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all grain newby need some advice

  • Johnson
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10 years 7 months ago #889 by Johnson
all grain newby need some advice was created by Johnson
So i have decided to give all grain a go and I think i have pretty much all the gear i need, the only problem i have so far is i did a bit of test of my mash tun last night and it lost 6 degrees over 60 minutes and this was with preheating the tun and wrapping in a sleeping bag. I'm pretty sure most of the heat is coming out of the lid as it was pretty warm and so was the sleeping bag after the hour where as the sides were not hot. Im planning on brewing on friday if all goes well and I was thinking that this time I could probably wrap it up a bit more and was also considering adding some boiling water to get back up to temp at 30 minutes is this ok?

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10 years 7 months ago #890 by Johnson
Replied by Johnson on topic all grain newby need some advice
I was also considering chucking a couple of hot wheat packs on the lid before i wrap it is this worth doing? and by the way i am using a 55l willow esky

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10 years 7 months ago - 10 years 7 months ago #891 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
G'day! ok what are you using for a mash tun? But to answer yes you can add some extra water to heat the mash.
and just wanna ask how much grain or/and water did you use for the test, because the fuller it is the warmer it will stay
Last edit: 10 years 7 months ago by Gash.

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10 years 7 months ago #893 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
sorry mate didnt see the your second comment. hmm that could actually be a little big for a single batch. I use a 32 Litre for my single batches of 23L brews and use batch sparging. There are probably a few things you could try with it though if thats the only esky you have.

Just about to crash for the night, talk some more tomorrow. Cheerz

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10 years 7 months ago #894 by Johnson
Replied by Johnson on topic all grain newby need some advice
I know its a bit big but its what I had so I'm pretty keen to stick with it if I can make it work. For my test I put in about 15 l of water and no grain my recipe asks for 13l of mash water and about 5 kg of grain do you think this might make a difference? I suppose grain would probably hold temp better than water wouldn't it?

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10 years 7 months ago - 10 years 7 months ago #895 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
yes it will, also if you can get something ummm like a gym mat or similar to lay on top of the mash inside the esky that will help too, even it you have cover the mat in glad wrap or something if you think you dont want it touching the mash.

And yep if you start at about 13L of water there will be no worries adding a couple more litres half way through.

Some days I can lose up to 4-5c some days its just a 1-2c as long as your in the 60-72c something will be happening.

I usually aim for 67-68, cause I like a bit of body in my beer and that allows for temp drops too.

Your grain bed might be a little thin in a big esky but you will still get a great beer out of it.
Last edit: 10 years 7 months ago by Gash.

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10 years 7 months ago #896 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
and stir the water when it heats to your temperature to make sure its at the right temp before you put it in. I also, if beersmith tells me my strike temperature should be 74, heat to 76 because by the time I pour it in and then stir in the grain it can drop a few degrees.

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10 years 7 months ago #897 by Johnson
Replied by Johnson on topic all grain newby need some advice
Thanks for the advice gash I might try another test tonight if I get time and see if I can do better. I think I could definitely wrap it up better and might try the heat packs I don't really have anything to put on the mash so I will see if I can do without it. And by the way approximately how much boiling water do you think I should add for mash out? My mash temp is 66 and I need to get up to 75 I think.

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10 years 7 months ago - 10 years 7 months ago #898 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
its usually around 7-8 litres of 95c water.

My batches usually go 13-15L 76c to get to 65-68c for mash, depending on how much grain. for 60mins
add about 7-8 litres of 95c for mash out. leave sit for 10mins
take the first runnings.

then another about 15 litres of 75c for the batch sparge for 15 mins to let settle again
then take second runnings.

you need something like 30-32L so after the 60min boil and allowing for loss of wort to my chiller and trub (left over hops and proteins) in the boiler, I get about 22-23 Litres of wort to go into the fermenter.
Last edit: 10 years 7 months ago by Gash.

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10 years 7 months ago #899 by Gash
Replied by Gash on topic all grain newby need some advice
More often then not, probably because I'm still tuning my new setup, after mash in I let it sit for 15mins, if I'm a few degrees under what temp. I want I will boil the household jug/kettle and stir in a full jug (about 1.5L) of just boiled water just to step it up a a couple of degrees.

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