Beer Forum

My first all grain attempt today, after adding my grain to strike water my temp dropped to 146F, my goal was 149F. I added some boiling water, too much, temp went above 160F, then I stirred it to cool it down. I had reached the max capacity of my mash container so I couldnt add cold water. Waiting for the mash to finish, Im brushing up on lautering in Palmer's book and read the portion about NOT oxidizing the mash...How screwed am I potentially? I stirred it from the middle of the solution up for about 5 min slowly turning it over. Im using Belgial Pale malt for a Belgian Strong Ale and WL570 if that matters. Thx.

Did you take a final mash temperature reading after adding your second cold water addition and stirring? By the sounds of your post it kind of appears that you might have hit your 149F mash temp right? I would not worry to much about oxidizing your mash especially in your first all grain brew. If you came close to 149F call it a win and keep on brewin!

Cheers and congrats on your first all grain brew!

Brewinhard

If thats the only thing that went wrong in your first all grain attempt, you are golden.
Just keep brewing and all your numbers will fall into place before you know it!
Cheers!

You will find out all grain brewing is a very forgiving process....Just continue to move past what you consider a screw up or an omission of an ingredient....just keep going and finish the process. It will be drinkable! You don't need to worry about nailing any numbers now! Just learn the process. You will learn to control the process better as you gain experience.

How much did you add going from 146-160? Possible that 146 was a low read due to not fully even mix..

I added about 2 liters, I rushed it, should have gone slower.

a little hint, if your mash is too high, add some ice cubes and stir well.

speed wrote:a little hint, if your mash is too high, add some ice cubes and stir well.

Thats a friggin GREAT idea!
Good on you, speed, good on you.