Mashout Mishap?

[jdemars]

Greetings seasoned brewers,

I'm brewing outside in the tundra of Minnesota and frequently have issues reaching or maintaining water temps and mash temps.

I'm going to start pre-heating my mashton and HLT to try and address this.

On this last batch (NB cream ale kit), I hit my strike temp(?) right at 150°F but at the 60 min mark it had dropped to 140°. When I went to mashout I added damn near 4 gal of 180+° water to the 2.6 gal of 140° mash and could only get the total temp up to 160°. I let all 6.6 gallons of 160° mash hang out for 10 more minutes and decided to recirculate and fly sparge as usual. After the boil my OG was 1.037 and the goal was 1.044.
It's now fermenting with S04 at 66°F pitched at 72°F

Equipment used:
Northern Brewer cooler MT and HLT and a 15 gal MegaKettle for the BK

A few questions now.

I'm thinking 7 points in gravity is significant, am I correct?
What impact might adding 4 gallons of water to the mash have?
Was there any point in sparging if I have that much water in the mashton?

Thanks

 

[augiedoggy]

sparging rinses the sugars from the grains so it always helps... in situations like this the best thing to do it boil down to desired preboil size which will raise gravity BEFORE adding first hop addition.

 

[IslandLizard]

Wrap a sleeping bag or down jacket around the mash tun. Do something to keep the heat in, and/or move the mash tun inside to a warmer area. Don't open and stir it during the mash, especially when it's cold and windy outside. I lose a few degrees each time I open and stir it, and that's inside the kitchen. So I leave it for the duration.

A mashout is not really necessary when you're batch sparging. I batch sparge 2x with equal amounts of water. When the mash has completed I vorlauf and drain and start heating the runnings immediately. Then add first sparge water, temp is not important, although I tend to try to bring the grist to around 168F. Vorlauf and drain. Repeat.

Alternatively you could mash in your kettle (with some non flammable insulation around it), and keep low heat on while continuously stirring to prevent scorching or locally overheating (the bottom part). But if it's very cold and windy you may fight a battle that can't be won.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm brewing outside in the tundra of Minnesota

Right there is your first problem. When fighting the weather, nature always wins. Learn to brew when it is warmer out or learn to brew inside. When it gets cold and windy you just aren't going to keep the temperatures up.

decided to recirculate and fly sparge as usual.

There's your second problem. When fighting the weather, don't insist on doing things the hard way. Adapt! Skip mashout and batch sparge or do a no-sparge batch. Better yet, line your mash tun (cooler I hope, it is going to get colder) with a fine mesh bag, then mill the grains as finely as possible. With the grains in tiny pieces the starch gelatinizes fast and conversion is very quick, quicker than the temperature drops. With conversion complete, the temperature drop isn't as critical. The side benefit of the fine milled grain is that your efficiency goes way up too so you won't need the fly sparge.

 

[kevin58]

Cold weather brewing is definitely a challenge. I used to try and brew on the coldest day possible every winter. The coldest I was able to try it was -15°F. When I was mashing in a Coleman cooler I pre-heated it first and then wrapped it with an old sleeping bag which worked fairly well. When I moved to BIAB I just monitored the temp and fired up the burner when needed.

 

[jdemars]

Right there is your first problem

Agreed, I'm working with propane burners and in a garage, so the wind is minimal i.e. windows open for venting, but the temps can be brutal. I like that tip about bringing the MT inside (working smarter and not harder is not my MO).

Thanks for the advice about mashing, any wisdom in reference to the OG being off by 7 points? What is way off and what is close in terms of gravity readings?

 

[IslandLizard]

any wisdom in reference to the OG being off by 7 points? What is way off and what is close in terms of gravity readings?

Could well be the low mash temps, followed by the huge volume of hot water that followed and perhaps started to denature enzymes.

Most often the cause is the crush being (too) coarse.

2.6 gallons for the mash sounds a bit low, it may have been too thick? That small volume also didn't help with keeping your mash temps more on target.
Fly sparging can be tricky as your mash tun geometry plays a role. Hence the plug for doing batch sparging instead, quick and easy, especially on smaller systems. Also any wort left behind in the mash tun or kettle is a loss. Did you perhaps top up the fermenter with water?

How were your gravities in previous brews using the same system? That would be a good reference.

Not sure about those kits, are they for 5 gallons or 5.5 gallons in the fermenter?

Close is 2-3 points, or below 5%. Being 7 points low is way off, especially in a 1.044 brew, that's over 15% too low! So yeah, that's not normal.

I always take a gravity reading of my first runnings (batch sparging) so I can still adapt if something went wrong early in the process. I once had forgotten to add part of the grist that was in a 2nd bucket I left in the driveway...
I also take a reading toward the end of the boil, before my late hops, just in case I need to boil a little longer or more vigorously.

 

[IslandLizard]

Forgot to say: In the end, you still made beer!

You can add some light DME to your beer during fermentation to bring the gravity up to where you'd like it to be. I'd dissolve it in some hot or boiling water, let it cool and add the (syrupy) wort to your fermenter. Just be careful not to scorch or caramelize it while heating.
Or add a little sugar. Regular sugar is fine.