Mash thickness

[rpolzin25]

So a buddy and I are going to attempt to do a 10 gallon batch of a dunkelweizen and split it this weekend. I typically only get 60% efficiency w/ my wheat beers so the grain amount seems to push it on my setup. I have a 10 gallon cooler and the recipe calls for a grain bill totaling 26 lbs. By calculations it looks I would have to do a 1.2 q/L mash. Is this too thick? Any thinner and I don't have the space. Or should it be just fine to go w/ the 1.2 qt/L mash?

Grain bill is as follows:
wheat: 14.5 lbs
munich: 5 lbs
2-row: 3 lbs
honey malt: 2 lbs
midnight wheat: 8 oz
rice hulls: 1 lb

Thanks in advance.

 

[plankbr]

So a buddy and I are going to attempt to do a 10 gallon batch of a dunkelweizen and split it this weekend. I typically only get 60% efficiency w/ my wheat beers so the grain amount seems to push it on my setup. I have a 10 gallon cooler and the recipe calls for a grain bill totaling 26 lbs. By calculations it looks I would have to do a 1.2 q/L mash. Is this too thick? Any thinner and I don't have the space. Or should it be just fine to go w/ the 1.2 qt/L mash?

Grain bill is as follows:
wheat: 14.5 lbs
munich: 5 lbs
2-row: 3 lbs
honey malt: 2 lbs
midnight wheat: 8 oz
rice hulls: 1 lb

Thanks in advance.

Here's a great thread talking about that...

You should be fine with that @ 1.25 q/L. It will be a little thick but you should be fine. Stir every 15 minutes .

 

[rpolzin25]

I forgot say I will just be using a bazooka screen in my mash tun over using a false bottom if that makes a difference.

 

[laredo7mm]

You should be fine at the 1.2. I made the "Kate the Great" recipe back in August with 26.6 pounds of grain and 31 quarts of strike water for a ratio of 1.17 qt/lb. I have a false bottom in the 10 gallon cooler and I had about a quarter inch of space after adding the grains to the water so I just used a piece of reflectix as the lid. Stirred once during the mash, did a 15 quart batch sparge and hit right about 70% efficiency. I usually get about 75% when doing a "normal" beer so I did see a bit of an efficiency hit. My boil for a normal beer is 60 minutes, on my KTG, I did a 2 hour boil. My boil off rate is about 1 gallon per hour.

 

[rpolzin25]

I was also thinking of just going w/ a 70% efficiency calculation (what I get typically on my non-wheat beers) and then having some wheat DME on hand to add if/when I miss my efficiency.

 

[laredo7mm]

I get a lower efficiency with my wheat beers also. I think around 72%. I even double crush at the LHBS and do a longer mash, but I always seem to come up a bit short. Having some wheat DME on hand is a great idea in case you under shoot your OG.

 

[IslandLizard]

I used to do thick mashes, around 1.25, and they work well. The 1.5 ones are just easier to stir.

Why do you only get 60% efficiency? That's darn low!
Wheat and rye kernels are much smaller than barley, so milling at a much tighter gap for those smaller kernels is needed or most will fall through uncrushed. I've seen people walk out the LHBS with "crushed" wheat like that. I use a 0.024" gap for wheat, rye and flaked goods on my 2 roller Monster Mill.

A finer crush will up your efficiency, reduce cost, and give you more space to stir. You may need to add some rice hulls to lauter, unless you do a good protein rest.

For step mashing I mash in my kettle, direct fired with an induction plate. Constant stirring while heating of course. After a 10' mashout I then scoop the mash into the mash tun for lautering and sparging while I rinse the kettle.

 

[rpolzin25]

I currently have my LHBS mill for me. It is possible that i have been not mashing w/ appropriate water. Up until my last brew I was using spring water as my brewing water. For my last brew (a nut brown) I used distilled water and had a neighbor homebrewer help me figure out water additions. So I am not sure if that affected my wheat beer efficiencies in the past at all.