Long mash temp maintenance

[SanPancho]

so with a toddler and a newborn plus regular work and new business launch im extremely pressed for time. Started doing overnight mashes to help cut down the time commitment.

Typical round 5gal cooler, preheated, covered in towels, still got down to about 130 over 10-12 hours. Bought another cooler, coleman extreme thats supposed to keep ice for 3 days. Not much better, maybe even worse. This is in a house kept in mid 60s.

Makes me nervous to see temps drop so low. Been considering other ways to leave mash for extended periods. Doesn’t necessarily have to be overnight, could set it in am and then finish after work, etc.

Idea 1- go back to mashing in kettle, set oven to lowest temp at 170 and shut it off, throw mash inside. Not sure about that one though. Feel like oven cools down pretty easily.

Idea 2- go back to kettle mashing, find induction plate that will run for extended periods. But not sure its realistic as i understand them to typically have auto shutoff.

Anybody else have better idea? Experience, comments, etc?

 

[McKnuckle]

The other option is to just not worry about it. You are done converting early on relative to the very long time period. The hours-long mash is not getting you more extract for your money - it's just for convenience.

In fact if you mash on the higher end, 154-156 maybe, you'll have no beta amylase left working once the temp finally drops into the 140s. Not that it's an issue to have a lower mash temp... if you start at 150, it will take over an hour to drop 5 degrees.

The only question would be whether a protein rest would come into play (113-138F) and affect head retention. Then again, Brulosophy did a test of this and it had no impact on the beer.

You could just see how that beer turns out, right? And go from there... My bet is that the worry is unjustified.

 

[SanPancho]

possibly, but at the same time you dont want any bugs not killed by strike water/mash temp to pick back up and get to work. no bueno. thats why i'd hope to stay in the 140s.

 

[McKnuckle]

Well, you're going to boil the crap out of anything that might remotely begin to grow in the brief amount of time we're talking about.

 

[SanPancho]

true. but id still hate to waste the effort to put the mash together only to have it go sour on me. typically if it was just a few hours or overnight i'd agree and say the time frame is short enough that i shouldnt worry too much. but i cant honestly say that i havent set it up at night and then not had time to get to it until the next day around/after lunchtime. lets call it 15 hours.

its been a long time but i remember food safe courses going on and on about the "danger" zone being under 140. especially for simple sugars.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I think you are fine as long as you don’t overly delay your overnight mash...

 

[brownni5]

Agreed - totally fine. Done converting, too warm for lacto, not really enough time for lacto anyhow.

I feel your pain - mine are 4 and 18 months. It'll be awhile before it gets easier.

 

[Staticsouls]

Herms/rims set up imo. Once you have one you should be able to hold your temps for as long as you want with no drops or fluctuations.
Yes that's a big jump from coolers, but if you are going to continue brewing for the long haul it will pay off.

 

[Jtvann]

Look into Ss brewtech infussion mash tun if you've got the money. It's super insulated, and has the add on option of a heat pad installed in the bottom of it to maintain specific set temperatures. It's not cheap, but itll do exactly what you're talking about.