Getting correct strike temp with a cooler mash tun

[beauvafr]

I moved from BIAB in my kettle to All grain in a mash tun + batch sparge to go larger.

I did a first batch saturday. I preheated my cooler add the water as the brewtoad mash water calc ordered me (says I have to use water 166.9F to get 155F mash temp). I add the grain. Stir for a couple of minutes. Took a reading.. What ?? 149F. About 4% under.

I was always 1 or 2 deg under/over strike temps with BIAB!! I had to add 2 liters of boiling water to get it to 152F.

Well, experience is the best teacher they say. So do I have to go 4% over the indicated temp next time? For this recipe, I would have added 174F water in the first place instead of 166.9F?

 

[jdgabbard]

I always have to use a hotter strike water to get the temp right in the cooler I use, I believe it's a 60L...

I typically bring my water up to 180, dump it in the cooler and shut the lid. I have a brewmomitor that is fitted to it. When everything normalizes, and it comes down to the proper temp I dough in, and immediately shut the lid. I figured out that coolers suck up a lot of heat. But when they get warm, they hold the heat very well.


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[erick0619]

^ this i basically sd the same heat to 180 dump into my MLT and wait for the temp to drop to my desires strike temp.


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Where do you place your probe?

 

[Gunfighter04]

Couple of things that will help.

Preheat the Mash Tun with the same temp water. I typically heat water up to just under boiling and pour a couple of gallons into the cooler 15minutes or so before I Mash in. Use the same duration for the preheat.

Make sure that your grains are room temp before Mashing in. If you store them in the fridge take them out 24 hrs before you brew.

Keep track of your strike temp vs your achieved mash temp. After a a couple of brews it will become obvious as to how much temp you lose.

 

[IrregularPulse]

+1 for everything Gunfighter04 said. It will take a couple batches to fine tune your personal system, but keep notes and you'll be able to in no time. In the beginning, you'll miss a few numbers, but you'll still have beer and you'll be learning your system. Keep positive.

 

[Beernik]

I just switched in the opposite direction.

What I would do is heat my water to strike temperature and pour it in the cooler. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and then drain it back into the pot and heat it back up to the strike temperature for doughing in.

 

[jdgabbard]

I've taken the thermometer out for now, as I am building a RIMS pot and needed it for testing. But you get the basic idea.




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