Mashed in at 180F - how bad is this?

[milholen]

ok so I did the BIAB method. This was my first AG batch so I made a few mistakes. I filled my brewpot with the total preboil volume and then heated to 160F before adding the bag o grains. Well I wasn't paying close enough attention and I actually let the water temp rise to almost 180F!!
I pulled the brewpot off the heat and let it cool and added a small amount of water. Within 15 minutes it was down to 160. I let it drop to 150 and maintained the temp there. In total the mash was 70 minutes. My preboil OG was dead on what Beersmith predicted so I don't think I had any problems with efficiency however I'm wondering what effect mashing in at such a high temp could have on the final flavor and body of the beer?

 

[wonderbread23]

Did you do an iodine test to check for conversion? Its possible that the 180* denatured your enzymes which would cause the starches to not convert. Since it was for a short period, hopefully this didn't happen. An iodine test would have told you whether all the starches converted or not.

In the end, you likely mashed on the higher end of the beta range causing a less fermentable wort. You may have a tough time hitting your anticipated final gravities... but it'll still be beer.

 

[tunoffun]

According to Palmer & other sources, that should have denatured the enzymes and stopped conversion before you even started (essentially you mashed-out at mash-in... lol). So if you really didn't lose efficiency, I'd expect you pretty much achieved full conversion before the temps climbed out of control. Or possibly the core of your mash didn't get wetted properly before you got the temp back down. Or your math was wrong. Or Palmer's wrong.

In any case, the higher-than-planned temps might have created a less attenuable wort, especially if you achieved full conversion and then denatured the enzymes with heat. Granted - my comments are based on what I've read... not experience talking.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

does the wort taste sweet? if so you're probably ok. if it tastes starchy or grainy and not sweet at all...maybe not.

 

[milholen]

I still had some wort in my hydrometer tube so I just tasted it. It is very sweet. Actually it tastes really good -- caramel and honey-like.

 

[Northcalais40]

sounds like you're fine. If you hit the OSG then no worries. You will have a different brew than you would if mashed as you planned, but not a lot. Higher temps will make more sugars that won't ferment but you weren't ay high temps that long. Not long enough to denature you enzymes it seems.

 

[Hermit]

I keep a half gallon milk jug filled about 80% and frozen on hand so I can plop it into my mash if I need to lower the temp quick.