I'm not worrying and I'm having a homebrew...

[bellhp]

... OK , I'm worrying a little bit , brewing my first all - grain ... It's a one gallon SMaSH , Maris otter and E. Kent Goldings . I brainfarted when I mashed in and had my strike water at 170 insted of 160 . i realized it when I checked my temp as I was stirring in the last of my grain .
I pulled the bag and stirred until I reached 153 degrees but I don't know how long the grain was exposed to the higher temp possibly killing off the Alpha - Amylase . Here's a picture of my last batch which I just poured... it's an Altbier made from extract and it's delicious.

 

[bellhp]

I did a 90 minute mash instead of a 60 just for good measure ... tested starch at 35 minutes and at the end ... no blue color that I could see . Never did that before so not sure if I did it right , used 10% povidone iodine ... one drop in a puddle of wort on a white plate.
Hit my target OG of 1.045 on the nose which made me worry again so I opened up a Scottish wee heavy I made couple months back ...

 

[CleanEmUpIves]

If your strike water was 170F and your grains were 68F then you probably got down to around 160F on the initial strike, which should not have denatured your alpha amylase immediately. You mention that you kept stiring and cooling until 153F which further preserved the enzymes.

There's a better than good chance it'll be fine.

RDWHAHB, which I see you're already doing and with those frosted glasses you're making me thirsty!

 

[bellhp]

I wish that were true but my initial reading was 168 after stirring in my grains ... that is when I realized I struck at 170 instead of the 160 I intended ... my grain bill was 1.75 lbs MO so it didnt drop the temp much . I'm guessing here on volumes and temps based on what i've read others have done... this is my first all grain and my first one gallon batch . Next one I will strike at 155-160 and I will add another quart of water to the boil as I am coming up short of my target volume also .

 

[CleanEmUpIves]

Even at 168F the enzymes don't immediately denature.

At worst you may have a slightly higher FG.

Next time you can consult a strike water calculator to aid in calculating appropriate volumes and temperatures.

 

[bellhp]

Thanks for that link ... I keep telling myself i need to figure out how to use brewing software ... Just got back into brewing after 20+ years . This whole one gallon batch journey I'm on at the moment is going to involve a lot of experimentation ... Next batch will be the same ingredients but lower mash temps and more strike water . Should be a good test of the process ... My goal initially was tests of different grains , hops and yeasts ... I've got a few varieties on hand to play with. Guess I've got a ways to go on my process before I move on to a different recipe . Should end up as beer one way or another so not a waste of time Right?

It's in the fermenter and in the yeasts' (Nottingham) hands. First time using this fermenter for beer ( made some wine in it ) want to see how much Krausen blows out ... Thinking of ways to harvest yeast for next small batch?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@bellhp : are you doing 'full volume' BIAB mashes (1 gal of strike water)?

If so, with the Brewers Friend calculator (that @CleanEmUpIves mentioned) and 1.75 lb of grains, the estimated strike temperature is 160F:

To get the "Volume of strike water" line to show roughly 4 quarts (1 gal), you need to calculate the "Mash Water / Grain ratio": four quarts water & 1.75 lb grains ==> 4 / 1.75 ==> 2.25.

 

[bellhp]

I used 5qts of water to account for grain absorption and some boil off( I'm doing full volume "mash in a bag in a picnic cooler") ... I miscalculated the boil off and had a lot more than I thought ... I made a sharpie mark on the fermenter so I can measure the difference after fermentation and add that amount to my strike water volume for the next batch.
So on the next batch using the calculator would I adjust mash water / grain ratio until strike water volume reflects what I'm going to use and then use recommended temp?
I had 160 degrees on my brew notes today just brainfarted / had 170 in mind for some reason... wasn't even drinking yet

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

So on the next batch using the calculator would I adjust mash water / grain ratio until strike water volume reflects what I'm going to use and then use recommended temp?

Yes. A quick calculation [ 5 (qts) / 1.75 (lbs) ] or a table will yield a good initial number.

FWIW, it's likely that there are BIAB strike water calculators where one can enter just the water volume, grain weight, and mash temperature. I use a custom spreadsheet that estimates strike water temperature this way.

I see that you are mashing in a picnic cooler, so the normal concerns on heat loss with small mashes probably doesn't apply.

---

edit: the approximate OG column assumes just base malt, 75% efficiency, and 1 gal (not 5 qts) of wort.

 

[bellhp]

Thanks for the help ... one things for sure , it will be beer it started kicking off within a few hours ... I've got it sitting in a swamp cooler to slow it down a bit ... my house is 70 degrees . I'm looking forward to more of these small batches.

 

[seatazzz]

On the question of reusing your yeast: eminently doable! Yeast slurry, straight from the fermenter after the beer has been racked off, is one of the best ways to reuse yeast. However, if you are staying with 1g batches, you probably won't want to use the entire slurry. Jar it up in a sanitized mason jar, refrigerate, and on your next batch can probably just use half of it. No starter needed, it's got everything it needs already. As we all know, yeast have only a few purposes in life: 1, have scads of yeastie sex; 2, pee alcohol; and 3, fart co2. In number 1, they are producing millions of mini-mes that do the same things. And like all kids, they want to get out and party. A few 1g batches, and you have a yeast farm in your fridge.

 

[khannon]

On the question of reusing your yeast: eminently doable! Yeast slurry, straight from the fermenter after the beer has been racked off, is one of the best ways to reuse yeast. However, if you are staying with 1g batches, you probably won't want to use the entire slurry. Jar it up in a sanitized mason jar, refrigerate, and on your next batch can probably just use half of it. No starter needed, it's got everything it needs already. As we all know, yeast have only a few purposes in life: 1, have scads of yeastie sex; 2, pee alcohol; and 3, fart co2. In number 1, they are producing millions of mini-mes that do the same things. And like all kids, they want to get out and party. A few 1g batches, and you have a yeast farm in your fridge.

To OP. Congrats on the entry to all-grain. I don't know about your numbers, but it's not uncommon for me to have strike water at ~168 to get to 152-154 depending on grain bill etc.. so 170 does not seem out of the question or denaturing.

to Seatazz, shouldn't that be all of our goals? Plenty of sex, peeing alcohol, and farting only CO2, maybe get out and party, then end up in farm? Well, there may be some issues with that, but on the whole seems like a good life to me.

 

[bellhp]

Tested one of these last night with a south African friend who is visiting for the holidays , ( 9 days in the bottle ) it has good carbonation and tastes good to me for a Pale Ale style which is not really my usual brew . Very clean and refreshing . A good start to my all grain experiments even after the temperature fiasco
My friend wants to brew a batch before leaving to learn how to brew himself ... he and his wife currently live in Grenada . Hope to brew today If I can get a spot open in the kitchen , wife is cooking turkey and ham and all the good stuff that goes with it.