Help - Temperature excursion during mash

[Chris_Primavera]

Made a mistake during mash and had a 10 minute excursion to 162°F from target of 152°F

What did I do to the wort?

 

[Gavin C]

It may well depend on the timing. When in the mash the temperature spike occurred is the key. If it was after the first 20-30 mins and if you are milling finely the effect may be minimal to negligible as most if not all the conversion may have already occurred. (Check @RM-MN posts)

If earlier in the mash and after complete dough in it may well result in a less than optimal fermentability in the wort with an ensuing higher FG than planned.

 

[Chris_Primavera]

It happened at the 20 minute temperature check. I had an equipment problem and thought I was at 142°F. It was chilly out and, since this was my first BIAB, I assumed the reading was correct and added heat. A reading 10 minutes later had the wort at 162°F. I opened the top, stirred and added the water held back due to volume concerns and got back to 152° where it stayed for the balance of the 90 minute mash.

 

[riderkb]

If you repeat the recipe and hold your mash dead on next time it probably won't make a noticeable difference.

 

[TexasWine]

It happened at the 20 minute temperature check. I had an equipment problem and thought I was at 142°F. It was chilly out and, since this was my first BIAB, I assumed the reading was correct and added heat. A reading 10 minutes later had the wort at 162°F. I opened the top, stirred and added the water held back due to volume concerns and got back to 152° where it stayed for the balance of the 90 minute mash.

I think you'll be fine. The conversion was almost certainly done at 20 minutes any way, so the temperature readings in the remainder of the 90 minutes you spent mashing had little to no impact.

 

[JohnSand]

I've had some pretty wild mash swings that still resulted in good beer. People brewed for centuries before the invention of thermometers.

 

[McKnuckle]

I had a recent brew where I was trying out a sous vide controller to manage heat during the mash. Due to some "issues," I ended up at 162º for a period of time, and it was all over the place in general.

Fast forward 10 days, and the yeast has attenuated almost 72% from 1.053 to 1.015 which is fine for my desired profile. I was initially quite bummed about the hot mash, but it turned out fine - ya never know...

 

[Gavin C]

It happened at the 20 minute temperature check. I had an equipment problem and thought I was at 142°F. It was chilly out and, since this was my first BIAB, I assumed the reading was correct and added heat. A reading 10 minutes later had the wort at 162°F. I opened the top, stirred and added the water held back due to volume concerns and got back to 152° where it stayed for the balance of the 90 minute mash.

Like others, I would wager there will be no ill effects of the spike in temps.

 

[calgary222]

Timing of this post is perfect, I am on day 4 of a pilsner that hit 166 during the first 20 minutes before I realized my thermometer was in a cool spot (was only my 4th batch w biab so I am still dialing in) - so I appreciate the above insight. My OG was 1.060 and I seemed to have lots of activity on day 2-3 in the fermenters, so fingers crossed since it's 10 gallons, but its really cloudy which makes me nervous.

Fingers crossed...

 

[Chris_Primavera]

It sounds like I'm looking at more body and a higher FG. 3711 is supposedly great at attenuation, so my fingers are crossed that they cancel each other out.