Idea for maintaining mash temps

[kurds_2408]

Living in Colorado and doing my BIAB on a turkey fryer outside the start of winter means the start of stressful brewing. The cold reeks havoc on my temps through the whole process, but especially mashing. I always wait for a warmer day to brew, wrap my pot in a comforter and bring it inside during the mash. And while I only started BIAB about halfway through last winter, after ruining a couple beers last year I know it's gonna be a struggle, as well as use a bunch more propane.

While getting in my last warm weather brew last night, mid 60s and today is 30s and dumping snow, I starting trying to think of ways to help hold my mash temp. My wife has these electric heating pads made for body aches and such that get pretty hot. They are about 18"x18" and about 1/2in thick. I was thinking I could either bungee it to the side or put the pot on top of it. I wrap the bottom of the pot as well but I know the concrete is so cold underneath I'm sure I'm loosing a lot there. Then the heating pad would just hopefully fight heat loss. They wouldn't really be heating the pot cause they don't get hot enough to burn the skin so it's gotta be less than what the water is already at, but they would be much warmer than the air and ground temp. I'm sure someone has brought this up but couldn't find any info. Still being a newb and not knowing much about how mashing actually works I wanted to get y'alls thoughts.

Thanks

 

[poptarts]

HERMS or RIMS or recic biab are going to work the best. outside of that, maybe buy a cooler and mash in that even in the cold garage they don't loose more then 1 degree heat. If your pot can fit in the oven that works at low heat. reflectix is cheap and can be wrapped around the pot once its at temp as well as blankets and stuff.

 

[m00ps]

My trick is to give the whole thing a good stir every 10min or so. I know the exact setting on my stove that will keep the temperature stable as long as the lid's on. This could be more difficult outside though since the ambient temperature will vary but I think you could dial it in, and insulation of any kind will help. I;ve even seen expensive sub-zero sleeping bags wrapped around the kettle with bungie cords. I'm pretty sure those things are worth more than the kettle...

 

[RM-MN]

1. Do a half size batch
2. on the kitchen range
3. and only mash for 20 minutes.

Those three things should help you with brewing in the winter. With BIAB, you can mill the grains finer which leads to faster conversion. You can do 2 mashes in less time than you are doing a single 5 gallon batch outside, then combine them for the boil.

 

[stpug]

You can always pull out 2 quarts of preheated strike water (post-treatment if you treat it) as "refresh" water, and set it on the burner while you're mashing. Every 10-20 minutes, open your MLT and stir, and at the same time add 0.5-1 quart of the boiling refresh water to maintain your mash temp; pick the interval and quantity that suits your situation. It only requires an additional small pot and making sure it's at a boil when you open the MLT to stir.

 

[bondra76]

I'm also in Colorado and do BIAB

1) I use this stuff and wrap it around my pot with bungee cords. I don't insulate the lid. I have to take it off and turn on the burner maybe once or twice in a 60 min mash. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflecti...ive-Insulation-BP24010/100318552?N=5yc1vZbedf

2) I brew in my garage. Started doing it last winter and I love it. I plug my computer in and chill out in there while I'm brewing. I do it to keep away from the bees in the summer and to keep warm in the winter.

 

[enkamania]

I use a hot water heater blanket with a bungee around it and blankets on top. I have it sitting on the turkey fryer and not the ground.

 

[TexasWine]

Man, this app is killing me. Just had a nice reply typed out and it crashed.

To summarize my previously written verbose response, give us some details on what your current insulation set up looks like. And how are you measuring temps? We might be able to suggest some things that don't add new equipment or procedures to your brew day.

First thing I noticed was the concrete. What if you put a piece of wood underneath it instead? Wood is a great insulator. We're using wood spacers on a project I'm currently doing for an atmospheric propane tank sitting at about -45F (yeah that's negative 45 degrees Fahrenheit).

FWIW, I use a heating pad to keep my fermenter bucket at the right temp while it sits in my keezer. I don't have a ferm chamber and this works like a charm.

I would NOT put the heating pad under the kettle. I think you're asking for a fiery disaster if you try that. Too much pressure concentrated on too small of an area. Plus there's no good heat sink for the blanket. I'd be afraid the wires would overheat and melt.

If I were to try this I'd put it on the lid or wrapped around the sides. But I'd also do some research on the maximum allowable temp these things can operate at.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Have you considered going electric?

I'd do a cooler mash tun since everyone says those keep temperatures really well. Maybe ask they guys at your local homebrew shop if they have a cooler. It gets pretty cold in Nevada and guys still brew in the garage. I'm not sure how big your pot is but I've heard of guys putting their mashtun in the oven on a very low setting and letting it sit in there.

 

[kurds_2408]

2) I brew in my garage. Started doing it last winter and I love it. I plug my computer in and chill out in there while I'm brewing. I do it to keep away from the bees in the summer and to keep warm in the winter.

Do you do this with the doors closed? I can't use my garage cause it'd prolly melt my epoxy floor but I could do the full brew in my basement, which would be ideal actually. It's a walkout so no circulation problem if I leave the door open but I wouldn't wanna leave the door open cause it would chill the house. I used to work with some propane concrete saws made for indoor use but think the burner would give off to much carbon monoxide to leave the door closed.

To summarize my previously written verbose response, give us some details on what your current insulation set up looks like. And how are you measuring temps? We might be able to suggest some things that don't add new equipment or procedures to your brew day.

I'm using a big comforter to wrap the whole pot with. I take it off the burner outside and bring it inside cause the warmer temp and cause I can put it on the comforter before wrapping so even the bottom is covered. I'll take your suggestion and put some wood between the comforter and the floor. I use a wireless digital probe thermometer in the center so I should be getting the best temp readout.

I was still perfecting my technique last winter and I'm sure that was part of the problem too. Just wanted to get some other ideas and peoples opinions on the heating pad. Wasn't sure if there was anything wrong with applying low heat during the mash. If that's not a problem I may just try putting them on the side.

 

[bondra76]

Do you do this with the doors closed? I can't use my garage cause it'd prolly melt my epoxy floor but I could do the full brew in my basement, which would be ideal actually. It's a walkout so no circulation problem if I leave the door open but I wouldn't wanna leave the door open cause it would chill the house. I used to work with some propane concrete saws made for indoor use but think the burner would give off to much carbon monoxide to leave the door closed.

I keep the door open/closed depending on the season and the bees. Earlier this summer when I was mashing out and boiling wort, the bees were buzzing around me because they could sense the sugar. So I kept the door closed from Mash Out to End of Boil. When I was heating up my water before mash in, I just left it open (there wasn't any sugars present for the bees to come after). I just brewed a new batch on Sunday and the bees are all pretty much gone now. I left the door up almost the entire time, but then again Sunday wasn't cold at all. If I was brewing tomorrow I'd probably keep the doors closed the entire time. I have epoxy flooring as well but it holds up. You could set a non-conductor like wood or something between the burner and the floor if you really wanted to protect it. In fact I have thought about building a little wooden stool/box anyhow to set my burner and kettle on. It's a pain in the butt to bend down and check my thermometer every 10 mins. I'd prefer something a little closer to eye level.