Hey guys! I conducted my first all grain brew this past Friday and everything seemed to go well except for my strike water temperature. My target temp was 149 degrees F, single infusion. I had 14.75 lbs of grain at a water/grain ratio of 1.25 quarts/ 1 lbs of grain. Strike water amount was about 4.5 gallons. Grain temp at about 70 degrees. I pre-heated my mash tun with boiling water. Resulted in my mash tun temp of 145-147 degrees F. With all of this info plugged into the strike water calculator, it came up with mash in temp of 161-162 degrees F strike water.
I heated my strike water to exactly 162 degrees F, doughed in while thoroughly stirring all of the grain. This resulted in a mash temp of 144 degrees. I was disappointed and determined to reach the target temp of 149 F so I boiled one gallon of water added it to the mash tun and thoroughly stirred (I was very upset that I had to do this.) This resulted in approximately a 2 degree increase to 146 F. My strike water was raised to 5.5 gallons. Still determined to reach the target temp, I boiled a half gallon of water and added it. This brought my mash tun temp to exactly 147.6 F and my strike water to 6 gallons.
I decided to not add any more water and stick with the mash temp of 147.6. My SS Brewtech Mash Tun held the temp surprisingly well over 60 mins losing about .5 - 1 degree.
DISCLAIMER: I added my strike water to my grain instead of vice versa.
Please help me with what went wrong with my strike water calculations and a more efficient way to raise my temp if I'm off. Should I always add the grain to the water? Should my water/grain ratio change?
Any help would be great and highly appreciated! Cheers!
I heated my strike water to exactly 162 degrees F, doughed in while thoroughly stirring all of the grain. This resulted in a mash temp of 144 degrees. I was disappointed and determined to reach the target temp of 149 F so I boiled one gallon of water added it to the mash tun and thoroughly stirred (I was very upset that I had to do this.) This resulted in approximately a 2 degree increase to 146 F. My strike water was raised to 5.5 gallons. Still determined to reach the target temp, I boiled a half gallon of water and added it. This brought my mash tun temp to exactly 147.6 F and my strike water to 6 gallons.
I decided to not add any more water and stick with the mash temp of 147.6. My SS Brewtech Mash Tun held the temp surprisingly well over 60 mins losing about .5 - 1 degree.
DISCLAIMER: I added my strike water to my grain instead of vice versa.
Please help me with what went wrong with my strike water calculations and a more efficient way to raise my temp if I'm off. Should I always add the grain to the water? Should my water/grain ratio change?
Any help would be great and highly appreciated! Cheers!