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Mash temperature


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#1 djinkc

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 07:45 AM

Mashed in a bit ago and decided to look up some notes.  I haven't checked mash in temperatures since 2017.  Didn't today either.



#2 Big Nake

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 07:55 AM

Doesn't seem like it matters much anymore but I do use a Thermapen each session. Old habits, apparently.

#3 HVB

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 08:07 AM

I check and plan for a temp but from my experience it doesn't really matter.

#4 jayb151

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 12:02 PM

Wow, this thread goes against everything I've ever known about brewing.

 

you really don't check? do you check conversion after mashing?



#5 positiveContact

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 12:15 PM

I check but I agree that if I'm in the 150-155F range it doesn't seem to make much difference.



#6 Bklmt2000

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 12:27 PM

I check at mash-in, and I'm usually in the 148-150 range, and the temp is usually still rising slightly (I use a glass lab thermo for the mash tun).

 

Since I usually lose a couple of degrees during the mash, I figure I'm good if I start out a degree or 2 higher at the beginning.



#7 Genesee Ted

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 01:55 PM

There has to be some research data on this, no?

I check but I agree that if I'm in the 150-155F range it doesn't seem to make much difference.

And that would make sense by the conventional thinking. That range is entirely in the alpha amylase range. The real question is does it make a difference if you are at 145 vs 155.

#8 HVB

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 02:29 PM

I did a Czech Pale Lager at 160 and it finished at 1.012 and if I didn't know better I would have expected it to have been mashed at 150ish.

#9 neddles

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 02:42 PM

We need to establish which difference we are asking it to make.

Difference in final gravity/fermentability?
Difference to tasters?
Difference in original gravity/conversion efficiency?
Difference in body?

Edited by neddles, 09 June 2018 - 02:43 PM.


#10 djinkc

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 04:10 PM

Wow, this thread goes against everything I've ever known about brewing.

 

you really don't check? do you check conversion after mashing?

 

I have my system pretty well dialed in.  It's seldom off more that a couple degrees of what I anticipated.  But I just forgot to check a few times and blew it off more.  In the last few years it's usually been close enough for me when I did check.  Conversion - once in a while if I'm converting some unmalted adjuncts.  I still have the same little bottle of iodine from 2004 and it's still pretty full.  I use mostly American Malts and Denny pointed out a few years ago that their diastatic power is much higher than it was in the past.

 

That said I should probably get back in the habit of checking.  I have plenty of thermometers and it's a simple thing to help making better beer.  And I'll probably forget again next batch.........



#11 Mike Green

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Posted 09 June 2018 - 07:45 PM

I only check so I can double check the software. I used to freak out about mash temps but once I got an accurate thermometer (thermapen) I don't sweat it anymore.



#12 positiveContact

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 03:11 AM

There has to be some research data on this, no?
And that would make sense by the conventional thinking. That range is entirely in the alpha amylase range. The real question is does it make a difference if you are at 145 vs 155.

 

the temp range of enzymatic activity was never really something I looked into or cared about since performing a step mash would have been such a PITA with my setup.

 

eta:  I have tried to do step mashes before but it always seemed to take more boiling water than expected to step the temp up and I never could tell much of a difference in the final product.


Edited by pickle_rick, 10 June 2018 - 03:13 AM.


#13 denny

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 09:17 AM

I did a Czech Pale Lager at 160 and it finished at 1.012 and if I didn't know better I would have expected it to have been mashed at 150ish.

 

I just mashed my American mild at 165.  It went from 1.049 to 1.006.




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