Mash Question

[natemtb]

I was just wondering what happens if your mash is supposed to be 160 and you mash it at 170?

I just finished my first all grain batch and was pretty successful at keeping my mash where it was supposed to be (152ish) , but as I'm doing it I'm wondering what would happen to the wort if you mashed it at a higher temp? I do know that you will get a higher gravity beer, but can you mash at too high of temp?

This is all theoretical, I haven't come across many recipes that mash at 160.

 

[Pie_Man]

Mashing at a higher temperature does not necessarily increase SG, in fact it can often be the opposite and will certainly impact fermentability.

Single infusion mashes rarely go above 160 because that would not allow sufficient beta amalyse activity. Mashing at 170F is getting near the max temp for alpha amalyze activity, anything much higher than that and you are likely to have little conversion.

Suggested reading: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_Mashing

 

[thadass]

I highly suggest reading "Section 3 - Brewing Your First All-Grain Beer" from How to Brew, either online or after picking up your own copy.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/index.html

In essence there is a small (around ten degrees F) window of temperature for mashing, and one end of that temperature range produces very different results than the other end, but still overall desirable results depending on your goals. When venturing out of that range of mash temps, to something like 170, you will get an entirely undesirable result.