Mashing an American Colonial Porter right now. Beautiful 66 degrees on the back lanai!

Mashing an American Colonial Porter right now. Beautiful 66 degrees on the back lanai!
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I just started that >50% rye winter warmer I was supposed to brew a week or two ago. Got all the malt ground (just over 9# for 4 gallons) and lugged my boiler upstairs. Now taking a 5 minute brew break before measuring out hot water, etc. (strike water temp for this is about the same as my hot tap water because I'm doing a protein rest. Never done that before)
This beer will be a lot of firsts for me. Very high percent specialty grains, step mash, first time using my new Tilt hydrometer.![]()
Good luck with the lager! I just finished draining (I didn't sparge) my wort. Gravity came in a little high; that's good because I didn't collect quite as much as I expected. It wasn't quite like straining oatmeal, but the bag didn't drain much without squeezing. I will leave the lid partially on during the boil to reduce evaporation and it should be fine. Might not even have to top up with a little water.Nice, trying new stuff is my favorite thing about this hobby. Hope it goes well!
As for me, I just pitched 2 packets of 34/70 in to a Dortmunder Export, my first lager!
Dan
I think I'm fixin' to do a mini-mash. About a gallon of 1.040 wort to use for yeast starters, then can it. I usually mix starters as I need them from a bag of DME, but the bag is getting low. (should I add a little hops for antiseptic? I know it's not necessary but it's easy to do)
I’ve got no experience but there are a bunch of threads on this, and the general sentiment is that there’s a botulism risk unless you can hit the higher temps that a pressure canner can hit to remove that risk.
Dan