Few Mashing Questions

[Slight]

Mashing with 3650 grams of grain.

I heated 9.1 litres of water to 75deg in order for it to even to 68.

I've used 3.5 litres of water extra over the past 30 minutes to keep the temperature stable. Will this be a problem? Can I just subtract the amount from my sparge water?

I've also had to stir up each addition of water to balance the temp through the grain. There's a fair bit of froth now on the top of the water. Is this also going to be a problem? Am I leeching tannins by stirring up the wort too much?

 

[Guest Lurker]

I'm no expert, but sounds like you want an answer now. Typical mash ratios are from a bit less than 2.5 l per kg up to a bit more than 3 l per kg. You started at 2.5 and are now at 3.4 so I imagine the enzymes arent going to be over diluted and the mash should be fine.

Froth is normal.

I think tannin extraction is more related to pH, if pH is Ok you can stir and squeeze as much as you like, wouldnt be concerned about stirring the mash. Doesnt it smell good?

Just reduce you sparge amount according to how much extra you added to the mash.

 

[Slight]

Cheers.

I was looking for a quick answer. =)

Hopefully I won't need to adjust the temp again.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Hmmm - 12.6L of mash water with 3.65Kg of grains...That's a ratio of 3.45L per kilo - that's fine and really, it depends on how soon into the mash you were adding the water. Much of the conversion is occurring in the first half hour or so of the mash.

As GL suggests, if your mash pH is not off the scale, you won't have big tannin issues - I would not go berserk thrashing up the mash - a gentle stirring action with the paddle or spoon deep into the grain bed will be fine - are you batch or fly sparging?
TL

 

[Guest Lurker]

As an esky masher, I claim that the variable temperature within the esky, and with time during the mash, adds a complexity to the malt profile in my beer, which can not be achieved with fancy temperature controlled systems. If you are more than say 30 mins into the mash I wouldnt be worried about a drop in temp.

 

[Slight]

I will be batch sparging with 6.17litres of 80-82 deg water to get to 75 for 30 minutes. Probably stirring after 15 minutes.

 

[Trough Lolly]

No probs - just keep an eye on the mashout temp as I try not to push the mash temp beyond 75C at that stage. Obviously, you'll lose some of the mash water to grain absorption and other losses in the deadspace of your mashtun etc. I keep some additional sparge water in the HLT just in case I need to sparge a bit more to hit pre-boil gravity and volume.

Have fun with the re-circulating and sparging!!

Cheers,
TL