Mashing In....and Out....what The?

[Screwtop]

If you use boiling water straight in the tun, you wont have to raise it to 78*c ....


You would be supprised at how little the grain bed temp raises with boiling water.

You are really only adding 3-4ltrs at a time which wont raise the temp dramaticlly. Thats why it is safe, and also acheives your mashout.

Take Stu's advice if batch sparging, fly sparging using water over 80C can result in tannin extraction due to the time (and PH) involved during sparging.

A tip when calculating boiling water additions to obtain step temps.....the temp of the water will drop quickly between the heat source and the tun, so (from my experience) use a temp of around 94C when calculating the volume of water required, then add that volume of boiling water, your targets should be pretty much spot on.

Screwy

 

[crozdog]

POK,

there is some good advice from the other guys.

This site http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/ has a simple description with pictures of a brewday. It will probably answer a lot of queries which tend to come up if you just read a "how to" manual.

That said, once you've worked out the process you'll use, jump in it's easy. Giving it a go will answer a heap of questions but also raise more :blink: - you'll learn a lot in the process.... don't forget safety, take notes, measure everything. don't drink till later. See if someone experienced can come over & lend a hand - there are some great brewers up your way.

beers, croz

 

[crundle]

POK,

there is some good advice from the other guys.

This site http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/ has a simple description with pictures of a brewday. It will probably answer a lot of queries which tend to come up if you just read a "how to" manual.

That said, once you've worked out the process you'll use, jump in it's easy. Giving it a go will answer a heap of questions but also raise more :blink: - you'll learn a lot in the process.... don't forget safety, take notes, measure everything. don't drink till later. See if someone experienced can come over & lend a hand - there are some great brewers up your way.

beers, croz

Thanks for the link to that site, plenty of information for the newbie AG'er. I am making the move to AG in the new year, and needed to see in one easy location, the equipment I am likely to need, and the basics of how to get my first AG underway.

Having said that, if anyone in Adelaide (preferably the South) is willing to allow me to watch an AG brewday sometime in January, it would be much appreciated. I think I am finally ready to make the move.

 

[buttersd70]

A tip when calculating boiling water additions to obtain step temps.....the temp of the water will drop quickly between the heat source and the tun, so (from my experience) use a temp of around 94C when calculating the volume of water required, then add that volume of boiling water, your targets should be pretty much spot on.

Agree with Screwtop here, 94-95C is also the temperature I assign to boiling water additions.

 

[Goofinder]

A tip when calculating boiling water additions to obtain step temps.....the temp of the water will drop quickly between the heat source and the tun, so (from my experience) use a temp of around 94C when calculating the volume of water required, then add that volume of boiling water, your targets should be pretty much spot on.

Ahh, so that's why I've been a few degrees down on my mash outs. Fiddling the numbers in Beersmith back to 94C comes out pretty close to what I've been actually getting.

 

[Tony M]

Hey pok... Dont let the scientists scare you off. All grain is easy. I have mashed anywhere between 61-69C with a water/grain ratio between 2.2 to 3, mashed between 40 - 90 minutes, sparged between 70 to 80C and boiled from 60 to 100 minutes. There are optimums for all stages depending on what you're cooking but although I've made some ordinary beers, the only times I have made a bad one is when I've either got slack with cleanliness and got an INFECTION or buggered up the bitterness calcs.
So, grab a simple recipe and go for it, you'll be an expert in no time. One thing, ferment cool. High ferment temps can undo what started out as a good beer.

 

[PostModern]

Hey pok... Dont let the scientists scare you off.

Good call. Brewing can be like a factory process, with measure this, weigh that, or like a kitchen, a bit of this, that's about an hour, etc. Either way can make good beer. Treat it how you're comfortable.

Sure temperatures are very important, but you don't need thermometers calibrated to 1/10 of a degree and whatnot. I measure my grain with a bucket, speciality grain with a pint glass, mineral additions with handfuls and pinches. However, I take a refractometer reading when the boil starts and use that to calculate my bittering hops which I weigh to within 0.1g.

Not a bad idea to have targets when you start out and learn what you need to do to hit them, but once you know your way around your brewery, stuff becomes habit rather than work, a lot like the way Nanna made her pasta sauce.

My tip: stir the water in the HLT when you measure its temperature.