Whats a good mash temperature for doing an imperial stout?

[JasonToews]

Beersmith says add 170F water making the mash 158F. From what I've been reading on here is thats too high, apparently you get alot of unfermentables.
Any help would be much appreciated.


Cheers

Jason

Grain Bill


11.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 73.3 %
2.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 13.3 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.7 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6.7 %

Estimated Original Gravity: 1.078
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.020
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 7.6 %

 

[roadymi]

Sorry I'm a cider maker not a beer brewer so I don't have any help for you. I couldn't help notice your name though. My grandmother was a Toews from BC. She was old world mennonite. Just thought I'd give you a shout-out.

 

[jmick]

I would do 152.

 

[BryanJ]

Thats alot of roasted barley id take it down a half pound, mash at 153 or 152 for this type of beer.

 

[Mustangj]

I did my last one at 148.

 

[MBasile]

My equipment and process seems to be requiring a lower mash temp than the typical suggestions, and I'm finding 148-150 to be good for big beers, so maybe try 152ish? Worst case scenario is that it will be a sub par beer and you'll have to make more! What a shame that'd be! haha

 

[malvado78]

+1 for 152ish. Have a coffee stout in secondary right now mashed at 152. Started off with the Stone RIS clone recipe which called for a mash at 152. But it really depends on how you want it to dry out. The lower the mash the more unfermentables will remain and can make it finsh slight sweeter have more mouthfeel. IIRC.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I don't have my "How to Brew" on me.

 

[dedhedjed]

+1 for 152ish. Have a coffee stout in secondary right now mashed at 152. Started off with the Stone RIS clone recipe which called for a mash at 152. But it really depends on how you want it to dry out. The lower the mash the more unfermentables will remain and can make it finsh slight sweeter have more mouthfeel. IIRC.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I don't have my "How to Brew" on me.

The higher the mash temp the more dextrinous the wort will be- more unfermentables so more residual sweetness and body post fermentation. Lower mash temps result in a more fermentable wort...

 

[malvado78]

The higher the mash temp the more dextrinous the wort will be- more unfermentables so more residual sweetness and body post fermentation. Lower mash temps result in a more fermentable wort...

Thanks got it backwards. As I said don't have how to brew with me...

 

[coypoo]

Since your OG isnt that high (1078) I would think 152 would be fine. The alcohol you'll create wont cause much of a problem for the yeast. I'm going to make a RIS later this month with an OG of about 1095 and am going to mash at 150 to give the yeast some help.

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

I like to do all of my stouts and porters in the 154-156 range to help with the body/mouthfeel.

 

[elkdog]

For a 1.078 beer, I'd say 150-152. Your OG isn't so high that you need to make the most fermentable wort possible, but you also don't need to do anything to add mouthfeel; a 1.078 beer with no simple sugars added will have it.