Strike temp

[brewboy04]

I have a few question before my 1st AG

So firstly do you add the water to grain or vise versa?

And I have a target mash temp of 66c but not sure what roughly the strike temp should be, I am using a homemade cooler mashtun ,


Cheers

 

[iparks81]

It typically doesn't matter what you add fist...personally I start the flow of water then start dumping in the grain as I stir. but just for sake of avoiding dough balls (clumps of dry grain) add the water to the cooler first and add the grain while stiring.

what type of cooler are you using? A rubbermade or igloo 10 gal? or like a rectangular coleman style?

Im using a round rubbermaid 10 gal cooler as my mash tun, and I typically heat my strike water to 10-12 deg Fahrenheit** hotter than what I want my rest temp at.

if you look into software like Beersmith it will calculate everything out for you...SOO worth it! I run every recipe through it to get my exact temps, volumes, water quantities, ...it does it all.

 

[mrkrausen]

Hey, and congrats on jumping into all grain. You'll want to add your water to your mash tun then stir as you slowly add your grain to avoid any dough balls. Here is a pretty good mashing calculator to help you hit your temps. http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml Hopes this helps and happy brewing!

 

[brewkinger]

Firstly.... Opinions will vary on this. My method in my cooler involves putting all my strike water into the cooler about 180 degrees and allowing it to preheat my cooler.
Once the temp is down to slightly above my strike temperature, I slowly add grain and stir, stir, stir...
This results in me hitting my mash temps spot on almost every time. For me, adding water to the grain seems to increase the likelihood of dough balls.

Secondly........temperature of strike water depends on several factors.
How much grain?
Temp of grain.
Type of mash tun?
Is the tun preheated?