I'm not having any luck with hitting my target mash temperatures. So I'm using mash calculators. The problem is, I have put the recipe into 3 different programs and got 3 different volumes and tempuratures. One is near 164F with 8.6g strike water. One is 8.05g at 162F. The other is 8.56g at 175F. Now I know for sure the last one is not going to get me anywhere close. Do you guys use software or a formula when getting your numbers right?
I use a spreadsheet. It's based on common formulae, which I think are in How To Brew... www.howtobrew.com ...plus an adjustment for mash tun heat absorption, which I determined by experimenting with my particular mash tun. Another thing... the volume of your strike water should depend on the thickness of the mash you want. Once you have determined that, then you figure out how hot that particular volume of water needs to be.
I have a spreadsheet that I made. It seems to work pretty well for me, but it's also dialed into my system. I can usually hit my target temperature or I'm off by a degree.
I used to use a spreadsheet which worked perfectly every time but then I switched over to the Beersmith gives me and am right on the mark as well.
Also, the thermal mass of the mash tun and your grain temperature will influence the heat loss once you dough in. Some online calculators don't expose those inputs. I've had good results by pre-heating the mash tun with hot tap water while the strike water is coming up to temp. Then dump it out before adding the strike water to the mash tun. Assuming your mash tun is pre-heated (zero thermal mass) and your grain is roughly room temp 68, then the following rough guidelines should get you to your target temp: 1 qt/lb thickness, +16 degrees; 1.25 qts/lb, +13 degrees; 1.5 qts/lb, +11 degrees. In general, I typically mash around 1.33 qts/lb and strike water +12 degrees.
