Quick question about the mash. I have been stirring the mash halfway through and I'm thinking that I lose a bit of temperature due to this. My last one started at 68 after about 30 minutes it was still 68 but after stirring and another 30 minutes it was 65. Is there any benefit to stirring halfway or would it be better to leave for an hour and stir at end.
Mash
- Thread starter ian808
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mirsultankhan
Landlord.
I find that I need to heat my water to 85 Celsius, the copper in the tun, the tun itself absorbs 10 degrees and then it remains absolutely constant at 75 Celsius. The Grains themselves I have found drop the temperature a further 9 degrees and I can usually hit dead on 66. Because everything has been heated prior to doeing in the grain the tun keeps its temperature amazingly well. All that I did was to take it apart and cover the polystyrene foam that was inside with kitchen foil to reflect the heat back in and I found a foam camping mat in the loft that I cut up and bound it to the tun with duct tape. Prior to this my tun was not very efficient and i was easily having swings of as much as six degrees. Now its absolutely constant for the entire mash even with stirring. 
peebee
Out of Control
Benefit of stirring the mash at any time? Can't really think of one, unless the mash is "stuck" and then stirring takes on the "desperation" label. Save yourself some work (and heat loss?) and restrict stirring to the start of mashing. But this "batch" sparging business might need it, in which case listen to someone who does it, not me! I've been brought up on "fly" sparging and the "do not disturb" approach to mashing.
Next one I will leave for the full mash then stir up a bit. I have been batch sparging which I usually stir up and then leave for about 15 minutes. It was just the heat loss I had concerns about, wasn't worried to much just thought it would be better keeping the temp the same.
MyQul
Chairman of the Bored
Before I started doing an overnight mash I would stir halfway through to. I found it helps with (mash) efficiency.
One thing I found really helpful to prevent heat loss during the mash if your doing BIAB and using a pot rather than a mash tun is, as well as all the other insultion you may have, is to fold up a towel and put it on top of the pot. It seems a large amount of heat lots is from the top,heat rising and all that I suppose.
One thing I found really helpful to prevent heat loss during the mash if your doing BIAB and using a pot rather than a mash tun is, as well as all the other insultion you may have, is to fold up a towel and put it on top of the pot. It seems a large amount of heat lots is from the top,heat rising and all that I suppose.
