I see a lot of posts asking what mashing too high will do and see a lot of answers: less fermentable wort and perhaps a sweeter and fuller body beer.
But no one ever follows up with how their beer turned out.
Years ago i had a thermometer go bad and made a beer that was mashed at too high of a temp, but no one could tell. I don’t remember the specifics though! I remember the FG being around 1.025 but we didn’t really think it was too sweet or fuller bodied. I also think there was a brulosophy experiment where no one could tell the difference between beers mashed at low 150s and mid 160s.
———long story——
I recently made a Hefeweizen but long story short, i realized after pitching yeast my thermometer was broke... not sure at what point the thermometer broke but it said i cooled to 80 deg but after adding my tilt, i realized true temp was in low 50s.
I think the thermometer was close to accurate during the mash, but not sure on exact temp. My digiboil has a temp gauge on it but it has a tendency to overshoot mash temp and i always double check with a second thermometer. This second thermometer is the one that broke... or at least was reading 25 deg too high by end of the mash (yes, too high).
I was targeting a mash temp of 154 and needed a strike temp of 160. I overshot the strike temp on the digiboil. I think the temp read around 165 on digiboil and my thermometer. So i took lid off the digiboil and stirred a bit and let sit for 10-15 mins. Until thermometer temp had come down to 160 (but my digiboil was turned off at this point).... so not sure how accurate this reading is. I have a hard time believing i mashed over 165 though. After mashing in and stirring for 5-10 mins, the temp on broken thermometer said 154.
So i could mashed somehwhere between 160-165. I BIAB and mill the **** out of my grain, so usually just cover pot with a couple sleeping bags and maybe lose 2-3 deg over 90 mins. My temp according to my broken thermometer at end of mash was 152 (again not sure of accuracy).
Anyway, so why do i think i mashed too high? Well the SG reported by the tilt was 1.032-1.036 all of yesterday (over Like 18 hrs). It would go up and down in this range... by the time i went to bed it was back up to 1.035. I verified by pouring a sample and check with a standard hydrometer (was 1.034). Airlock was bubbling steadily all day though. This morning SG was 1.032 according to tilt. Since I’ve had the tilt, I’ve never had a beer’s SG slow down like this... almost always ferments out with an exponential drop during first few days. It’s been awhile since i used wlp300 though.
So I’m just wondering if this beer will be a goner or will it end up tasting okay?? What are y’all’s predictions?
But no one ever follows up with how their beer turned out.
Years ago i had a thermometer go bad and made a beer that was mashed at too high of a temp, but no one could tell. I don’t remember the specifics though! I remember the FG being around 1.025 but we didn’t really think it was too sweet or fuller bodied. I also think there was a brulosophy experiment where no one could tell the difference between beers mashed at low 150s and mid 160s.
———long story——
I recently made a Hefeweizen but long story short, i realized after pitching yeast my thermometer was broke... not sure at what point the thermometer broke but it said i cooled to 80 deg but after adding my tilt, i realized true temp was in low 50s.
I think the thermometer was close to accurate during the mash, but not sure on exact temp. My digiboil has a temp gauge on it but it has a tendency to overshoot mash temp and i always double check with a second thermometer. This second thermometer is the one that broke... or at least was reading 25 deg too high by end of the mash (yes, too high).
I was targeting a mash temp of 154 and needed a strike temp of 160. I overshot the strike temp on the digiboil. I think the temp read around 165 on digiboil and my thermometer. So i took lid off the digiboil and stirred a bit and let sit for 10-15 mins. Until thermometer temp had come down to 160 (but my digiboil was turned off at this point).... so not sure how accurate this reading is. I have a hard time believing i mashed over 165 though. After mashing in and stirring for 5-10 mins, the temp on broken thermometer said 154.
So i could mashed somehwhere between 160-165. I BIAB and mill the **** out of my grain, so usually just cover pot with a couple sleeping bags and maybe lose 2-3 deg over 90 mins. My temp according to my broken thermometer at end of mash was 152 (again not sure of accuracy).
Anyway, so why do i think i mashed too high? Well the SG reported by the tilt was 1.032-1.036 all of yesterday (over Like 18 hrs). It would go up and down in this range... by the time i went to bed it was back up to 1.035. I verified by pouring a sample and check with a standard hydrometer (was 1.034). Airlock was bubbling steadily all day though. This morning SG was 1.032 according to tilt. Since I’ve had the tilt, I’ve never had a beer’s SG slow down like this... almost always ferments out with an exponential drop during first few days. It’s been awhile since i used wlp300 though.
So I’m just wondering if this beer will be a goner or will it end up tasting okay?? What are y’all’s predictions?
