Fisrst All Grain - Strike Temp too low?

[niall]

I'm moving to the dark side with my first all grain brew at the moment. I've mashed 5.5KG of grain with 13 litres of water, added the grain to 74C strike water hoping to hit 65-67C. It's come out at under 63. I added a kettle of boiling water which has brought it up to 63.5 - I'm out of space in the coolbox (25L) so I can't add anymore - should I worry or just mash for longer? e.g. 90 minutes, longer?.

I've got the following grain bill:

2 KG Pale Malt
2 KG Lager Malt (only had 2KG of Pale left)
750g Crystal
250g Munich
500g Flaiked Maize

[Andy]

Hmmm, strike temp seems OK, had you preheated the mash tun ?

[tubby_shaw]

I wouldn't worry anywhere between 62 and 67 C will give adequate results
The often quoted 65C is the "optimum" temperature for the enzymes to work together.
You will still get conversion at 63.5C and the beer will be fine
IMO your first couple of brews should be more about getting used to the technique and equipment rather than getting hung up on everything being perfect.
Never forget that good beer was produced before the invention of thermometers and hydrometers
Above all else enjoy your brewing day

[niall]

Hmmm, strike temp seems OK, had you preheated the mash tun ?

I chucked a couple of kettle fulls of boiling water into the coolbox but I probably did it only 5 minutes before hand, maybe I should have left it for longer.

I wouldn't worry anywhere between 62 and 67 C will give adequate results

Now that's what I wanted to hear

[tubby_shaw]

Just as a point of interest where was your grain stored?
If it was stored in an unheated outhouse/garage then your grain would have been at a lower temp than the 20C needed to hit 65C with a strike heat of 74C.
If your grain was closer to 10C then you would have needed a strike heat of 77C

[SteveD]

I added a kettle of boiling water which has brought it up to 63.5 -

You probably didn't stir it in enough, and measured a cool spot. A kettle full of boiling water would have put on much more than 0.5c. in 25L. You've got to stir throroughly after such additions. Therefore my feeling is that overall, your mash temp is fine. Don't sweat it. The mash is very resilient, and is in fact a doddle once you've done it a few times. You've got to really screw it up for the mash to fail, and believe it or not, that's hard to do!

[steve_flack]

Don't worry about the mash temp. It may come out a little drier than you intended but it will still make beer. My first brew on my new brewery came out at 60-62C and the beer's still fine.

[niall]

Um... next question: I was using my boiler to heat the sparge water to 70. I heated it 73, ran it into a plastic barrel to hold while I ran the first runnings into my now empty boiler. By the time I was running the sparge water it has dropped to low 60s. Is this critical?

[tubby_shaw]

Sparge water should be falling onto the grains at 75C or so in an ideal world.
This is to stop the enzymes and to liquify the sugars to assist run off.
Basically once again don't panic it'll be fine
Turn the heat on on your boiler as soon as you can to halt the enzymes(if it's electric make sure that the element is well covered) you will I am afraid suffer a small loss of extract, BUT you will still get great beer

[niall]

Thanks Tubby,

Should I boil the wort vigorously to evaporate some of the lower gravity wort and add more sparge water at 75 to the grains? Maybe adding this to the wort at 75 might increase extraction? Or should I relax etc.?

[ColinKeb]

my mash temp swings wildly from "way to cold" to "jesus its going to catch fire!" and ive always produced alcohol at the end of it, my thermometer doesnt even work properly now! i wouldnt worry too much about it mate just have a go

[niall]

I must say this is fun, even the balls ups are enjoyable. Will let you know how it all turns out. My initial target was an ESB , could end up as a mid strength bitter the way things are going but I'll enjoy nevertheless. Thanks for all the tips and encouragement

[SteveD]

It will be fine, don't worry. You're enjoying it because what you're doing is something which goes to the very core of human existence, and was the reason civilisation happened.........making beer.

[niall]

Just to let you all know that the OG ended up at 1.056 - I was aiming for 1.051, expecting my efficiency to be rubbish so despite my temperature troubles I got a higher gravity than expected. It might be an ESB after all

I missed some of the middle posts yesterday regarding the grain temp. It was 17.5 and I worked out the strike temp from Beertools. I probably didn't preheat the cooler for long enough. It's great to have the first AG underway and here's to many more. It took all bloody day but I expect that will improve as I get more used to it.

The recipe was:



Size: 20.2 L
Efficiency: 67.0%
Attenuation: 71%

Original Gravity: 1.056 (1.048 - 1.060)
|==================#=============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 - 1.016)
|========================#=======|
Color: 29.1 (6.00 - 18.00)
|===================#============|
Alcohol: 5.2% (4.60% - 6.20%)
|==============#=================|
Bitterness: 35.05 (30.00 - 50.00)
|============#===================|

Ingredients:
2 kg English 2-row Lager
2 kg English 2-row Pale
0.75 kg British Crystal 55°L
0.25 kg Munich Malt
0.50 kg Corn Flaked
30 g Challenger (7.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
20 g Willamette (5.6%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
20 g Brambling Cross (5.6%) - added during boil, boiled 1 min
8.45 fl oz WYeast 1318 London Ale III

You're enjoying it because what you're doing is something which goes to the very core of human existence, and was the reason civilisation happened.........making beer.

Amen to that

[Reg]

I'm moving to the dark side with my first all grain brew at the moment. I've mashed 5.5KG of grain with 13 litres of water, added the grain to 74C strike water hoping to hit 65-67C. It's come out at under 63. I added a kettle of boiling water which has brought it up to 63.5 - I'm out of space in the coolbox (25L) so I can't add anymore - should I worry or just mash for longer? e.g. 90 minutes, longer?.

I've got the following grain bill:

2 KG Pale Malt
2 KG Lager Malt (only had 2KG of Pale left)
750g Crystal
250g Munich
500g Flaiked Maize

Well I don't know where you've gone wrong, the liquor start temperature sounds fine. You can, of course, stick your grains in a hessian sack next to your immersion tank or boiler, (if you have an older warm and inefficent system), for half an hour before the strike, particularly if you have just bought them in from a cold environment. However, this is merely another form of temperature compensation...