Partial/Mini Mash Sanity check

[ColeVet67]

Ok Ya'll.. this is my first PM and i used Kaotica's PM recipe:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/raging-red-irish-red-ale-239188/index5.html

which was his version of Mysticmead's: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/raging-red-irish-red-ale-239188/

Cause im not 100% assured of myself to go AG yet.. so.. i followed Kaoticas recipe almost to a t.. except i struck the honey from the recipe.

so i used my NEW.. MLT (5g igloo - from LHBS)..
mistake 1) did not heat up sufficiently
i added strike water (what i guesstimated to be 1.5qt/lb) ~ 167 deg. but when i mixed in my grains (grain temp.. ~60), my temp dropped to ~145-~147, it was really thick as well. (~ approx. 4.25 lbs of grains) so i added additional water i boiled/heated in house from stove to ~175 and added that.. yet my temps didnt seem to rise all that much. So without adding more, thinning my mash.. i said F it and just left for 60 mins. (wort tasted VERY similar to LME i have used in the past.. so thought things were OK.. )

after my ~60 min steep, i circulated through til fairly clear and then drained into brew kettle and added hotter water for sparge, ~180 ish.. and mixed the new hot water in.. circulated til near clear.. then drained this off to brew kettle..

it was roughly 2.5 gal so i added an addition .5 gal of bottle water to make 3 gal boil.. brought this to a nice rolling boil added DME ^^^ as per recipe above (3lbs of light) and proceeded as normal.

Now.. if your all still with me.. i cooled to ~65 toppped off to 5.5 gal mark.. and took OG.. 1.050.

Soooooo.. my questions are as follows:

1_ did i get decent eff.. ?
2_ was my OG mostly the 3 lbs of DME.. ?
3_ Will i expect a thin bodied beer... due to the low mash temp.. ?
4_ is there something else i could have done.. better.. ?

any thoughts are appreciated.. !!!!:rockin:

 

[judsonp]

1. It looks decent. 65%, maybe?
2. Somewhere around 23 points of OG came from DME and 16 from the base malt.
3. There's about 2# of crystal malt in that beer, I'm thinking it won't be thin. Also, the recipe you referenced used 1# of honey, which would dry it out, that you did not use.
4. Sure, you could have gotten your mash temperature right.

Figure out how much heat your grain and equipment absorb, either estimating with software or by experimentation. (Assuming you were targeting 152, you were about 6 degrees short. So maybe next time go about 3 degrees higher to make up half the difference. Repeat, seeing how close you get, until you get very close the first time.) You can adjust your temperature with boiling water or cold water. Water that is close to your mash temperature (like your 175 F water) will not move your mash temperature very much at all, especially since you lose heat from opening up the mash tun and stirring in the water. A small amount of boiling water will work better. (Plus, remember you can get some water boiling before you mash in, so you have it on hand for adjusting.)

 

[ColeVet67]

thanks.. for reply.. what else can i expect from this batch.. ? Head retention..?

I guess i lied a lil.. i was writing from work. and didnt have my notes in front of me.. i used Notty vs the Cali Ale in recipe..

i had good action in the airlock after 12 1/2 hours.. so i know ill end up with beer.. LMAO.

additionally.. the wort that came out.. had a gorgeous deep red color.

my commercial target is smithwicks/killian's.. if i even come nearly.. close.. ill be EXTREMELY happy..

**** Edit *** i will make temp changes comin up soon.. as i have all the ingredients for an Irish Stout ready to go..

 

[ColeVet67]

Update: If anyone has followed this.. I bottled my first PM (Kaotica's PM recipe): <--- giving credit
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f65/raging-red-irish-red-ale-239188/index5.html

final FG was 1.009 Color was deep copper, very prominant red hue when up against light. Flavor was quite nice.. cant wait to see how it is carbed.