Planning 1st all grain, mash question

[darkstar79]

This Sunday I am going to brew my first all grain, an irish red for st pattys day. I have read numerous threads and feel pretty confident about it. I purchased an all grain kit from northernbrewer and it says 153 for 60 min and 170 for 10 min. Does this mean to put the kettle on the heat for the last 10 min to get it up to 170 or is 170 just the sparge temp? I am assuming that is just the sparge temp. Using a sparge app on my iphone it says to mash with 2.91 gallons with a strike temp of 165 and to sparge with 5.59 gallons. I would think those would be reversed. Does this sound right?

 

[JollyToper]

I haven't used their recipes but it is pretty common to do a scarification rest for 60 minutes and then a mash out for 10 minutes to denature the enzymes.

In other words you are going to let your mash rest for 60 minutes at 153 and then raise the temperature to 170 and let it rest there for 10 minutes.

 

[Blender]

Many brewers use between 1.25 and 1.75 quarts per pound to mash. The 170 degree temp is probably referring to a mashout which is raising the temperature of the mash to promote better sugar removal after the sacrification rest.

Are you batch sparging?

 

[philrose]

quick advice- drop the 99 cents on the full on version of brewpal. Seriously helpful.

The 170 temp is an optional step while your grain is in the mash tun. It stops the enzymatic action. Called a "mash out."

Are you batch sparging (dumping all the sparge water in at once) or fly sparging (adding the sparge water at an even pace as you drain)

I think you'll be okay with those calculations either way.

 

[philrose]

this is what happens when I stop to answer SWMBO's phone calls before hitting "post," two people say exactly what I'm thinking!

 

[darkstar79]

yes I am going to batch sparge. thanks for the help guys

 

[Montanaandy]

Those numbers appear reversed to me. I would also make certain to have enough hot water for your batch sparge(s) on hand. You will lose some a HLT water when you add your strike to the grain (absorption) so you will want to make certain that when you sparge you get enough runnings to give you a healthy amount in the BK. Montanaandy

 

[philrose]

Those numbers appear reversed to me. I would also make certain to have enough hot water for your batch sparge(s) on hand. You will lose some a HLT water when you add your strike to the grain (absorption) so you will want to make certain that when you sparge you get enough runnings to give you a healthy amount in the BK. Montanaandy

Really? At 1.25 q/lb it's about 9 lbs of grain. Sounds about right for strike to me. Then he can make up the boil vol with some combination of sparge water.

Ymmv I guess. Andy- do you dough in really thin and the just sparge with a little bit of water? How's that workin for you if so?

 

[Yooper]

yes I am going to batch sparge. thanks for the help guys

If you're batch sparging, there isn't a need to do a mash out. I'd suggest keeping it simple:

Mash it with 1.25-1.50 quarts per pound of grain. A good strike temperature is 11 degrees warmer than your desired mash temperature, but have some boiling water (and cold water) available in case you miss your desired mash temperature. Stir it well, giving it time for the temperature to equalize, then check the temperature. If it's under 150, or over 155, add a little hot or cold water and stir very well. Then check the temperature again. The first time, it's easy to make it too hot, then too cold, etc, so if you do need to adjust do it gradually. It takes a few minutes for the temperature to "settle".

After an hour, vorlauf, drain the runnings and add 1/2 the sparge water. You want to bring the grainbed up to 168 or so, so you may need to use 175-180 degree water. If you're lower than that, though, it's no big deal. Stir well, vorlauf, and drain. Add the second 1/2 of the sparge water. Stir well, vorlauf and drain. That's all there is to it!

 

[darkstar79]

quick advice- drop the 99 cents on the full on version of brewpal. Seriously helpful.

The 170 temp is an optional step while your grain is in the mash tun. It stops the enzymatic action. Called a "mash out."

Are you batch sparging (dumping all the sparge water in at once) or fly sparging (adding the sparge water at an even pace as you drain)

I think you'll be okay with those calculations either way.

I checked out the brewpal app and downloaded it. What a great app! very easy to use, everything is loaded in there and everything you can need all in one app. Now that app is telling me to use 3.3 gallons to mash and 4.5 gallons to sparge. Which one is correct the first one or this one? 2 different calculators are giving me 2 different answers that are about a gallon of water apart. Im guessing the answer is either will work.

 

[Dloucks]

Either will work. Just the difference between mashing thin or mashing wet. I prefer a little "wetter" mash as it means less water I have to get up to temp before it's time to sparge.

 

[philrose]

I checked out the brewpal app and downloaded it. What a great app! very easy to use, everything is loaded in there and everything you can need all in one app. Now that app is telling me to use 3.3 gallons to mash and 4.5 gallons to sparge. Which one is correct the first one or this one? 2 different calculators are giving me 2 different answers that are about a gallon of water apart. Im guessing the answer is either will work.

Sweet app, right!?

Anyway...I bet the settings are just a little different on one than the other.

I like the brew pal app a lot, and have adapted my brewing to its strike/sparge recommendations. I find that after I made sure in the settings tab that my boil time, batch size and mash thickness matched up with my process, the strike/sparge calculations were spot on.

 

[darkstar79]

Ok I have matched the settings as you have suggested, how do I determine the mash thickness?

 

[philrose]

Go with something standard for your first ag, like 1.25 quarts per pound.

trial and error for the fine tuning, every system works a little different.

 

[darkstar79]

I am mashing in right now, it seems like there are temperature inconsistencies in the mash. I have an 8 gallon megapot with a false bottom and the temp gauge mounted on the side. The temp gauge on the side shows far lower and is way off, so I am using a digital thermometer to measure the mash. I am getting different temp reading in the mash in different parts of the pot. I did stir thoroughly for about ten minutes, so I think it is mixed well. Why am I getting the differences in temp and how do I know which one is accurate?

 

[philrose]

calibrated your thermometer lately?

I don't use dial thermometers, but I think the one on the megapot has a screw that needs to be tightened/loosened to read 0* C in ice water

 

[darkstar79]

end result: I ended up hitting the og of 1.047 exactly as the software said I should, but I only ended up with 4 gallons in the fermenter. What i forgot to do what account for the deadspace of the false bottom, so I should have added another gallon on water.

When you drain from the mashtub, do you tip the tun to get every little bit out without distubing the grain bed? When I went to clean up I noticed there was a bit of water left under the false bottom.

 

[philrose]

I've had a similar issue with my false bottom and have been considering a dip tube of some sort.