Strike Calc Off ?

[tbonez]

I've found that the moisture level of the grain has an effect on the strike temp. I also found out that all thermometers don't behave the way they should. The message here is to not trust one reading or thermometer...double check ...triple check. A typical brew session allows for alot of TLC.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

so true

 

[Nosybear]

On the other hand, at our scales, a degree or two plus or minus doesn't matter much most of the time. I always assume my temps are going to be off and prefer high to low, as my cooler mash tun drifts downward over time. If I start a degree over, add 2 pints of boiling water at 30 mins into the mash (single infusion), my temperature generally stays within a degree plus or minus the desired temperature. That's valid for my setup, for single infusion. If I'm doing "Hochkurz", I don't worry - the temperature adjustments will take care of themselves. Moral: Temper the mash based on the individual brew and conditions. The equations provide a very good first guess but that's all it is.

 

[LarryBrewer]

I've found that the moisture level of the grain has an effect on the strike temp. I also found out that all thermometers don't behave the way they should. The message here is to not trust one reading or thermometer...double check ...triple check. A typical brew session allows for alot of TLC.

Yeah, since most home brewer's don't have a full on laboratory to analyze the moisture content of our grains, we do have to wing it a little on brew day.

 

[Tom McLean]

I brew yesterday and managed to make the desired strike temp by adding the volume of the dead zone to the volume obtained from multiplying out the water volume from the mash thickness equation. In my case, this was, for 1 qt/lb ratio; 11.25 qts for 11.25 lbs of grain plus 4 quarts for the dead space at the calculated strike temp of 172 F for a mash temp of 156 F. I was about 1 F low when I finished.

Good brewing Everyone:

Tom

 

[LarryBrewer]

Great job!