A few mashing questions

Edwardius

I have a couple of questions for the all-grain brewers here regarding the mashing process. I've read that water pH has an influence on the enzyme action, does this make a massive difference to the end product? I live in the north Dublin area and plan on making a ruby ale from an all-grain kit, would I need to modify the water pH for this? Do I need a pH meter or would pH paper do?

I made my own mash tun from 30 litre food safe bucket, spray foam insulation and duct tape (:cool:). After doing a temperature loss test I found that I was losing two degrees over an hour with 66 degree water and 16 degrees ambient (cold kitchen!), is this acceptable?

What temperature loss can I expect to experience when adding, say, 5kg of grain to 20 litres of water at around 68-70 degrees? I'm aware that calculations can be off for various reasons so what has been the temp loss in your experience?

Is 25-30 litres enough capacity for mashing 5kg of grain or will I have bad efficiency?

I'll probably buy a cooler at some point and transfer the plumbing to it but this is just a trial setup at the moment

Sorry about all the questions, I want to make sure I have things fairly okay if I'm going to be spending a day messing with grain!

Cheers
Ed

mayto

When you have the grains in the mash tun it will probably hold the heat better, 2 degree loss over an hour will be fine anyway. Aim for a mash temp of about 67C. Preheat the mash tun with some boiling water before adding your strike water. You can get a salifert kh alkalinity test kit to test your waters alkalinity and treat with crs and dls accordingly. For a first brew I would just treat your brewing water with 1/2 campden per 23L if there is chlorine in it. Ph 5.2 stabiliser also worked great for me. I usually have my strike water at about 76C before adding to preheated mash tun. Then mix grains and check temp. Have boiling or cold water reading in case you need to adjust temp. But it all depends on grain temp, mash tun etc what initial mash temp will be.

Tube

> Would I need to modify the water pH for this? Do I need a pH meter or would pH paper do?

It's mash pH not water pH, but don't worry about your water until you know what's in it.

> losing two degrees over an hour with 66 degree water and 16 degrees ambient (cold kitchen!), is this acceptable?

Very

> What temperature loss can I expect to experience when adding, say, 5kg of grain to 20 litres of water at around 68-70 degrees?

Lots. You will probably need to heat the water a bit hotter, but as long as you mash between 63 and 67 you will not notice much difference if using Irish or British malt.

> I'm aware that calculations can be off for various reasons so what has been the temp loss in your experience?

Depends on the individual setup. I add water to my grain in the mashtun (not the other way around) and to achieve 66 in the mashtun I add water that's been heated to 76.

> Is 25-30 litres enough capacity for mashing 5kg of grain or will I have bad efficiency?

It's fine.

Edwardius

Excellent, thanks for the replies guys!

TOOYOUNGTODIE

Tube wrote: »

> Would I need to modify the water pH for this? Do I need a pH meter or would pH paper do?

It's mash pH not water pH, but don't worry about your water until you know what's in it.

> losing two degrees over an hour with 66 degree water and 16 degrees ambient (cold kitchen!), is this acceptable?

Very

> What temperature loss can I expect to experience when adding, say, 5kg of grain to 20 litres of water at around 68-70 degrees?

Lots. You will probably need to heat the water a bit hotter, but as long as you mash between 63 and 67 you will not notice much difference if using Irish or British malt.

> I'm aware that calculations can be off for various reasons so what has been the temp loss in your experience?

Depends on the individual setup. I add water to my grain in the mashtun (not the other way around) and to achieve 66 in the mashtun I add water that's been heated to 76.

> Is 25-30 litres enough capacity for mashing 5kg of grain or will I have bad efficiency?

It's fine.

This is a good honest reply,

I have a stainless two tier system, if I want a mash temp around 67C and I have my grain and kettle around 5C, I need strike water at 80C, For every degree lower or higher I want my mash at I have to raise or lower my strike water by 3 degrees.
You will get used to your own system, it will take a few brews and go from there. I never change any of the variables brew to brew, as my grain and system are in a insulated shed which stays at around 5C year round.

as regards PH, i dont bother, beer is beer. I know three professional brewers in the UK who sell on average 18 BBLs a week who never bother with PH, and only one of them bothers adding minerals to the strike water.

KISS- Keep it simple, stupid!

Edwardius

Alright, I mashed at 65.5 C and it stayed within 1C for the hour. Heating up the Wort now and I'll know within about 90mins if I screwed something up! Pics will follow either way!

Edit: finished with an OG of 1.054 for 21 litres, supposed to be 1.053 for 23 litres according to the instructions. I think that's okay so long as I haven't infected anything. Total time was 5.5 hours!