Technique to add grain to strike water solo

[kh54s10]

Dough balls are only a problem if you don't break them up. Why go through hoops to avoid them from forming if it is so easy to just break them up?

 

[pvpeacock]

A stainless steel mud mixer and cordless drill are my favorite non-essential tools. Great for dough in. Great for stirring wort when batch sparging. Great for stirring wort during the boil. Great for stirring and oxygenating while using an immersion chiller. HSA? A myth like so many other brewing boogeymen.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Omg already....I brewed a double batch on th road at my hunt club, fate would have it I forgot a mash paddle, it's not that difficult, I lopped a sturdy branch off a scrub oak and all was good.....just stir, if you have dough balls just stir again, not that difficult.

 

[triethylborane]

Omg already....I brewed a double batch on th road at my hunt club, fate would have it I forgot a mash paddle, it's not that difficult I looped a sturdy branch off a scrub oak and all was good.....just stir, if you have dough balls just stir again, not that difficult.

Dude, that batch is totally ruined now. Its a DUMPER FOR SURE.

 

[Bilsch]

HSA? A myth like so many other brewing boogeymen.

Curious how you've made that determination, you sound so sure.

 

[govner1]

Being literally single handed I mill my grains while the strike water heats to about 15°F above my target. I pump my strike water into my MLT, then use a large SS scoop to mash in. I generally put in 3-4 scoops then stir w/ a paddle. Once the bucket is manageable I pour in the grains.
I'm usually right on target temp wise.

 

[Hanglow]

I switched to underletting a year or two ago and wouldn't do it any other way now. It is easier, less splashing, no doughballs.

 

[Kee]

There are some interesting ideas here, but busting a few doughballs is quick and easy.

 

[eric19312]

I switched to underletting a year or two ago and wouldn't do it any other way now. It is easier, less splashing, no doughballs.

How long does it take you to transfer the strike water from your HLT to your mash tun?

I am interested in trying it out but my brewstand geometry might make it a challenge. My HLT above my mash tun but not far. If I just let gravity feed I am guessing it might take quite a while to move all the strike water. My pumps are mounted far from the HLT though so I'd need to make a pretty long silicon line to get from HLT to pump but then easy enough to pump into MLT outlet.

But next problem will be switching lines. close the MLT outlet valve, disconnect the line from HLT to pump...move the line from pump outlet to pump inlet. Add line from pump outlet to MLT inlet. I see a fair amount of hot water on the floor (no big deal I brew in garage and hose down after brew day anyway.

But am wondering what the advantage of doing this is... My current system requires no line changes, just dough in, stir and turn the pump back on.

 

[day_trippr]

I believe I could literally not bother with the cursory swish around the mlt after underletting my strike volume.
Beyond that, in my case it's easier than any alternative I've tried, and it has the advantage of driving air up and out of the grist...

Cheers!

 

[isomerization]

Curious how you've made that determination, you sound so sure.

Where is the evidence of HSA in the homebrew scale? As in, what am I actually looking for to see if it's "happening"? Cold side O2 exposure is so much easier to see/grasp as there are countless documented cases of it occurring.

In my book, something needs to be proven to exist, before we prove that it doesn't...

 

[day_trippr]

If you dare...the rabbit hole is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=580532

Cheers!

 

[milldoggy]

I do get dough balls, but it never takes more than 10 minutes to stir everything up. 2 years ago I switched out my mash paddle for an 18" Stainless Steel whisk. It makes very quick work of the dough balls.

I find it easier to dump it all in then stir than to mess around with adding small amounts at a time.

If you had a tip rig that may be a different story.

+1 same here, moved from a paddle to huge whip, no more balls

 

[lump42]

You could add the water to the grain. Ive never had dough balls in 32 batches.

 

[jrgtr42]

I add about half my strike water to my mash tun, then add the grain a few pounds at a time. I stir enough to move it around each addition. Once all the grain is in I add the rest of the water, a quart or so at a time, stirring during and after each addition. I plan for roughly 1.3 qts/ lb, and don't worry if I'm a quart above or below. Once all the water is in I'll stir extra to make sure it's all in.

 

[triethylborane]

+1 same here, moved from a paddle to huge whip, no more BALLS

50 shades of beer

 

[isomerization]

If you dare...the rabbit hole is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=580532

Cheers!

I'm certainly aware of that thread/LoDo ideology, out how is that proof HSA is real? There are a lot of other variables at play there that would confound that type of assertion, unless I'm misunderstanding.

 

[Bilsch]

I don't know if one could say for sure there is proof however there is a growing amount of real science that points toward it's existence. It was not my intention to derail this dough ball thread but simply add point to think about when talking about whipping a lot of air into the mash. Especially when one considers that underletting works so well to avoid both problems.

<-- Steps off soapbox. Let the whipping recommence.

 

[isomerization]

I don't know if one could say for sure there is proof however there is a growing amount of real science that points toward it's existence. It was not my intention to derail this dough ball thread but simply add point to think about when talking about whipping a lot of air into the mash. Especially when one considers that underletting works so well to avoid both problems.

Let the whipping recommence.

Well, it is pertinent to the OPs questions, so I don't think it's a major derailment

From reading some of the more recent posts in that thread, it looks like most of the benefits are seen in lagers, this might be why I've not noticed any issues from my use of the cement mixer rig. No lagers for me!

 

[Bilsch]

I chased an odd and annoying bitterness for years in my beers and then happened to stumble onto the possibility of HSA as the cause on another forum a few years ago. Since this hobby is all about trying new things to improve our beer, and was capable of executing the low oxygen process, I dove in. After that the strange flavor was gone and other benefits became greatly apparent so there was no going back.

It&#8217;s my feeling that some people are more sensitive to herbstoff (malt bitterness), or more put off by the flavor than others. Some don&#8217;t perceive it at all and so there is no problem. To me it was certainly more apparent in light, low bitterness lagers but was always present. It stands to reason in very hoppy beers it's lost in the background noise and again for those brewers is not an issue.

Maybe it would be better if I rephrased my initial assertion and say; for those who brew light malty lagers and or are annoyed by persistent background bitterness and who also whip the bejesus out of the mash, you might want to take a look at HSA.

 

[Hanglow]

How long does it take you to transfer the strike water from your HLT to your mash tun?


But am wondering what the advantage of doing this is... My current system requires no line changes, just dough in, stir and turn the pump back on.

A minute or two maybe, I have a 22mm tap on my HLT and usually have about 16 or so litres of strike water. There is little to no resistance from the grain on the flow of water. i just have my hlt on a table and the mash tun, a cool box, on a chair next to it.

There is less stirring needed with underletting and you can mill straight into your mashtun. It's really just a small improvement imo, but it is there

 

[clarkpadgett]

I pour all the grain in and let it sink into the water at it's own pace. I do not stir until all everything is soaked. Never had a dough ball.

 

[smarch0]

So with underletting, I use a rectangular cooler with bazooka screen and have no false bottom. I use a gravity fed HLT into this mash tun, so could I just run a longer hose under the grain to underlett? Or does it not really work without a false bottom?

 

[wilserbrewer]

So with underletting, I use a rectangular cooler with bazooka screen and have no false bottom. I use a gravity fed HLT into this mash tun, so could I just run a longer hose under the grain to underlett? Or does it not really work without a false bottom?

Most run the strike water back through the drain valve when underletting.

Should work about the same with a braid as a false bottom.

 

[wilserbrewer]

So with underletting, I use a rectangular cooler with bazooka screen and have no false bottom. I use a gravity fed HLT into this mash tun, so could I just run a longer hose under the grain to underlett? Or does it not really work without a false bottom?

Most run the strike water back through the drain valve when underletting.

Should work about the same with a braid as a false bottom.

I have never tried underletting as I always heat my strike water in the vessel I intend to mash in, so for me not underletting is far easier.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I didn’t read the entire thread sorry and this won’t help you but I underlet mine from the hlt, just add the grains to the mashtun then pump in 160-degree water from the bottom, and it’s done, minimal stirring and no dough balls but the catch is I have a 3 pot 20-gallon herms system

 

[BroomVikin]

I simply dump the grains in at once at a reasonable rate, allow them to settle, and stir with one of these attached to my drill. Six bucks at Lowe's. Never had doughballs and it saves tons of time.

 

[soccerdad]

I have a tin cup that is used every brew day. It's like those camping coffee cups you dtill see on occasion. Probably holds 20 ounces of liquid and maybe half a pound of grain. I put about 4 or 5 of those in the strike water, stir a bit, and put 4 or 5 more in. For 10 to 12 pounds of grist the process may take a minute and a half. I've never had a dough ball.

 

[derfh]

I use a braid in my circular cooler mash tun, I also mash thin and batch sparge. I add the grain first then the strike water all at once. Let the air bubble out and then mix quickly with a mash paddle (30 seconds). Good to go and no balls.

 

[bleak]

John Palmer says to add the water to the grain, so that&#8217;s what I do. He doesn&#8217;t say why, but he says it so definitively that I wonder, who am I to argue? This is how he puts it:

&#8220;You want to add the water to the grain, not the other way around. Use a saucepan or a plastic pitcher to pour in a gallon of your strike water at a time and stir between infusions. Don&#8217;t try to pour 4 gallons of hot water into the infusion all at once. You don&#8217;t want to thermally shock the enzymes.&#8221;

I like a very tight crush and a thick mash at 1.25 quarts/lbs., so I generally get pretty major doughballs. I tend to stress about the mash temperature dropping while I stir the doughballs out, but usually I manage to hit the numbers. Anyway, it generally works for me.