Great solution to melty bags

[Trail]

I've been experimenting and found that a circular, aluminum grill topper is enough to completely protect my grain bag:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KDCL4U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Fits into my 10-gal kettle perfectly, and adds about a half-inch of margin between the hazardous bottom and my voile. I've done two batches of extremely delicate, very light Ordinary Bitter with this solution, and it didn't affect the flavor at all.

At $12 with shipping it's pretty steep, but I bet with the summer coming to a close you'll find these clearanced all over the place at pennies on the dollar.

 

[ArcLight]

I like your idea.

I use something sort of like that. Just be aware that super heated wort can gather under your bag, in the small area between the base of your pot and the top of this grill topper.

When I apply heat with my bag in the pot I make sure I stir it and occasionally pull the bag to the side and stir under the bag so the hot liquid can spread out. In fact, I occasionally partially lift the bag, so the wort runs back into the pot, stir it, and put the bag back, so the heat is uniformly distributed.

PS - Maybe what I'm doing is not necessary. I'd be curious what others think.

 

[Foosier]

Here is a different solution for melted bags... Do not fire your pot with the bag in without stirring. This keeps the bag from experiencing good contact with the hot bottom. As a side benefit, this also helps disolve more sugars into the Wort.

I always wonder too, why folks are firing their burners so much during their mash. I find that if I mash in at the proper temp, I settle at the temp I need. The thermal mass of nearly 10 gals of mash does not drop temp very fast even with an aluminum pot. Even in the winter in a cold garage, simply wrapping my pot with a moving blanket keeps me from losing more than a degree or 2 in a 60 minute mash. Do you really see temp losses higher than that?

 

[Rockn_M]

I agree with Foosier. I do 5 gallons and my temp drops maybe a few degrees during the winter. Keep a lid over the brew kettle and if it is really cold you can wrap the kettle in a sleeping back or blanket.

 

[Trail]

I keep a lid on the kettle but I lose heat more quickly than that - I typically need to burn 1-2 times (while stirring vigorously) to maintain temps within 5 degrees of target for a 90 minute mash. I use a blanket and a lid. That being said, I have some other problems like a consistently missed (too high) FG, and the iodine test never completely passes even after breaking 90 minutes...

Hm. I guess it's pretty likely that my burns are deactivating my enzymes even though I stir. I never put that together before.

 

[McCoy]

You should be able to pass the iodine test in 15 to 20 minutes. Are you sure your thermometer is good?

 

[Trail]

It's a nice one, I think - one of these digitals:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/SELF-CALIBRATING-DIGITAL-P1434.aspx

I'm not 100% sold on the calibration, as it reads 214 for boiling water at 29m above sea level. But I'm under the impression that low temps would make it more fermentable, not less.

There has to be something wrong with the way I'm mashing in. I've been finding my target temp, then slowly stirring the grain in with the fire lit so that I don't drop my temp.

 

[Foosier]

I think you just surfaced your problem here.

From reading your last response, you are bringing your mash water up to target temp, say 152 for arguments sake. Then you are slowly adding your grain while still firing your kettle. This is way more complicated than it needs to be.

The standard, and easiest, method is to calculate your target mash water temp so that when you add your grain the temp is reduced right to your target mash temp. For example, 7.75 gals of water at 162 degrees will drop to an approx 153 degree mash after adding in 13lbs of 72 degree grain. With this method, you get your water up to temp, kill the burner, add the grain in one fast dump, stir then place the lid, wrap with a blanket if necessary and then walk away. doing this will dramatically limit the time you will need to have the burner on while mashing.

the key trick is calculating how much to overshoot your temp so adding your grain gets you to your target mash temp. The beauty is there are great, free calculators out there already which do the math for you. I recommend the SIMPLEBIABCALCULATOR. Google it, it works great. This will make mashing in a much faster, easier process. doing this method, I am mashed in within 5 minutes of getting my water to temp.

 

[McCoy]

I'm not 100% certain that's the problem, but it does seem like a likely possibility. By firing the kettle while doughing in, you're going to have temperature gradients and possibly grain that's get caught near the bottom of the vessel. Some of your grain may be getting exposed to high heat that is denaturing the enzymes that you need for conversion. Moreover, while you're doughing you're probably not monitoring the temperature well (with grain in the vessel it can get pretty heterogenous anyway), and you may be overheating.

I agree with Foosier that you should heat up to a temperature over your target (usually called the "strike temp") that will depend on the amount of grain you're mashing (and your mash tun if you're not doing BIAB), but is typically in the 160s. As Foosier said, there are plenty of accurate calculators for this.