Mash temp too high! Is it a total loss?

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selliott97

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Well, I overheated my mash by about 7 degrees while trying to get the temp back up after adding my grains. I tried adding some cold water but didn't want to add too much and it still took about 20 minutes to come down. Is this brew toasted or is there still some hope left? I am sure it will have a significant impact on the flavors.
 
Specifics.

7 degrees over a 149 target temp is different that 7 degrees over a 157 target temp.

In either case...your beer will most likely be just fine.
 
target temp was 155 actual temp got to 164 so maybe a little more than 7 degrees. The mash had some pretty funky smells to it though. I'm assuming this is normal with all grain brewing until the hops are added?
 
164 will deactivate much of the enzyme activity, interested to see what your OG is.
 
Did you calibrate your thermometer? Did the wort taste sweet when you lautered it?

164 is very high, but you probably still got some conversion.
 
Did you calibrate your thermometer? Did the wort taste sweet when you lautered it?

164 is very high, but you probably still got some conversion.

It tasted somewhat sweet but I had to really try to feel out the sweetness in it. It didn't taste bad at all but rather a little watery. Could I possibly add some corn sugars to bring up the sugar content?
 
Should taste like sugar water... probably bad conversion, but dont do antyhing to it yet, you need to figure out what you have. Sparge and take a gravity reading... you dont know what you are working with yet.
 
Sooo, 1.020 PRE-boil? So that ammounts to about 1.030 post boil approx. Now you have to decide if you want a session beer, or to add a bunch of sugar.

What was the planned OG?
 
Dunno how much corn sugar it would take... it is your choice. LOW ABV session beer, or bump it up.

How did you calculate the strike temp?
 
Why use corn sugar and not malt extract? I would think upping the alcohol by that much with pure sugar would give you a very thin, dry beer. For some styles that might be ok, but for the most part, wouldn't extract give him something closer to what he'd have if he had gotten the right gravity from the mash?
 
I didn't calculate it. I used about 168 according to some browsing I had done about all grain brewing and noticed that 168 seemed to be a common temp. This is an experimental process, my first all grain brew so my expectations arent too high but I would like ABV to be around 6% or so.
 
Okay, this beer was only going to be about 4% as the recipe stood.

I agree with the above post, brew it as is, or use extract to bump it up. That is A LOT of sugar to add, it wont HELP the beer experience I dont think.

Strike temp. differs depending on the size of the grain bill, the temp of the grain, the temp of the MLT and how many qt/lb of water you use as well.

Be sure to use some brewing software next time to avoid this.
 
I'd add some extract, if you have any on hand.

FWIW, an OG of 1.042 and FG of 1.011 won't give you 6%, it would be more like 4%

edit: I type too slowly! :)
 
Too few facts to blame the temp for low efficiency.

I've intentionally mashed at 162-164 for malty English ales like ole speckled hen.

We don't know the recipe, the hardware, the process.

Hitting a mash temp at 164 would surely affect your attenuation, but I'm guessing there are a host of other things that hurt the efficiency.
 
Too few facts to blame the temp for low efficiency.

I've intentionally mashed at 162-164 for malty English ales like ole speckled hen.

We don't know the recipe, the hardware, the process.

Hitting a mash temp at 164 would surely affect your attenuation, but I'm guessing there are a host of other things that hurt the efficiency.

This is true, mainly my experience level. I think the one thing I learned thus far is not to jump headfirst into a process I no little about. In other words, I didn't do my research like I thought I had. Since I don't have any extract on hand, all I have is corn sugar, would that be ok or would that just make the situation worse? I really apreciate all the great advice and help from everyone. If there is one thing I learned it would be...baby steps, baby steps!
 
I never brewed extract, but I did read Papazians book "Homebrewers Companion" about three times before I mashed in.

Id boil it down, maybe to about 3.5 - 4 gallons instead of 5, that will boost up the OG, then pitch... no biggie.
 
I never brewed extract, but I did read Papazians book "Homebrewers Companion" about three times before I mashed in.

Id boil it down, maybe to about 3.5 - 4 gallons instead of 5, that will boost up the OG, then pitch... no biggie.

Maybe that's why it tastes so watery cuz it's at about 5.5-6 gallons right now.
 
did you throw out the grains?
do you have access to amylase?
do you have access to beano?


I would add Malt extract to bring up to a decent pre boil OG
I will bet this wort has a fair amount of tannin - if you boil down too much it will bring up the tannins.

Just for fun you could see if you can crank any more sugar out of the "spent" grains using amylase or beano.
 
No I did not throw out the grains. I do not have any amylase or beano. I steeped the grains for quite some time, about 70 minutes. How much more sugars could I really get out of them?
 
You have a LOW pre-boil OG... about 47% eff it appears. If you boil it down to 3.5 gallons, you will have close to 1.040 for an OG... it will be the beer you intended, just less of it.
 
Okay, this beer was only going to be about 4% as the recipe stood.

I agree with the above post, brew it as is, or use extract to bump it up. That is A LOT of sugar to add, it wont HELP the beer experience I dont think.

Strike temp. differs depending on the size of the grain bill, the temp of the grain, the temp of the MLT and how many qt/lb of water you use as well.

Be sure to use some brewing software next time to avoid this.

I have save this link into my favorites and after punching in the numbers I realized a lot of mistakes. But, after all, that's why I was doing this. I know what not to do next time and also what to do. It's boiling away and I have pitched my first hops and it is looking ok. Since I only have corn sugar and don't have any extract on hand I am just going to go with it the way it is and see where I end up at the end of the process. If all else fails, I have a batch of Belgian Abbey Ale in the fermentor that went a lot better than is brew and is still highly active after 5 days once I got the temp dialed in. Thanks again to everybody for the advice. Happy Brewing!
 
I usually collect more than 6 gallons preboil. I usually end up with 5.5g post boil. I do 90 minute boils though. I think collecting 7 -7.5 g of wort from batch sparging gets most of the sugars out of the grain. So far the brew's been good. I've seen no ill effects by collecting so much.
 
I am with you Jess...

I do the 90 minute boil, collect about 7.5 gallons... that is how I roll too.
 
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