too low temp for grain???

stee41 · Apr 7, 2011

Hi all

After I stuffed my last brew by sparging at 79c, I now have done the opposite and forgot to preheat my mashtun, I sparged the grain with 69c water and the temp dropped to 59c almost immediately but has held steady since then, I tried adding boiling water to get the temp up but this did not work, so I now have 90 mins at 59c, what are the consequences for my final wort?

yours F********* distressed..what a waste!!

Runwell-Steve · Apr 7, 2011

I always sparge with my water at about 75 degrees C, and that seems about the right temperature to me.

Do you actually mean you mashed at 79C the first time.

Something sounds a bit wrong in your process, Hers my step by step guide.

Heat the mash water in your HLT/Boiler to 75 centigrade.

Add the water to you Mash Tun.

Leave for 10 minutes to stabilise.

Check Temperature, it should be somewhere between 71 C and 72 C. If its too hot, add some cold water, or wait a while for it to cool. If it's too cold add boiling water, or return all the water to the boiler and make it a bit hotter.

Once the water in you Mash Tun is between 71 and 72 C you can add the grains.

Stir to remove all the lumps and check temperature, it should ideally be between 66 and 68C, but don't worry about a couple of degrees either side, you'll be OK.

Heat your sparge water to 75C

Leave mash alone for 60 of 90 minutes, whichever you prefer.

After the 60 or 90 minutes begin running off the wort and begin sparging. I have my sparge water at 75C, but that is for Fly Sparging.

In summary, put the water in your Mash Tun first and once the temp of the water is stable, then add the grain.

stee41 · Apr 7, 2011

Ahh ok, thats brilliant..thanks for the guide, I added grain to my MT without preheating the MT (forgot), then added strike water at 69c, temp dropped and stabilised at 59c for 90 mins, what are the consequences of this low mash temperature?