Temp of Water Matter for Grain Absorption?

Northern Brewer General
1

Does the temp of water matter in any practical sense as far as how much the grain will absorb?

I have some old grain from my 2+ year brewing layoff that I’m not comfortable using in beer, but I’m thinking about doing some system absorption tests with it. I don’t want to waste the propane heating it up though!

What about pH? I know I cool my mash samples to within the temp correction range of my meter, but what if the mash itself is at say 65 degrees. Does it reflect the same pH based on water, grain, acids as if it was at mash temps and cooled to room temps for testing? (Hopefully that makes sense.)

I also want to test a couple things with the Bru’n Water spreadsheet but again don’t want to waste propane to do it.

Thanks all.

And sorry for spamming the board so much lately. I’ve just got totally re-energized about brewing again and have a bunch of itches to scratch!

2

Temperature does affect water viscosity, so there could be a difference in the speed at which the grain hydrates. But I don’t think it would affect the eventual hydration of the kernel. There would be some difference in geletinization of starches and that might affect the hydration level, but that is outside my present knowledge.