Allowing for mash heat loss - Beersmith

[mkstalen]

I'm using Beersmith 1.4 currently.

On my new brew rig I'm losing approximately 4 degrees over a 60 minute mash, which is far from ideal.

Is there a way to allow for heat loss during the mash?

I was thinking about having a step at the 30 minute mark to bring the mash back up to temp, but this throws out all the calculations.
Ie. Start at 66, at 30 minutes in it's down to 64, add some water to bring it back to say 67, so at the end of 60 minutes it's at 65.

Or if I want to mash at 66, should I just start at 68 knowing I'll lose 4 degrees over 60 minutes and end the mash with 64?

How do other people deal with this?

 

[WarmBeer]

What are you mashing in?

I use a TechniIce esky, and lose about 0.5 degrees over an hour mash. The secret is to pre heat the esky with a couple of litres of boiling water 10 mins before starting the mash.

Can you add insulation or a lid to your MT? That will definitely help.

 

[slash22000]

How do other people deal with this?

I check the mash every 15 minutes, if it has dropped a significant amount, I turn on the element and stir until it hits mash temp again.

 

[JaseH]

Yeah I'd be inclined to prevent the heat loss before trying to compensate for it.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

If you are mashing in an esky cut a piece of polystyrene say 50mm thk to fit in the esky, or whatever you are using as a mash tun cover with al foil and put it on the top of your grain.As heat rises this should help.

 

[HBHB]

Best way to deal with it is to prevent it.

So you could:

Pre-heat if you're undershooting your mash in target

Insulate if the temp drops away too quickly

Do short, frequent adjustment to keep it on target

The whole thing with Mash temps is that they should always be on/very, very close to the target throughout the duration of the mash phase. Failure to do so will invariable affect the end result, which you'll want to have good control over. Only thing worse than not being able to replicate an excellent brew is the inability to avoid a repeat crap brew.

Best bet is rig some simple insulation to avoid that heat loss 4 Degrees is a pretty wild swing in the body of a beer.

Martin

 

[manticle]

As above. 4 degrees is a lot. Work out where it's coming from.

 

[mkstalen]

Sorry, should have had this in originally.

Mashing in a 36L cylindrical cooler, one of these - http://www.esbrewing.com.au/insulated-cooler-36litre.html

This time I was within 1deg of my mash in temp. Last time I pre-heated the tun and I overshot it by a lot and ended up in all sorts of trouble so don't want to do that again.

I think I opened it three times over 60 minutes to give it a stir...

Might need to try the 50mm polystyrene to sit directly on top of the mash.

 

[manticle]

Why do you need to stir it that many times?
Preheat, alfoil or styrafoam lid, wrap it in a blanket or cover with insulative foam.

Bet you cut your losses down to 1 - 0.5

 

[CosmicBertie]

Dont be afraid of making a change, then brewing and seeing the effect. Yes, you might end up with 3 or 4 batches where your temp hasnt been spot on, but you'll still make good beer.

Its the trial and error way of doing things and the way most of us start off brewing unless you've got a gagillion dollars to spend on top notch brewing equipment.

I found creating an internal 'lid' for more pot out of foil-wrapped cardboard and wrapping a sleeping bag around it help to keep my temps with 1 degree.

 

[mkstalen]

Thought stirring was the done thing. I'll now ditch that and add the foil/styra lid and see how I go on the next brew.

Thanks all.

 

[manticle]

Stir once when you dough in to hydrate/mix the grain then leave it alone.

 

[Tex083]

In Beersmith you can set a mash profile.
Start at 64 after 20min add X vol of y temp water
After 40min add X vol @ y temp
After 60 add X vol @ y temp - Could be hotter to give a mash out.
In the Mash profile its called infusion - in my HERMS I have it set to temp mash.

Its not ideal but may help. As others have said preheat you cooler, or go into equipment and set it to insulated cooler. This should help Beersmith calculate your strike temp. The program is good but you need to set it to your equipment otherwise its a bit random.

 

[MastersBrewery]

I have a similar set up ...but igloo, I think you will find like a lot of eskys the lid is hollow, and leaks heat like a bastard. Simple solution fill with expanding foam, available from the big green shed.
my 2c
Mike

 

[Pickaxe]

Expandable foam is a great idea. My willow early has a hollow lid, but I have no issues using a foil layer over the top of the mash. Might look at foam filler.
Thanks mike.