. I work late and I really needed to get some sleep after a longer than expected brew day