Strike Water Temp Issues

[nicobrews]

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!

 

[acidrain]

If your target temp was 149, then I would have pre-heated the tun to at least that temp.
It takes a few tries to get the hang of your equipment. Good thing you took careful notes so that you can hit it spot on next time.
For your next brew, I would heat the tun to the target temp, and maybe increase the strike another degree.
BTW, which strike calculator are you using? Does it have a tun material specific heat index? You could try tweaking the index.

 

[MagicMatt]

Correct, you want to add the grains to the MLT with strike water already in it.

With my cooler, my strike temp is 12°F warmer than mash temp. I only know this because I used what Beersmith told me the first few times and always came up hot. So over time I learn that 12°F is the sweet spot for my equipment. I dump it into my MLT (no preheating), wait about 5 minutes to let the temp stabilize and once at about +9°F above mash temp, I dough in fairly slowly while stirring vigorously. The process of doughing in takes me about 60 seconds for a 5 gallon batch.

As for adding more water, I can't help you there because I've never missed low before. I do mash out, and for that I just use what Beersmith tells me to use (usually about 1.5 gallons heated to boil) to reach 168°F.

But everyone's equipment is different. I have a friend with almost identical setup, and his temps are several degrees off from mine usually. Hard to say, but experience with your setup will help dial in the process.

 

[nicobrews]

If your target temp was 149, then I would have pre-heated the tun to at least that temp.
It takes a few tries to get the hang of your equipment. Good thing you took careful notes so that you can hit it spot on next time.
For your next brew, I would heat the tun to the target temp, and maybe increase the strike another degree.
BTW, which strike calculator are you using? Does it have a tun material specific heat index? You could try tweaking the index.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll definitely do my best to preheat the tun to the specific temp instead of just tossing in boiling water.

I used the brewblogger 2.3.2 to calculate the temp. It has an equipment loss section, which I have no idea what means. I'm trying to brew more frequently with my new set up (About every 2-3 weeks) so hopefully I'll get more accustomed with the equipments characteristics.

Thank you for your help friend. Cheers!

 

[bob1852]

Correct, you want to add the grains to the MLT with strike water already in it.

With my cooler, my strike temp is 12°F warmer than mash temp. I only know this because I used what Beersmith told me the first few times and always came up hot. So over time I learn that 12°F is the sweet spot for my equipment. I dump it into my MLT (no preheating), wait about 5 minutes to let the temp stabilize and once at about +9°F above mash temp, I dough in fairly slowly while stirring vigorously. The process of doughing in takes me about 60 seconds for a 5 gallon batch.

As for adding more water, I can't help you there because I've never missed low before. I do mash out, and for that I just use what Beersmith tells me to use (usually about 1.5 gallons heated to boil) to reach 168°F.

But everyone's equipment is different. I have a friend with almost identical setup, and his temps are several degrees off from mine usually. Hard to say, but experience with your setup will help dial in the process.

This!!!!

Learn your equipment...

I know that my cooler mash tun will soak up ~5-7* depending on the time of year.

So, if my mash temp goal is 153, there's calculators to tell you what you should dough in at (based on grain temp and grain weight and water volume). Then, I add 5-7* to that to know what my strike water needs to be....

Example:

calculator says that 5g of 167* strike water will make my 14lbs of 68* grain = 153 mash temperature.

So, I add 5g of 173* water to the mash tun; wait ~5-10 minutes until it's equalized to ~167*, then add my grains and stir. The mash temp will be ~153.

 

[nicobrews]

Correct, you want to add the grains to the MLT with strike water already in it.

With my cooler, my strike temp is 12°F warmer than mash temp. I only know this because I used what Beersmith told me the first few times and always came up hot. So over time I learn that 12°F is the sweet spot for my equipment. I dump it into my MLT (no preheating), wait about 5 minutes to let the temp stabilize and once at about +9°F above mash temp, I dough in fairly slowly while stirring vigorously. The process of doughing in takes me about 60 seconds for a 5 gallon batch.

As for adding more water, I can't help you there because I've never missed low before. I do mash out, and for that I just use what Beersmith tells me to use (usually about 1.5 gallons heated to boil) to reach 168°F.

But everyone's equipment is different. I have a friend with almost identical setup, and his temps are several degrees off from mine usually. Hard to say, but experience with your setup will help dial in the process.

I'll make sure to add the grain to the strike water instead. It was pretty difficult adding the water to the grain and thoroughly mixing. The temperature was probably not incorporated efficiently.

I only have one all grain brew under my belt with this equipment so I'll just keep making minor tweaks here and here until I find the correct ratio of water and heat to get my correct strike temp.

Thanks for the help my friend. Cheers!

 

[nicobrews]

This!!!!

Learn your equipment...

I know that my cooler mash tun will soak up ~5-7* depending on the time of year.

So, if my mash temp goal is 153, there's calculators to tell you what you should dough in at (based on grain temp and grain weight and water volume). Then, I add 5-7* to that to know what my strike water needs to be....

Example:

calculator says that 5g of 167* strike water will make my 14lbs of 68* grain = 153 mash temperature.

So, I add 5g of 173* water to the mash tun; wait ~5-10 minutes until it's equalized to ~167*, then add my grains and stir. The mash temp will be ~153.

Hmmm, very interesting. I will most definitely try to play with the temperature of the strike water and the mash tun.

I'm a firm believer of trial and error. Thank your the help.

Cheers!