HootHootHoot
Well-Known Member
I am hoping someone can provide some insight here. Maybe some others use this same set up and might be able to offer advise.
I built my own mash tun following these instructions:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/
I've been using it for probably 2 years now. I have been struggling with efficencies. First time I was right at 75%, so I was pleased, but it is all over the place and has gotten as low as 47%. I came to the conclusion that it was due to losing too much temperature in the mash or having trouble with achieving the right temp without going over on my desired strike water volume.
I use beersmith2, which tells me what temp and volume my strike water should be at. I am consistently at a lower temp of about 8 deg.
Last week I heated the cooler with about 3 gallons of hot water before mashing, but I still found myself taking some mash water out, heating it, and adding it back in to achieve my desired temp after about 25 minutes
What gives?
Previously I mashed with just heating my water to 170 deg and adding enough hot and cold water until I reached my desired temp, and my temps held quite nicely. the only down side is if I had trouble achieving that temperature, I would just be adding a lot more water in- more than I needed for a mash. This would increase my wort volume and I ended up with a longer boil just to get down to my desired preboil volume.
BeerSmith 2 seemed to fix this problem, but now I have trouble with mash temps.
I built my own mash tun following these instructions:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/
I've been using it for probably 2 years now. I have been struggling with efficencies. First time I was right at 75%, so I was pleased, but it is all over the place and has gotten as low as 47%. I came to the conclusion that it was due to losing too much temperature in the mash or having trouble with achieving the right temp without going over on my desired strike water volume.
I use beersmith2, which tells me what temp and volume my strike water should be at. I am consistently at a lower temp of about 8 deg.
Last week I heated the cooler with about 3 gallons of hot water before mashing, but I still found myself taking some mash water out, heating it, and adding it back in to achieve my desired temp after about 25 minutes
What gives?
Previously I mashed with just heating my water to 170 deg and adding enough hot and cold water until I reached my desired temp, and my temps held quite nicely. the only down side is if I had trouble achieving that temperature, I would just be adding a lot more water in- more than I needed for a mash. This would increase my wort volume and I ended up with a longer boil just to get down to my desired preboil volume.
BeerSmith 2 seemed to fix this problem, but now I have trouble with mash temps.