Can you add too much water to a mash?

[Floodster]

Hi,

Just started AG#8 this morning (JW Lees Bitter clone) and made a bit of a mistake right from the start and it would have ended up a lot cooler for the mash than it should be. I ended up adding a lot more water (say 5 litres + I lost count in the panic!) to get the temperature up.

Question is what will this do to the final brew and is there anything I can do after the 90mins mash to help it?

 

[LeithR]

It will cause the SG to drop a little. You can counter this by boiling for a little longer to get rid of the excess fluid. Just be aware that you may have to add water to your boil to maintain the brew length so keep an eye on it.

 

[Floodster]

Great thanks! At least it isn't completely ruined!

 

[calumscott]

Am I right in thinking that you've just made a thinner mash than planned?

In which case you'll need less of a sparge and you should end up roughly where you want to be pre boil I think.

 

[Floodster]

Yeah thinner mash. I will sparge less and see what it comes out as.

 

[calumscott]

Have you got DME in stock?

If you have I would take the easy route and sparge to your estimated pre boil volume and correct the gravity if required with DME. Keep it simple! :thumb:

 

[Floodster]

No DME

Something to stock up on for next time I mess up!

 

[calumscott]

Oh yes! It's like tippex for brewing! :lol:

 

[oldjiver]

I always mash "wet" using 5ltrs of water to 1kg of malt. I find the bulk keeps the temp steady and I get good (80%) extraction.

 

[Cyclops]

oldjiver, that is a very wet mash, should be 2.5l to 1kg.

However it shouldn't be too much of a problem for us at our level :)

Oops

 

[Dr Mike]

oldjiver, that is a very wet mash, should be 2.5kg to 1l.

Do you mean 2.5L to 1Kg? :)

 

[Cyclops]

oldjiver, that is a very wet mash, should be 2.5kg to 1l.

Do you mean 2.5L to 1Kg? :)

Yep, lol

 

[oldjiver]

oldjiver, that is a very wet mash, should be 2.5l to 1kg.

However it shouldn't be too much of a problem for us at our level :)

Oops

"Should be" ? no such word in brewing, thats why its an art. Should be whatever you find suits you best. What level are we at?? (Not very level at all after a couple of pints on my best bitter!) :thumb:

 

[oldjiver]

Seriously, I usually brew in 15ltr batches, 3kg of MO plus adjuncts. I have an IGLOO mash tun that tales 5 US gallons. I just add 15ltrs at strike temp and stir in the grain. I fly sparge up to 23 litres and it all works fine, Usually get about 80% extraction.

 

[DirtyCaner]

will be fine mate. You can always just boil it a bit more to reduce volume to get desired og. Don't forget to correct readings for temp if taken hot.

 

[rpt]

BIAB mashes with the full volume. So that's something like 7.5L to 1kg rather than 2.5L with 5L sparge. Produces great beer.

 

[mabrungard]

Actually adding excess water can affect mash pH if your strike water has much alkalinity. Look at it this way: If the grain has only so much acid content and that is balanced by adding an appropriate quantity of slightly alkaline water...adding extra alkaline water will drive the pH higher.

If your strike water has very low alkalinity, then it shouldn't matter too much.