I tried out a new mash tun this weekend. I went from a rectangle cooler with a cpvc manifold to a round cooler with the stainless steel braid. Some observations.
I made a few mis calculations trying to dial in new equipment and was wondering how much of an effect I had on the final product.
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First off I heated my sparge water to 190 and ended at 178 for my mash out temp for my first runnings. Usually I hit 168 every time. I quickly drained off as quick as possible. Am I in danger of extracting tannins?
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I took my gravity reading with the 6.5 gallons of wort I collected pre boil and it was 1.050 which is 10 points higher than I expected. I was making 2 batches and the second one had the same result so I collected more wort the second time and combined both batches to try and have two 6 gallon lower gravity beer. I still ended up with almost a 1.060 gravity post boil on a munich helles. Is this way too high for munich helles style?
The last thing is I tried using about 1/2 pound of Melanoidin malt in a 10 lb grain bill. I used 9 1/2 lbs of gambrinus pilsner malt an 1/2 lb of Melanoidin. The wort was a little darker than I expected. It is about as dark as the pale ales I sometimes brew. I am hoping I don’t end up with a too sweet mess. I was figuring that since I wasn’t using continental malts that 1/2 pound Melanoidin malt would help with some character.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
