I've done a few partial mash recipes (not set up for all grain or even close to experienced enough) and had excellent success. Last week I made the mistake of doing two batches at once while cooking my week's worth of meals. Ultimately, I mashed the grain for a New Glarus Spotted Cow clone recipe at 159-164F instead of the suggested 154F due to my second (stove) burner fluctuating since my oven and primary burner were running. OG was 0.02 lower than expected but fermentation (slowing now) proceeded without a hitch and it smells/samples OK transferring it over to secondary. What can I expect later on, or what would happen if I mashed even a little hotter on accident?
You could expect a little higher FG, perhaps more body to the beer. If you got too hot you could denature the enzymes in the mash and pretty much stop it in it's tracks. Whatever you got was all you would get. Generally that wouldn't be the issues since it would take you time to get to that high of a temp, like 168.
If you miss your mash temps, you might convert fewer sugars and end up with a beer that has a higher FG than you expected. For the most part, these things can be pretty forgiving. With a Spotted Cow clone, perhaps the beer seems a little heavier than the original. I don't think flavor will be affected. I do not typically put a beer like this in a secondary, but I hope you checked the gravity before you did. The beer should be at terminal gravity before taking it off the primary yeast, in my opinion.
Lots of us who do all grain batches use boiling water in the process or preheat our mash tuns with water that starts out in the upper 160s. I don't think you'll notice a lot of off flavors unless you get up into simmering temps. It doesn't sound like you were too hot for too long. As said above, maybe a little less fermentable wort and maybe a little extra sweetness on the spotted cow.
Thanks all for the lesson! I wouldn't have generally used a secondary for this but I needed the primary bucket to put this Heady clone wort in. Honestly it was a perfect batch to screw up with, wife wanted me to make it for her and now she's pregnant so it's more or less a "throw away" that I'll keg up and see if it can get consumed in one night of softball Came out at 4.25% ABV and fermentation was stopped, only lasted probably 72 hours (my blowoff tube is under a beaker in a bucket to see if it's still going before I open up for a FG reading.)
Ha thanks! Just glad I can use the Surly onesie in my avatar again It IS the last week and we are 4-5 games up in the league...so no I doubt one will be enough
