So I was brewing my IPA recipe yesterday and didn't hit my mash temp based on Beersmith's strike water temp. I was at about 140, when I wanted to be at ~154. I added about 1.5 liters of boiling water to up the temp, and I hit my target, but then when I measured the gravity, I dropped a ton. Target gravity was 1.068 and I was at 1.051. Any idea how I can hit my mash temp when I'm low without losing body/gravity?
Gradually, but promptly add hot liquid while stirring vigorously to prevent denaturing of enzymes. Only brewing numerous batches will allow you to properly gauge strike temp in conjunction with your brewing software. You might want to look at your "equipment profile"/defaults) cheers
Reduce the amount of sparge water, or boil longer to bring the gravity down where you wanted it. Or direct fire your mash in a kettle.
I think the question should be, "How do you hit your mash temp with the initial infusion". What temp was your initial strike water? What was your grain temp? I am assuming you used a cooler. If so, did you preheat the cooler?
I didn't preheat the cooler, so I think that was my main mistake. The initial strike water was 168~ and my grain temp was 140~.
Hmmm, 14 degrees between your strike water and target temp should have been enough to get you close to 154. What was your grain temp?
After adding strike water and mixing grain and waiting a few minutes, I measured the grain temp at 140~.
What was the grain temp before adding your strike water? If stored inside it's usually close to room temp.
How many all grain batches have you done? It takes a few batches to dial in the right parameters for beersmith. Once you do, anomalous batches don't happen if your grain crush and mash pH are proper.
This is about my 4th all grain batch. I will look in to my thermometer calibrations and the strike water amount. Thanks!
Lots of other potential issues besides blaming the quick addition of boiling water to hit your temp. Thermometer calibration, grain crush, mash ph, etc. Pay close attention to details next go around to dial in if you have a problem again.
What I do is fill my mash tun half way with the hottest water I can get from my tap. I let it sit with while I heat my strike water.
Agreed. I am not sure the temp situation in itself, would cause low efficiency, unless the final rest was vert short.
In cold weather my strike water needs to be about 20° hotter than target mash temperature on a typical recipe. There are all kinds of temperature losses to account for, including mash tun temperature, grain temperature, and ambient air temperature while you are mashing in.
Thanks for the advice. It was quite cold and I did not heat my mash tun at all so I'm sure that's why the strike water didn't particularly do it's job.
Yeah, I usually mash thick initially and then see if I am adding hot, warm, or cold water to get to target mash thickness and temperature. I brew outdoors from freezing weather all the way up to the 90s in the summer, and I see significant adjustments depending on the weather.
