1st Ag...mash Time And Beersmith Settings

[pokolbinguy]

G'day guys,

So I'm setting up BeerSmith for my 1st AG....hoping to do it this afternoon so just making sure I have everything set right so when Beersmith spits out the brewsheet it is all nice and logical....

So I have the few last simple Q's...

1. Mash time....should I aim to mash for 90 Mins???

2. In beersmith should I set the mash profile to "Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge" if I just plan on batch sparging?? and change the "step time" to 90 mins instead of the default 45 mins? or should I set to another profile....I realise this is not that important but would like the brew sheet to reflect what I am trying to do....just incase all goes crazy atleast I can refer back to the sheet to know where I'm up to.




So at the moment this is my plan:

1. Heat HLT and pre-heat mash tun, organise grain and hops while heating.
2. Mash in at 77deg
3. Hold mash at 70 deg for 90 mins
4. batch sparge with 76deg water till wort runs clear
5. Add water to reach boil volume (in my case approx 26L...or what ever covers the element nicely...nothing wrong with a bit of bucket chemistry)
6. Boil - add hops at appropriate hop schedule (I'm going to use hopsock...hopefully this will allow kettle to drain nicely...I don't have a hop stopper at the moment)
7. add whirfloc tablet at 10min to go (what should I do here??? add into hopsock???)
8. finish boil
9. wort into no chill cube.


Other than that anything else I should be doing??

Thanks for all the help so far guys.....about time I get this AG setup going.

Pok

 

[Supra-Jim]

What are you brewing?

I'm no AG expert (currently researching and accumulating for my first AG in January) but your mash temp, 70degC) seems a little high and you may end up with a less fermentable wort.

Happy to be corrected on this point.

 

[Steve]

G'day guys,

So I'm setting up BeerSmith for my 1st AG....hoping to do it this afternoon so just making sure I have everything set right so when Beersmith spits out the brewsheet it is all nice and logical....

So I have the few last simple Q's...

1. Mash time....should I aim to mash for 90 Mins???

2. In beersmith should I set the mash profile to "Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge" if I just plan on batch sparging?? and change the "step time" to 90 mins instead of the default 45 mins? or should I set to another profile....I realise this is not that important but would like the brew sheet to reflect what I am trying to do....just incase all goes crazy atleast I can refer back to the sheet to know where I'm up to.




So at the moment this is my plan:

1. Heat HLT and pre-heat mash tun, organise grain and hops while heating.
2. Mash in at 77deg
3. Hold mash at 70 deg for 90 mins
4. batch sparge with 76deg water till wort runs clear
5. Add water to reach boil volume (in my case approx 26L...or what ever covers the element nicely...nothing wrong with a bit of bucket chemistry)
6. Boil - add hops at appropriate hop schedule (I'm going to use hopsock...hopefully this will allow kettle to drain nicely...I don't have a hop stopper at the moment)
7. add whirfloc tablet at 10min to go (what should I do here??? add into hopsock???)
8. finish boil
9. wort into no chill cube.


Other than that anything else I should be doing??

Thanks for all the help so far guys.....about time I get this AG setup going.

Pok

Cant help with the beersmith part as I dont use it. Your plan sounds good though what are you brewing to mash at 70? Thats high. With the whirlfloc just chuck it in the kettle. Have fun!
Cheers
Steve

 

[pokolbinguy]

Ok sorry should have checked recipe....was going of the top of my head.

I'm going to do DrSmurto's golden ale.

Recipe says Mash in at 66 deg and mash out at 78.....if I am not mashing out should I just ignore that??

So should I do as Beersmith suggests and mash in at approx 73 deg....which should get me to a 66deg mash?


Cheers, Pok

 

[gap]

I would recommend doing a mashout.
Can make sparging easier.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Someone with more experience (read actual experience) can probably clarify this, but i think you want to hold your mash at 66deg for 90mins, and your strike water (the water added to the grains) needs to be slightly higher than this 70-73deg, so when mixed with the grain at 18-20deg the whole equalises at 66deg. How To Brew has the calcs for this, but i'm sure Beersmith can also perform them.

Then mash out, you add more hot water at around 80-82 to raise the temp of the grain bed to 78deg.

Apologies if i'm just repeating what you've already figured out.

Cheers

SJ

 

[pokolbinguy]

I would recommend doing a mashout.
Can make sparging easier.

How should i go about that? Should I use my sparge water to heat to the desired 78 deg in the recipe??

 

[drsmurto]

Pok, check out the beersmith file for the golden ale recipe here

It is setup for my equipment but the general settings including volumes, water temps, mash temps, times etc are all there for you to see and then adjust to fit your volume/system.

A 70% efficiency is a good start IMO.

 

[Steve]

So should I do as Beersmith suggests and mash in at approx 73 deg....which should get me to a 66deg mash?

Depends on your system. In summer I lose 6 degrees when transferring the water to the mashtun and in winter I lose about 10-12. Go for 73 and have a kitchen kettle of boiling water handy in case you lose too much. You can then add the water to get the temp back up if need be. I dont bother with mash outs.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Pok

60 minute mash will be enough

I'm not sure what you mean by 4. batch sparge with 76deg water till wort runs clear

But essentially what you need to do is

- after the 60 mins give the mash a stir
- drain off a few litres until the wort is running clear
- return this wort to the mash tun
- drain the mash tun into your kettle
- add your hot sparge water (i find i need it at 95*C+ to get to sparge temps in the mash tun)
- stir
- drain off a few more litres until the wort is running clear
- return this wort to the mash tun
- drain the mash tun into your kettle
- start boil

whirlfloc is generally added between 5-10 mins to go in the boil - straight into the kettle

Post what beersmith spits out so it can be reviewed

Cheers

 

[Swinging Beef]

1. Mash time....should I aim to mash for 90 Mins???

That is quite long. 45 will do it, and 60 is more the norm.


2. In beersmith should I set the mash profile to "Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge" if I just plan on batch sparging?? and change the "step time" to 90 mins instead of the default 45 mins? or should I set to another profile....I realise this is not that important but would like the brew sheet to reflect what I am trying to do....just incase all goes crazy atleast I can refer back to the sheet to know where I'm up to.

You probably want light or med body, unless its a sweet stout or high malty beer. So add your water at 75 deg and mash at around 64 - 68.




So at the moment this is my plan:

1. Heat HLT and pre-heat mash tun, organise grain and hops while heating.
YEP
2. Mash in at 77deg
SURE
3. Hold mash at 70 deg for 90 mins
More like 64 for 45 or 60, but 70deg for 90 will get you a result.
4. batch sparge with 76deg water till wort runs clear
it wont run clear like water for ages. You just sparge till you have the volume you want.
5. Add water to reach boil volume (in my case approx 26L...or what ever covers the element nicely...nothing wrong with a bit of bucket chemistry)
Add wort to reach boil volume. You shouldnt need any more water.
6. Boil - add hops at appropriate hop schedule (I'm going to use hopsock...hopefully this will allow kettle to drain nicely...I don't have a hop stopper at the moment)
Sound good.
7. add whirfloc tablet at 10min to go (what should I do here??? add into hopsock???)
also good.. just throw it in.. no need for a sock, its gonna disolve like an alkaselser anyway.
8. finish boil
good idea
After you have done your hop additions and boil time.
Shut off the heat.
Whirlpool like mad to help other material drop to the centre of your kettle.
9. wort into no STERILISED chill cube.
Kick him over to pasturise the lid, which is the most likely source of boogers getting in at this stage.


Other than that anything else I should be doing??
Kickin back and enjoying the process.
Good luck, mate.
You should be fine.

 

[muckey]

Ok sorry should have checked recipe....was going of the top of my head.

I'm going to do DrSmurto's golden ale.

Recipe says Mash in at 66 deg and mash out at 78.....if I am not mashing out should I just ignore that??

So should I do as Beersmith suggests and mash in at approx 73 deg....which should get me to a 66deg mash?


Cheers, Pok

when I mashe DSGA I think my mash in water was around 75 degrees ( was brewing outdoors) and by the time you stir the grain and the temp evens out you should be around 66 degrees.

If you aren't going to add a mash out - you'll probably want to make sure that the mash out water volume to your sparge so that your finakl boil volume isnt short.

1 thing that butters taught me
- mix the run off ant take a sample to measure the grav and hence mash efficiency so you can adjust the hopping in beersmith if your efficiency is way higher or lower than expected

mind you, there are others far smarter with this than me

 

[pokolbinguy]

Ok,

Attached is a txt file and also a beersmith version of my planned recipe.

I have increased the incredients by 20% to allow for the 20% increase in final wort volume.

Any feedback would be great.

Cheers, Pok

Text File Version - View attachment Golden_ale___24L.txt

BeerSmith Version - View attachment golden_ale_24L.bsm



P.S Im pretty sure with the Beersmith brewsheet I should be able to do all of this fairly easily....all pretty straight forward.

 

[crozdog]

POK,
looking good. like others have said, 60 min mash @ mid 60's is what you need. lower temp = thinner + higher alcohol whereas higher mash temp = more rich complex dextrins. To me 70 is too high.

I recommend a mash out - it can improve efficviency & makes runoff easier.

For a simple mash / mashout / sparge process this is what I do:
1. mash in with half final post boil volume
2. mash out with all losses ie tun deadspace, grain absorption, kettle deadspace (inc trub) plus evaporation. (This step assumes you have sufficient head space in your tun to mash out). Stir well & let sit for 10 mins
3. verlouf then drain to kettle once running without chunks
4. add sparge water which has a volume of half the final post boil volume, stir well & let sit for 10 mins
5. verlouf then drain to kettle once running without chunks

As it's your first run on your rig, you might want to add a bit more sparge seing as you don't know how your rig works ie you don't know the evap rate etc.

I always get 75+% efficiency doing this & it means I don't have to constantly refer to a brewsheet / laptop whilst I brew.

Don't forget to record temps & volumes along the way. Also the preboil gravity will be lower than your post boil gravity - I forgot about the concentrating effects of evaporating water so I was a bit confused when i did my 1st brew B)

 

[Screwtop]

Sure your cooler mash tun is only 23L capacity? Also what volume is your Kettle (Wine Keg)?

Screwy

 

[pokolbinguy]

To be honest not sure what volume the boiler or tun will take. I haven't really measured them

All I know is that it takes approx 23-24L to cover the thermometer in the mash tun and about the same to cover the element in kettle.

Does the volumes that they can hold matter?

Kettle would easily hold I guess about 80L while the mash tun would hold I guess 60L

 

[Swinging Beef]

Does the volumes that they can hold matter?

Knowing exactly how much of everything you are doing will allow you to replicate and understand your process better.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Knowing exactly how much of everything you are doing will allow you to replicate and understand your process better.

I understand that bit....but knowing how much I can physically squeeze in is irrelevant at this stage.

I am planning to end up with a final volume of 24L (thus the increase in ingredients etc in the recipe)....this is because 24L will safely cover the element in the kettle...if it was less the element may become exposed and burn out. The kettle could hold I guess 80L when full.

Mash tun would easily hold I guess 60L....but again irrelevant at this stage as I won't be mashing 60L.

Does this make sense now?

 

[Swinging Beef]

Does this make sense now?

Yeah, it does.
Look, mate.. Im guessing you have done a few extract brews already. You sound very informed, just inexperienced with AG.
Accept you will stuff up something, it probably wont matter, and you will learn from there.
You will still end up with beer.

 

[raven19]

Don't forget to record temps & volumes along the way.

+10.

And have fun!

And maybe dont crack the first beer until wort is draining into your cube.

And take measurements again!

Enjoy!