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Mashing Question...Doing 1st A.G. Batch Sunday

mhenry41h

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  I am using a converted 5 Gallon Igloo Cooler mash tun.  I was hoping to pick somebody's brain on the best way to hit my mash temp.  Im gunning for 153 degrees.  This is how I was planning on doing it:

  - Heat my strike water to roughly 10 degree above target mash temp
  - Put water in mash tun
  -Add Grains
  -Allow mash to cool to 153 and seal lid

  Is this the best way to nail my temp or does somebody have a better method for using this same setup?  Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Brewsmith will actual calculate a strike temp for you based on the weight and temp of the grains.  I'm at work and don't have access to my copy of Brewsmith but I believe it is under tools and is listed as Strike Temp Calc or something like that I'm sure someone who has access to Brewsmith at the moment will chime in with exactly where to find it in the software).  I use this calculator every batch and rarely do I need to adjust my mash temp when following its recommendation.  One very important step, regardless of how you approach this, is to make sure you are using an accurate calibrated thermometer.

Hope this helps,

Scott
 
Like glastctbrewer said.  FInd the beersmith tool to calculate the strike water temp. 

I preheat my cooler using mash temp water not strike water.  Not sure how much it matters over putting in the strike water but that seems to be good my my system and not going over my target.  I drain the water back to the hot liquor tank and add my grain.  I add the calculated strike water back in and mix well.  I feel like adding the water to the grain is better than grain to water. 

There are a couple ways to calculate the strike water temp.  John plamer uses this formula

Initial Infusion Equation:
Strike Water Temperature Tw = (.2/r)(T2 - T1) + T2

Mash Infusion Equation:
Wa = (T2 - T1)(.2G + Wm)/(Tw - T2)

where:
r = The ratio of water to grain in quarts per pound.
Wa = The amount of boiling water added (in quarts).
Wm = The total amount of water in the mash (in quarts).
T1 = The initial temperature (¡F) of the mash.
T2 = The target temperature (¡F) of the mash.
Tw = The actual temperature (¡F) of the infusion water.
G = The amount of grain in the mash (in pounds).


My web tools calculator uses this formula


((((GRB*.05)+MASHV*1)*MT)-((GRB*.05)*GT))/MASHV*1

GRB=Grain Bill
GT=Grain Temp
MT=Target Mash Temp
MR=Math Thickness Ratio
MASHV = (GRB*MR)

 
Thanks for the help.  My biggest concern is the actual process.  Is the preferred method to all ow my mash to cool to my target temp and then seal everything up or should I seal up the mash tun at a few degrees above target?
 
I'm no expert, but I had to get through a few batches until I started hitting target temps.
1) Use more than one thermometer until you are confident with the accuracy. I was dead on and thought I was way off --I bought an expensive thermometer just for the mash tun and it was way off. Now I use several kinds and take readings at several locations.
2) I always boil a gallon of water and preheat the mash tun while the strike water is starting to heat up.
3) You may have to add boiling water to bring up a low temp --or-- have a gallon og spring water in the fridge to bring it down. After the fourth batch you should be hitting it right on. After the fifth batch you worry less about hitting it right on LOL
 
As you get the feel of your mash tun; you may, or may not, want to seal it up a few degrees above the temp. Since most of the action happens within the first 20 minutes, I would lean toward starting with your target temp. With my mash tun, I have also noticed a lag-time until everything equalizes and the temperature stabilizes.
Just a thought: Steve, the owner of Mr. Steve's Brew Supply, in York, told me he has been brewing for over twenty years with lots of good beer. His method is to simply heat his strike water to 173 mash in, close the lid, and start lautering in an hour. No thermometers. No worries about temps. Now I'm not that brave, but he claims this method has had no major failures in 20 years.
 
I used the beersmith calculations but actually needed to up the suggested temp by 15 degrees and I hit my number right on.  So if they say 169 I would go 184
 
Big B said:
I used the beersmith calculations but actually needed to up the suggested temp by 15 degrees and I hit my number right on.  So if they say 169 I would go 184
Exactly, once you know where the temp sets for your equipment you know what to add/subtract with beersmith.
 
There are some basics of thermal dynamic physics that will determine a very close strike water temperature calculation assuming the inputs are correct. 

The smaller the range of degrees a thermometer has the more accurate it is.  Find on with a narrow range from say 120 to 180 and it will be reliable.

Mash temp affects the beer.  If you are pretty flexible with body, sweetness, balance of flavors, then mash temp is a general guideline and anywhere between 146 and 158 is OK.  The beers are wildly different at the ends of the spectrum.

Mash conversion works by enzymes convert starched to sugars.  The amylase enzymes denature at different temperatures which produce the different sugars in the wort. You want to avoid starting above 158 and letting it cold down on its own.  Since you want to be at 153 for a specific reason, you should really take effort to hit that target and have a better chance at making the beer you want.
 
All excellent advice - we have found by "tuning" our equipment in BeerSmith, we hit our mash temp easily each time. We're using a converted 5 gal round Igloo with a circular braid. We don't use the tool in the tool bar. We just use the data in Our Equipment and the Mash Profile. We don't pre-heat as this just added another step and confuses the result.  ???

Our equipment parameters are for just a 5 gal Igloo, weight is 4.0 lbs, material is plastic, specific heat is .300.  Our tun actually weighs 5.25 lbs. This is the parameter we tweaked down to 4.0 lbs and gives us a very accurate and repeatable result without pre heating and no additional math needed. The other step that makes this work is taking an actual measurement of the grain temp and tun temp and recording them in the Mash Profile Details box just before striking.

Don't make it more complicated than it has to be. Let BeerSmith do the work, you just have to give it accurate data!  ;D

Good Luck

Preston
 
Pirate: Are you saying that getting the equipment profile just right is the trick? I need to revisit my mash tun weight and play with that. It is kinda silly for me to go through the extra step of preheating and adding to the beersmith numbers. Just adjust the equipment profile to get exact numbers. So simple I'm embarrassed.
 
Yep !  :D  But don't feel bad. We did the preheat thing and on and on, page after page of external notes. I'm glad we did the notes. We spent allot of time looking at our notes and BeerSmith until it hit us how simple it can be.

Now any time someone posts a recipe, if its in beersmith.bsm, we load it and look at the details in the Equipment section. Usually everything is at the defaults. We also look at Efficiency to see if they record actuals, and Mash Profile Details to see if they are using actual temps.  We're always surprised how many use the defaults and then use external math to compensate. We don't dispute that it works and gives good results, we just like to keep every thing recorded so if we do accidentally make a good brew, we can repeat the accident  ;D

So attached is a brew we did yesterday. You can look through the details and see where we have tuned and recorded. At the bottom you can see how we keep notes. Its all in one place in the recipe. Like I said .... easy to look back on, easy to share, just in case we screw up and make a good one..... ;)

You will do fine,

Preston

 

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  • 88 - Toasted Blond.bsm
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Thanks for all of the advice guys.  All and all, things worked out ok.  It definitely didn't go according to plan, but it could have been worse.  I hit my temps pretty well.  As soon as I stirred in my grain, the temp was ready to seal up.  I opened and stirred at 30 minutes (quickly) and the temp had only dropped 1 degree.  At 1 hour, I had lost 3 degrees.  Seems decent to me.  Hiccup #1 was at sparge time.  I decided to batch sparge, but I couldnt fit all of the water called for in the tun so I ended up doing 2 batch sparges for my desired boil level.  At boiling I had 1 boil over but it wasnt bad.  However, the freezing cold and dry PA day led to the unforseen evaporation of too much wort.  I ended up with just over 4 gallons at 1.072 OG when my target was 1.052!  I boiled a gallon and racked it in for just over 5 gallons with and adjusted OG of 1.059.  Its looks and smells great and I thought it tasted very nice.  I guess I didnt really make the exact brew I had in mind...but if it is tasty...
 
Congrats on your 1st AG!!! Sounds like a great brew day! All that counts is that you had fun and the beer tastes good. I suppose it is happily bubbling away right now. (Trade you a bottle or two?)
Learning note: My brewday had a huge delay. I forgot to drain my garden hose the last time I washed out the kegs. All ready to start heating strike water and DOH! Frozen hose needed thawed! Live and learn.
 
Ziggybrew said:
Congrats on your 1st AG!!! Sounds like a great brew day! All that counts is that you had fun and the beer tastes good. I suppose it is happily bubbling away right now. (Trade you a bottle or two?)
Learning note: My brewday had a huge delay. I forgot to drain my garden hose the last time I washed out the kegs. All ready to start heating strike water and DOH! Frozen hose needed thawed! Live and learn.

  Heck yeah we can do a swap!  I made a starter and had bubbling within 2 hours.  When I got home from work yesterday, There was about an inch of krausen and the airlock was furiously bubbling.  I expected krausen up to the airlock but it hasn't gotten there yet.  I did have a blast!  Of course, I had planned and studied forever so that it went smooth but it quickly became clear that no amount of reading and listening can fully prepare you for the hands on experience.  All and all, I must have spent 11 hours from start to clean up.  WAY TOO LONG!  I have the feeling that lessons learned will make the next brew quicker.  Oh Zig, I have two choices for my next batch.  I have decided to make either an Irish Red or a Pale Ale.  I'm working on both recipes and I'm a tad more excited for the potential of the Irish Red.  Besides, St Patty's day is right around the corner!
 
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