What ends up being the “practical” difference in the finished beer between the two - all else being equal? …if I brewed beer “X” and mashed one with 1 to 1.5 quarts per pound of grain and mashed another batch with 2 to 2.5 quarts per pound, what would the expected differences be?
Just curious. Thanks.
Little to none.
I don’t think there is much difference. I go with 1.25 unless doing a really big beer and I’m not sure all the grain & water will fit in the MT. Then I will cut back the water a little to try to make some space. 2.5 does sound pretty thin though.
Here is a pretty good article from BYO about it https://byo.com/stories/item/1110-manag … -thickness Honestly this is one of those things I think doesn’t make as much difference in a home brewing environment as it would a large scale brewery.
Very very little if any difference. Try an experiment and see, and report back the results!
[quote=“Chris Roe”]What ends up being the “practical” difference in the finished beer between the two - all else being equal? …if I brewed beer “X” and mashed one with 1 to 1.5 quarts per pound of grain and mashed another batch with 2 to 2.5 quarts per pound, what would the expected differences be?
Just curious. Thanks.[/quote]
Little to no noticeable difference in the finished beer. Although my experience is that a thinner mash increases my efficiency.
This has been my experience as well.
I appreciated the comments so far!
For me, I haven’t done “enough” batches yet for me to feel comfortable saying what I am seeing is a “real” result so far, but…time will tell.
I thought a slightly thinner mash would help efficiency as well, but… on my last two batches, it seems my efficiency went DOWN a little for some reason. Not that that is a bad thing for me per se, but just an interesting observation.
…more batches are in order! …as is a kegging system.
Chris the most important thing is using a grist:liquor ratio that fits your system. I have noticed that if I get my mash too thin, upwards of 2qts/lb my efficiency goes down. Therefore, I don’t mash that thin.
I mash at 1.5 fer pound…. And now using a keg fer a mash tun, I lose some heat. So I’ve adjusted my mash in temps up and as I check my temps, and vorlaufing periodically i have to add to keep at a scheduled temp… so when doing a lower temp schedule, say for a belgium strong, I will end up at 2.25 per pound… When doing a high temp I can make it without adding…. Its know what yer system will do!! Sneezles61 :blah:
Yeah, I can see that becasue then you sparge less (for one thing). My average ration is 1.65 qt./lb.
I do BIAB so my mash is quite thin, but the beer tastes good to me anyway.
