Temperature Didn't Matter

[Spartangreen]

I recently found out my brew thermometer was reading 26 deg F too high. I brew a lot of the same beer (Kolsch) with a mash that's supposed to be 149. So...Every mash has actually been 175F. I've brewed 5-6 batches this year.

In addition, I use the same thermometer for cooling, and I’ve noticed it taking a really long time to cool lately. I like to pitch at 60F, and I’ve been unable to get it down to 60F which was really 34deg. So I’ve been giving up around 65F (actually 39F).

It’s the dial type thermometer, and I re-calibrated it by putting it in ice water and turning the nut back to 32F then I boiled water and it read 211F.

That being said, all of the beer has tasted really good. Clean, no off flavors. Hit both my OG/FG every time.

Moral of the story...Check your THERMOMETERS!!!!

 

[brewmadness]

I'm no expert, but how on earth did you hit your OG with a mash temp of 175? Did I not understand correctly that "mashout" means to raise your mash temp to the 175 deg range to stop conversion??

 

[TheCanisDirus]

Oh god lol! Wow, if you think your beers were tasting good before... just wait until you're hitting accurate temperatures! I think your recipes will taste pretty different. You might even have to adjust "actual temperatures" depending on how much you really enjoyed your previous versions.

 

[aStoutObserver]

I'm actually really confused here. Am I reading this wrong? If you read your thermometer at 65 and it was actually at 39 then that would be a different of -26, so wouldn't that mean if you read your mash at 149 then it would be -26 too? Meaning you're mashing at 123?
Point still taken no matter though about calibrating.

 

[northcal]

Good point!

I don't think those cavemen or monk brewers had thermometers either.

 

[Weezy]

How did you determine its off by 26 deg?

 

[TopherM]

Temperature Didn't Matter

Oh, it mattered! You can produce beer that tastes good at any temp, but if you were taking gravity readings, you would find that you were missing your FG by quite a bit on all of these beers. You were getting a lower % of simple sugars and a higher % of complex sugars on every batch. Your recipes that called for a 146 mash temp were intended to produce a dry beer, and you are producing fairly sweet malt-heavy beers. A Kolsch with a high FG would not do well in a competition. It may taste good, but you didn't make a proper Kolsch.

It's all good that you produced beers that tasted good, but you missed your intended recipes by a good bit on each one.

You can try to make a mid-rare steak and end up with a well-done steak, and it still taste good, but you definitely screwed up your intended recipe!

 

[Spartangreen]

I'm actually really confused here. Am I reading this wrong? If you read your thermometer at 65 and it was actually at 39 then that would be a different of -26, so wouldn't that mean if you read your mash at 149 then it would be -26 too? Meaning you're mashing at 123?
Point still taken no matter though about calibrating.

Sorry, you are correct. YES I was mashing at 123F, I looked at that wrong. So my mash temps were really low.
Thanks for the correction.

The 90 minute rest time helped probably.
I do a batch sparge with "170F" water which was actually 144F

 

[Spartangreen]

How did you determine its off by 26 deg?

When I put the thermometer into ice water it read 58F.
58-32 = 26

 

[MN_Jay]

I wouldn't assume it's off by the same -26F always. I had a thermometer once that was perfect at mashing temps but off 10 degrees at 70F.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Weezy]

Yes, that's not a good enough test. Pick up a $5 scientific thermometer at the LHBS and check it vs. the original one in water at many temps. Use a coffeug and the microwave for hotter temps.