Help Needed With First All Grain Brew.

[Jay7792]

Hi Guys I am planning All Grain #1 HBC American Lager for tomorrow :

I ordered an All Grain Mash Kit from The Home Brew Centre but the instructions are best described as basic!!!

My question is that I have got to mash all the grains at a temp of 64 degrees for 90 minutes, what should the temp of the water be in my boiler to allow for the transfer of water to mash tun and adding the grains? My guess would be 74ish degrees to hit my target temp of 64 degrees for my mash.

All help is appreciated. :

 

[bunkerbrewer]

Have you got any brewing software? Beersmith or BrewMate (free) have got strike temp calculators which work pretty well.

You put in the grain weight, water quantity, the mash temp and - importantly - the temperature of the grain, and it'll tell you the strike temp.

If you don't want to faff about with software at this point, fair enough, just post those figures and someone will work it out for you :)

Good luck with the brew :)

 

[carl_saint]

74 should be ok if you preheat your mash tun first. Everyone's kit is different, it's trail and error really. Your looking for a temp of around 70 in the tun before you add your grain. That should give you a 64ish.

I'd personally recommend a mash temp of around 66. It will leave your end ferment a few points higher and thus not too dry. But it's upto you if you prefer your beers drier!