Increasing Body on the Grainfather

[JCasey1992]

Hi Gang!

I have been brewing on my Grainfather (110v) for a few batches now and I love it. Unfortunately though, I have found that I have a hard time getting enough body on my darker beers. Based on recommendations from other brewers, I have developed an idea to alleviate this problem but I wanted to run it by those of you with more experience first.

I have been doughing in directly at mash temperature since I received my Grainfather rather than at strike temp like I used to do in my BIAB days. What if I were to heat the mash water a few degrees higher than my desired mash temperature (I'm thinking approximately 8 degrees F) and set the timer on the connect controller for 1 minute? The next step would be my desired mash temperature. The grains would cool the mash a few degrees and I would reach my desired mash temperature much quicker.

Does anyone else do this and would it help solve my problems with lack of body? Are there any other potential problems that could come from this method?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Cheers!
Casey

 

[thehaze]

I have been using the Grainfather ( 240V ) for over 50 batches and have yet to make a thin beer, aside those I intended to come out thin.

I mash in the grains at mash temperature and I can't say I've experienced temperature drops.

For a bigger body, you could mash high ( 155-157F ) and mash short, like 30 minutes, but that will result in a lower efficiency. Use a lower attenuating yeast, something English.

I mashed plenty of dark beers for 90 minutes at 147-149F and never had they thin body. The amount of specialty malts in these recipes is enough to provide lots of mouthfeel and body.

I am thinking maybe your Grainfather, due to being the 110V version, is not actually hitting the temperature it shows. If you have a thermometer, use it to measure the temp. of the wort while you are mashing and recirculating. It can be that under the basket, the temp. is right, but somewhere the wort loses some degrees.

 

[Sadu]

I use a gen 1 grain father and find it makes excellent body beers. The recirculation should help a lot with maintaining the temperature you want. But, temp probes do break and that would be first on my list to check. Verify that the temp on the controller is correct.
Otherwise, try mashing a couple of degrees warmer. Use a low attenuating English yeast, add some unmalted adjuncts like flaked oats or barley. I like my stouts to finish around 1.020 and no reason you can't be doing that with a grain father.

 

[JCasey1992]

I like my stouts to finish around 1.020 and no reason you can't be doing that with a grain father.

Sounds like the culprit might actually be my FG. I tend to finish much lower than 1.020. I think I'll target a higher FG and see where that takes me. Thanks for the help!

 

[Rackrunner]

I've done this many times on the Grainfather as well. I typically use the beersmith calc for strike water temps, and do the following:
1. Setup for brew and set the delayed heating for strike temp (e.g. 157F)
2. Turn heat element off once at temp and ready for mash
3. Mash in - you'll see the temp drop pretty quickly
4. Hook up recirc arm, plates on etc..
5. Start the brew session in the GF connect app and skip through to the mash step

Not sure if that will fix the thin mash issue or not, but no harm in it as long as you don't way overshoot your strike/mash temp.

What temp are you mashing at? You could always bump that a degree or two unless your already pretty high up.

As others have said, unmalted adjuncts could help a bit too if you can sub something that doesn't alter the recipe profile too much.

 

[JCasey1992]

I've done this many times on the Grainfather as well. I typically use the beersmith calc for strike water temps, and do the following:
1. Setup for brew and set the delayed heating for strike temp (e.g. 157F)
2. Turn heat element off once at temp and ready for mash
3. Mash in - you'll see the temp drop pretty quickly
4. Hook up recirc arm, plates on etc..
5. Start the brew session in the GF connect app and skip through to the mash step

Not sure if that will fix the thin mash issue or not, but no harm in it as long as you don't way overshoot your strike/mash temp.

What temp are you mashing at? You could always bump that a degree or two unless your already pretty high up.

As others have said, unmalted adjuncts could help a bit too if you can sub something that doesn't alter the recipe profile too much.

Thanks! I am actually starting to think the reason for my body issues is my FG. I am now planning on targeting closer to 1.020 and seeing where that takes me.

 

[couchsending]

What is your mash schedule for these dark beers? Grainbill? Water Profile?