Hi Everyone,
I'll try to keep this short and to the point.
I mash in a 10 gallon Igloo cooler. Temperature in the cooler drops at a rate of approx 1-1.5 degrees an hour depending on mash volume. I have found that mashing between 90-120 minutes will typically guarantee hitting my target OG.
Preface and question:
It is my understanding that most conversion happens within the first 20-30 minutes of a mash. A lower mash temp will equal a lower FG, higher mash temp will equal a higher FG, due to the sugars in the grains being broken down into chemical chains of different lengths. Yeast breaks down certain sugar chains to alcohol better than others.
With all of that lets say that one day I want to leave the house for 3-4 hours while mashing. My target mash temp is 155. My temp after returning home prior to mashout is about 152.5 due to heat loss from the cooler (a 2.5 degree difference from my target).
Since I started the mash at 155 degrees and after about 30 minutes the temp would still be very close to that, are the sugars that have already been converted at that temp still capable of more conversion at lower temps past the 30 minute point? In other words, does it matter what my initial temp was for the first 30 minutes if after 4 hours the temp has dropped considerably? After sugars are converted at a higher temp, will they continue to be converted as the temp drops? Should I expect my FG to be on the target of a 155 degree mash or a 152.5 degree mash? If I need to leave for a considerable amount of time while mashing should I compensate for heat loss with a higher strike temp?
Hopefully I worded this correctly.
Thanks!
I'll try to keep this short and to the point.
I mash in a 10 gallon Igloo cooler. Temperature in the cooler drops at a rate of approx 1-1.5 degrees an hour depending on mash volume. I have found that mashing between 90-120 minutes will typically guarantee hitting my target OG.
Preface and question:
It is my understanding that most conversion happens within the first 20-30 minutes of a mash. A lower mash temp will equal a lower FG, higher mash temp will equal a higher FG, due to the sugars in the grains being broken down into chemical chains of different lengths. Yeast breaks down certain sugar chains to alcohol better than others.
With all of that lets say that one day I want to leave the house for 3-4 hours while mashing. My target mash temp is 155. My temp after returning home prior to mashout is about 152.5 due to heat loss from the cooler (a 2.5 degree difference from my target).
Since I started the mash at 155 degrees and after about 30 minutes the temp would still be very close to that, are the sugars that have already been converted at that temp still capable of more conversion at lower temps past the 30 minute point? In other words, does it matter what my initial temp was for the first 30 minutes if after 4 hours the temp has dropped considerably? After sugars are converted at a higher temp, will they continue to be converted as the temp drops? Should I expect my FG to be on the target of a 155 degree mash or a 152.5 degree mash? If I need to leave for a considerable amount of time while mashing should I compensate for heat loss with a higher strike temp?
Hopefully I worded this correctly.
Thanks!