Winter Brain Lapse

[knightnorth]

I don't know why I had it in my head that mash (edit) temps are supposed to be 170-178. I don't know why I didn't check my notes before making 4 batches. Cocky, overconfident, lazy, who knows. What I do know is that I have 8 cases that are going to be hard to unload. Don't get me wrong, it's still beer. It's not bad but it's not good, y'know? Too proud to dump it. Back to the drawing board.

 

[427Cobra]

Mad temps?


Like you said it's still beer and lesson learned!

 

[gcdowd]

Did you mean mash temps? If you were mashing in the 170s, you would not get any conversion and would not have beer

 

[knightnorth]

Did you mean mash temps? If you were mashing in the 170s, you would not get any conversion and would not have beer

There was at least some conversion. I started noticing my problem when they ALL stopped fermenting around 1.020-1.025 gravity. I have 1 ale left that I haven't looked at yet because I mashed at 178 degrees (probably meaning to hit 158 ). Probably not a lot of fermentables in there, huh?

 

[gcdowd]

There was at least some conversion. I started noticing my problem when they ALL stopped fermenting around 1.020-1.025 gravity. I have 1 ale left that I haven't looked at yet because I mashed at 178 degrees (probably meaning to hit 158 ). Probably not a lot of fermentables in there, huh?

Did you take OG readings? What were they? The enzymes that convert starch into sugar are denatured at those temps so I'd be surprised if you got much if any conversion

 

[knightnorth]

Did you take OG readings? What were they? The enzymes that convert starch into sugar are denatured at those temps so I'd be surprised if you got much if any conversion

The OG was 4-6 points off of target. It was taking some fermentable enzymes but at that temps was making some non-fermentable enzymes as well. I've read where some commercial beer uses high mash temps (certainly not as high as I did) to get a desired effect of negative iodine reaction with a concentration of unfermentable carbohydrates. Then they use outside enzymes to finish their product.