What's an acceptable temp drop during mash?

[beer_bear]

yup. Sounds likely. It did for me. Heating the cooler will make a huge difference. Be ready to try to cool your mash the first time you heat the cooler. It might make it a bit too efficient. I had a gallom of cold fridge temp water to help with that. It doesn't hurt to have something like that for that type of situation.

[Pizzmeister]

And in a pinch, if you're worried about watering down the mash too much, you could use some ice (or ice water).

[H2]

And in a pinch, if you're worried about watering down the mash too much, you could use some ice (or ice water).

Is that possible, to water down the mash? Being new to AG I guess I normally see about the same ratio of water runoff on Mash-In and sparge (taking into account the water that is consumed by grain and non-collectable). But, you need to heat for mash out right? So unless you have a RIMS or HERMS system or comparable you have to add enough hot water to get to mash out, now you have more than the standard equal amounts for runoff. This may show my greenes to AG, but what is the standard procedures for Dough In, Sac Rest, Mash-Out, and Sparge (Batch or Fly - results are similar) and how do you handle the water temps for the stages? I have read (over and over) How to brew on this, but I did not see any references to watering down a mash...

Brian
H2

[Pizzmeister]

Yes, the amount of water you use in your mash can make a large effect on your outcome. I've heard quite a few opinions, but they all seem to be between 1.0 and 1.33 quarts of water per pound of grain.

Here's an article I found on calculating water usage (from Designing Great Beers):

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/water.html

[Pizzmeister]

Ok, I just read my reply, and it didn't really cover all of your questions. In fact, I'll defer those to brewers with more experience than I have.

But, here's another reference I found on BYO, regarding mash thickness:

The key differences in the actual processes of steeping and mashing lie mainly in the thickness, temperature, duration and method used to separate the grain from the liquid. Mash thickness, or the ratio of malt to water, is important in mashing because enzymes are affected by the concentration of starch. If it’s too high, the amylase enzymes lack the water needed to hydrolyze starch (hydrolysis is a term used to refer to breaking chemical bonds by the addition of water). If the mash is too thin, the enzymes are less heat-stable and are more susceptible to denaturation (enzyme destruction). Most mashes use between one and two quarts of water per pound of malt (~2 to 4 liters/kg). When it comes to steeping, thin is good and it is common to use ratios as high as six quarts per pound (~12 liters/kg). The thin steep not only improves the efficiency of steeping, it is also convenient since the steep water is usually used to dissolve malt extracts after the steeped grains are removed.

[H2]

Thanks for the info - but honestly that is a huge range of water volume. In 20lbs of grain that is the difference of 5 gal and 10 gal of strike water or strike water and mashout water (based on 1qt/lb to 2qts/lb). I would imagine from that info that anything over 2qts/lb would be considered too thin?

Brian

[Pizzmeister]

Yeah, that would pretty much be my take on it. I start with 1.1-1.2 quarts per pound, so I'm on the lower end of that range, but that also gives me a little flexibility when it comes to adding water/ice if I get too hot, and I don't have to worry about it too much.

[mykafone]

Im no scientist but when I figure the grain to water ratio for my brew I do it in promash and I just make my dough in volume an easy number. Like 4.5 gallons or 5 gallons as long as it is in to reccomended range. sometimes my ratio is 1.22 or 1.37 or 1.30 - whatever it is i just make it easy to measure the water. Im sure the smarter I get the more likely I will change this method..