Mash Temp Issue

Mashing
1

Ok, yesterday I made my Spiced Winter Ale with the following fermentables:
19.5# British 2-row pale
0.75# 80L crystal
0.25# 525L Briess black patent

I was trying to hit 152 degrees F for one hour, but instead over shot it and stabilized at 155 for the 60 mash. I couldn’t really add anymore water to cool it as I was pretty much at the max capacity for my mash tun (I added 6.5 gallons of water to strike)

Being that I only used 1 oz of Horizon hops, I am worried that the higher mash temp will drowned out the hop profile and make this too malty of a beer.

I hit my OG at 1.082 (although that was a little higher than I wanted).

Does anyone think that this beer will be too malty or would that difference of three degrees not make too much of an impact?

Thank you :cheers:

2

How accurate do you think your thermometer is?

Time will tell if the temp makes a difference to your taste buds.

For tun fillings brews, start with 1qt/lb of water. Then you have room to add hot or cold water.

3

I believe my thermometer is calibrated. I normally use boiling water to test it, but it may be off.

My main concern is too many non-fermentables coming through and ending up with a very malty lower alcohol beer.

I am shooting for a FG of about 1.015 leaving me with an ale that is about 9.0 % ABV.

I pitched a 2L starter and just as an extra precaution I pitched another White Labs London Ale directly into the wort.

Worst case scenario, should I not be near my FG would it be possible to just throw in some yeast energizer?

4

I really doubt you’ll be able to tell much difference.

5

I’m assuming you’re using spices like cinnamon that will add a bitterness like attribute to the beer so if anything I think being a little more malty might be nice for a spiced winter beer

6

I’d think you’d want it to have a little more body, although with that OG the bigger concern for me would be that it not finish too sweet. 155F isn’t extreme though, plus you let it mash for 60min so that produces a dryer product. When I want really full body I’ll mash at 158F for 30min and then mash out above 170F to kill the enzymes.

7

You used 20+ pounds of malt, and you’re concerned that the beer may be too malty?!?! Maltiness and sweetness and body are NOT the same things. Will your beer be a little thicker and sweeter than you might like? Yes. Will it be too malty? That’s subject to opinion. I love malt so I’m sure it will be delicious.

8

Thanks guys for the input.

My wife just sent me a pic with top of my fermenter blown off and a good amount of krausen leaking out, so I guess the yeast are happy and healthy :lol: . Too bad I have a nice mess to clean when I get home.

9

Do you have an immersion chiller? An option for coolinh down a hot mash is to dip your immersion chiller in the mash a few times. No need to run water through it. I do this sometimes with my strike water. If its too hot and I don’t want to wait for it to cool on its own, I just dip it in a few times

10

@ roffenburger

I do have an immersion chiller and I never thought of that. Thank you for the tip.

11

@dmtaylo2

Thank you for the clarification on the difference between maltiness and sweetness/thickness. With that in regard is there anything I can do at this point to unsweeten my wort or lower the viscosity for future batches with the same grain bill? I guess the first thought that comes to mind is to add more water during my sparge and perhaps lower my mash temp a few degrees, but I feel like I may be missing something else.

Thank you.

12

Mash at 148 F for 90 minutes or even overnight. If you mash overnight you will get a very very dry beer indeed. Lots of people do this.