trouble controlling temps during mashing, should I panic?

[STLExpat]

Had a lot of trouble controlling the temps for a one gallon batch over the weekend. When adding the grain to the water the temp didn't drop and took an extra five minutes to get down to 150, and keeping it in the right range during the mashing process was tricky as well. Never thought to add extra water at the time to cool it off, and after reading the homebrew book my wife got me I'm starting to feel a little concerned.

 

[rocketman768]

Chillax. When mashing, add the water, stir, and just walk away for 5 minutes to let the temp stabilize. Then, if you're off by more than a couple of degrees, attempt to fix by adding 1 or 2 quarts of boiling or cold water. Unless your tun is not well-insulated, you should only lose 1 or 2 degrees over the next hour.

 

[wildwest450]

8 pints? Sorry, that makes me laugh.

 

[Rivenin]

what are you mashing in?

 

[Phunhog]

Definetly don't panic! I have begun to think of mash temps as more of a range than an exact number. If I want to hit 152 than anything from 151-153 is good enough for me. Now if you are trying to hit 150 and you are at 158 well it's time to stir and add some cool water. Remember the enzymes in the mash aren't on/off it takes time for them to convert/degrade.

 

[STLExpat]

what are you mashing in?

Pre-mixed and milled grains from a kit

 

[rocketman768]

Pre-mixed and milled grains from a kit

No, he means the vessel that you are doing this in.

 

[STLExpat]

No, he means the vessel that you are doing this in.

Ugh, not enough caffeine in my system for my brain to function. I've been using a big stainless steel pot, holds at least three gallons of whatever. Looking back I'm thinking it may be too big for the job at hand so next time I'm switching to a smaller stockpot for mashing and using the big pot for the wort boil.

 

[tchfunkta]

I would imagine a stainless pot would lose heat pretty quickly. I have a 10 gallon rubbermaid mash tun that holds to 1/2 a degree for an hour. Can you tell us more about your process? I personally don't have much experience with batches that small.

 

[Rivenin]

Biab on a stove loses temp quickly. Prolly more then 10* an hour. What you could do is prheat your oven to the lowest it will go. Warm is usually around 170. Once you mash in. Just stick it in the oven and turn it off and it should hold temps fairly nice

 

[tre9er]

If you can fit in the oven, try that. If not, wrap the snot out of it with blankets (I used to put a blanket in the sink, then the pot, then wrap it up in the blanket, so even the bottom was insulated).

Start a touch high next time and you'll even out in the middle for most of the mash. Consider getting a cheap cooler. Walmart has several for $20-$30 and some are quite large.

 

[boswell]

That is way to much worry for a night's worth of beers. Get a cooler and a basic kit with buckets at least. A cooler maintains temps, is easy to clean and with all the stress of homebrewing (is it infected, how long to wait, what's swmbo, did I use the right yeast), you want a few beers to share after waiting X (being whatever number you ascertain) number of days/weeks to drink your beer.

 

[StanJohnson]

Had a lot of trouble controlling the temps for a one gallon batch over the weekend. When adding the grain to the water the temp didn't drop and took an extra five minutes to get down to 150, and keeping it in the right range during the mashing process was tricky as well. Never thought to add extra water at the time to cool it off, and after reading the homebrew book my wife got me I'm starting to feel a little concerned.

I'm going to try something like this video. I'm doing a 2 gallon batch using a 3 gallon cooler and plan on adding a sparge step. Watch the video and you'll see how his temps drop throughout the mash. The guy is C-Rider, a member here. Enjoy.

 

[STLExpat]

Biab on a stove loses temp quickly. Prolly more then 10* an hour. What you could do is prheat your oven to the lowest it will go. Warm is usually around 170. Once you mash in. Just stick it in the oven and turn it off and it should hold temps fairly nice

doing this right now, so much easier than trying to do it on the stove top