Mash Tun Thermometer

[quote=“Nighthawk”][quote=“andymag”]
@nighthawk: I saw this write up on a DIY Mash Tun Thermowell: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-mas … ap-156772/

I guess for now I am going to keep it simple and use my standard probe thermometer.

Thanks all for the input.

-Andy[/quote]

Sure it will work. I read two issues.

1: The height is a compromise between getting a false bottom in/out and having the probe in the middle of the grain.

2: The thermowell gets in the way of stirring.[/quote]

Excellent point(s). Again I did not even think of that. I imagine it would be a P.I.T.A. to stir with that tube in there and even a bigger pain to remove the false bottom.

“What is your mash in procedure? If you are missing by 5-10 degrees I think your focus is better spent on correcting this. Do you use strike calculator? I use brewzor on my phone and am rarely off by more than one degree. Pre heating the mash tun is crucial.”

I am not usually off too much on my mash in unless I do a lower temp (dryer beer) mash. I have been off by a few degrees in the past on my mash in, but nothing that a little boiling water couldn’t fix. Where I am feeling that the bulk of my problems reside is in the mash out. Hitting that 170 without leaching tannin may be a technique issue or maybe my temp issue.

I will check that app out. I just moved to droid from an iPhone and I am finding that many of the apps are not that good.

I would not concern myself with the mash out temp.

When batch sparging with a rectangular cooler, I’ve added 2g of boiling water to mash out 12-15lbs of grain and never seen the temp get above 160-5*.

If you are continuous (fly) sparging, I doubt you will see the grain bed get over 170* if you sparged with 180-190* water.

After you get 1+ gallon of water in the boil kettle, start the burner. Gently, or you might find your self with a boil over. This will stop the enzymesfrom working.

I never mash out when batch sparging. I don’t even do it when I fly sparge.
When batch sparging, I usually add back the volume of the water that was absorbed. Its typically 1-2 gallons and I add it near boiling. It raises the temp but not to 168. A warmer runoff is a little more fluid and helps dissolve/extract sugar. Its really not necessary though.
When I fly sparge, its with about 180-185 water. I do as nighthawk suggests and turn the burner on after 2-3 gallons are collected.

[quote=“Brew On”][quote=“Nighthawk”] It’s especially harder to mix in a round drink cooler than a rectangular cooler.
[/quote]
:lol:
And as I curse my rectangular cooler when trying to even out the hot/cold spots I think a round cooler would be better.[/quote]

Based on my experience, you’d be wrong!

I have 2 of these both 12 inches long and both are within a 1/2 deg of each other.

http://www.professionalequipment.com/ha ... -sampling/

[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Brew On”][quote=“Nighthawk”] It’s especially harder to mix in a round drink cooler than a rectangular cooler.
[/quote]
:lol:
And as I curse my rectangular cooler when trying to even out the hot/cold spots I think a round cooler would be better.[/quote]

Based on my experience, you’d be wrong![/quote] :?:

my comment about thinking a round cooler would be easier came from an attitude of “the grass is always greener on the other side” that we can all fall into. if something doesn’t work all that great then the other thing MUST be better. didn’t mean to speak unkind of rectangular coolers.
:wink:

This whole discussion about whether a round or rectangular cooler is harder to stir is silly IMO. Even if rectangular coolers are slightly easier to stir, we’re talking about degrees of easiness. Both are easy with the right tools.

totally agree.