Mash temp

[bru-er]

I have about 10 AG brew done and 9 polished off. I have been lurking here gaining tons of info. When I started I did not pay much attention to the mash temp and my procedure was to add 1.25 qt/lb water to grain. I would bring the water to 170 deg, mix, and let rest for 1 hour. The mash temp would always read in the high 150's or 160. With these temps shouldn't the resulting wort contain a lot of unfermentable sugars? The FG of these original AG brews could get as low as 1.008. Since reading all the info here and obtaining brewsmith I have a better feel for the process - strike water temps, mash temps to obtain desired results etc. The big difference is the first few brews were watery. Now that I mash around 153 the mouth feel is much more desirable, and no watery feel. I guess I am not sure of the difference. Please explain!

 

[nl724]

That is kind of odd!? There a few factors that can affect your FG. One of them is your mash temp. If you keep the yeast the control and we are just talking about mash temperature, usually the higher the mash temp the more unfermentables. Thus you should theoretically have obtain a wort with a higher FG than if you mashed at a lower temperature. Another factor that could affect your FG is the attenuation capabilities of the yeast that you have been using. Certain yeasts can attenuate the wort more than others, so you might want to consider your yeast selection. Although , I am not 100% sure, but many ale yeasts attenuate in the 72-75% range. The FGs you have been getting are pretty low for your previous mash temps of 157-160. If I were you I would calibrate my thermometer, hydrometer, and appropriately select the yeast for my next batch. Hopefully another person replies with a little more experience

 

[FlyGuy]

If you mashed really warm (e.g. 160's) it is entirely possible that you got lousy efficiency, and your gravity was lower than intended. Did you measure either to see? That would be my starting point.

 

[Bobby_M]

Exactly. When I started brewing all grain, I recorded every piece of data I could think of just to be able to troubleshoot later. To this day, I record temps after each infusion, Pre and Post boil gravity and volumes. I sometimes even take gravity of the various batch sparge runnings just to have more data.

I'm a geek.

 

[beergears]

Is there be a good, simple, logically laid-out record sheet template around?

I mean something a n00b could start with, without getting geeked out too soon..!!

I know Kaiser has some beautiful ones (and have seen him work on them!), but that for the expert level.

 

[TexLaw]

Is there be a good, simple, logically laid-out record sheet template around?

I mean something a n00b could start with, without getting geeked out too soon..!!

Sure. Just go with a sheet of paper. I've never used any sort of fancy record sheet. Rather, I just grab a sheet of paper. In fact, most of my notes are on the back of my recipe printout.

If you want something more organized, I highly recommend getting some good brewing software. You can organize your notes easily and make some changes on the fly. Very nice.


TL

 

[bru-er]

I think it is a thermometer issue. Brewsmith results for that grain bill indicated I would have a temp of 155 deg using 170 deg strike water temp. That being said I can't calibrate that thermometer as I broke it on the false bottom a few weeks ago. My OG was 1.042 and the FG was 1.008 (I did take some notes). The yeast I used was Wyeast 1056. My efficiency was a poor 56%. Since this brew I have changed my equipment significantly and now am getting about 75%. The recent brews have been much better. I am currently fermenting the same brew with Safale US-05. It should be done in a week or so.