Quick Sanity Check

Northern Brewer General
1

Hi All -

Still getting comfortable with a standard “routine” for All Grain… Hoping a few of you could scope out my steps below and let me know if I’ve got anything goofy here:

Recipe is Northern Brewer’s American Rye Ale.

8.75lb grain bill: 6.25-lbs. 2-row, 1.75-lbs. Rye-Malt, 0.75-lbs. Caramel-40L)

  1. Heat 4 gallons of strike water to 163/164

  2. Mash with 3.5 gallons (xtra for if I miss - I will heat up cooler first)

  3. Mash 1 hour @ 152. Quick stir every 15 min or so (I think the palmer book says to), adding hot/cold as needed to keep around 152.

  4. Heat 6 or 7 gallons of sparge water to 175/180

  5. Mashout @ 170??

  6. Begin sparge/vorlauf

  7. Collect about 7 gal. wort (accounting for boil loss + some hop loss and a little left in the keggle, etc.

  8. Off to the races with with boil.

I think it’d be quite a bit easier to just skip the mashout (not having to separately get a bunch of water to boiling)…and I’ve read about a lot of folks skipping it with no ill effects. Any opinions there?

Any feedback on the above would be super.

Thanks all…

2

Pretty sure you can skip stirring the mash, just get all the dough balls broken up when you mash in.

3

Agreed. I think you’ll find that you lose less heat if you don’t stir. Palmer’s book is an excellent reference, but some of his advice is a bit outdated.

Also, are you getting your strike temp from a calculator? Make sure you take detailed notes about your process so you can dial that in. If you choose to preheat your mash tun, make sure you follow the same procedure every time. After a few brews you should have a better idea exactly what strike temp to hit for your particular system, but only if you keep consistent in your process.

4

I would not stir either.

I also agree in regard to strike temp. The only REAL way to know for sure is to get used to your system. I always have some extra boiling water and cold water on hand to add if I need to adjust the temp. a little. Constant stirring and leaving lid off will also help lower temperature if it is just a few degrees you are dealing with.

5

The only time I stir the mash is when I’m a degree or three above my target temp. I find that will bring it down slightly.