ericwatkins_utk
Well-Known Member
Hey guys - Its been a while.
So I was pondering over mash out today - I've always used a 10 gal Igloo cooler for my MT and I love it - except for the inherent challenge of raising temps. I usually use a grist ratio of about 1.5 and like where I'm at. Since raising the mash temp to mash out ranges requires an infusion of boiling water in the case of a cooler, I usually just skip the mash out.
With that being said, I still use 170F water during my fly sparge and sparge very slowly for about an hour or longer till I hit 1.008. I've always done this because that is what I've read in Palmer's book and on here over the years. However - Is this the right approach for someone who skips a mash out??
My thinking is that if I am brewing a dry recipe - say in the 148-152F temp range - then I fly sparge for an hour at 170F then the grain bed will never really reach 168ish for a mash out, but it will slowly rise to somewhere in the upper 150's or low 160's. It seems that somewhere during the sparge that I would begin disolving more complex sugars that I am not interested in since the intent was a low mash temperature.
So - If someone skips the mash out on a dry recipe, should one just skip the 170F sparge and instead sparge with water at the same temp as the mash? That way over the hour course of the sparge, the grain bed temp would remain consistent with the mash and you would not run the risk of more complex sugars in the wort??
Am I flawed in this line of thinking outside of the box?
So I was pondering over mash out today - I've always used a 10 gal Igloo cooler for my MT and I love it - except for the inherent challenge of raising temps. I usually use a grist ratio of about 1.5 and like where I'm at. Since raising the mash temp to mash out ranges requires an infusion of boiling water in the case of a cooler, I usually just skip the mash out.
With that being said, I still use 170F water during my fly sparge and sparge very slowly for about an hour or longer till I hit 1.008. I've always done this because that is what I've read in Palmer's book and on here over the years. However - Is this the right approach for someone who skips a mash out??
My thinking is that if I am brewing a dry recipe - say in the 148-152F temp range - then I fly sparge for an hour at 170F then the grain bed will never really reach 168ish for a mash out, but it will slowly rise to somewhere in the upper 150's or low 160's. It seems that somewhere during the sparge that I would begin disolving more complex sugars that I am not interested in since the intent was a low mash temperature.
So - If someone skips the mash out on a dry recipe, should one just skip the 170F sparge and instead sparge with water at the same temp as the mash? That way over the hour course of the sparge, the grain bed temp would remain consistent with the mash and you would not run the risk of more complex sugars in the wort??
Am I flawed in this line of thinking outside of the box?