Strike water to mash tun

[Fil]

I just dough in with enough water to get the consistency of mash i want.. anot too thickish lumpless porridge :) Then when it comes to sparging i batch sparge, sparge #1 is to the tun top.. and i measure the volume out.. I know upto 2l will trickle out at the end of sparging while the boil gets going, and i know my target starting volume based on the evaporation rate,

so batch #2 will be about (TargetStartingVolume - 2 - 1st batch volume) Litres.

U can jug in the 2nd batch volume, but a bit of math will tell u what sort of volume 1cm depth in your tun will hold and u can fill Xcm from the top on that basis.

A dip stick is a great tool for boil kettle volumes or hlt volumes, the grain mass mucks things up for using in a tun tho..

 

[dennisking]

I just dough in with enough water to get the consistency of mash i want..

And me, by underletting once the level of liquid has covered the grains I give it a stir. Then check temperature and maybe add a small amount of either hot or cold to correct.

 

[StevieDS]

A dip stick is a great tool for boil kettle volumes or hlt volumes, the grain mass mucks things up for using in a tun tho..

If you put the water in the tun first, before adding the grain, that's not a problem though.

 

[Fil]

A dip stick is a great tool for boil kettle volumes or hlt volumes, the grain mass mucks things up for using in a tun tho..

If you put the water in the tun first, before adding the grain, that's not a problem though.

true but that can make doughing in a real chore, especially with a larger brewlength.

underletting as mentioned by DK filling via the drain with the grain in place saturates 90%+ of the grain before you start with the spoon or paddle, while adding the grain to the liquor in the tun can encourage dry flour balls forming needing a lot more spoon/paddle input to break up.

However thats one of the beauties of brewing you choose what works well for you..

fyi i use a 500mm SS ruler for a dipstick, for clarity i mark the final target volume with a cable tie giving an easy quick reference guide for the boil progress. the steam n my need for glasses to read the ruler are not such a hot combination, sharper eyes could no doubt use the ruler alone. i did consider having the ruler as a permanent pot fixture, but the thought of the ink gradient dissolving during a 90 min boil and the effect of dried boil scum on the scale obscuring a reading put me off that one.. :)

 

[StevieDS]

Interesting :hmm: I've never tried adding water to grain via the mt drain, I might give that a go next brew day.

 

[dennisking]

Interesting :hmm: I've never tried adding water to grain via the mt drain, I might give that a go next brew day.

It's the way most professional brewers do it.

 

[StevieDS]

Interesting :hmm: I've never tried adding water to grain via the mt drain, I might give that a go next brew day.

It's the way most professional brewers do it.

I'm still new to 3 tier brewing, I was biab until last month, so I've still loads to learn

 

[joe1002]

I under let for the first time about 8-10 brews ago, I wouldn't do it any other way now.

 

[robsan77]

Interesting :hmm: I've never tried adding water to grain via the mt drain, I might give that a go next brew day.

It's the way most professional brewers do it.

I need to hit the gym but my recent expenditure means I need to save money. Therefore I'll be stirring my mashes!

 

[Pakman]

I made a calibrated dip stick for my boiler so that I can accurately measure it's contents. When it's at the right temperature I just connect boiler to mash-tun using silicon hose and open taps until enough water has left the boiler.
Simples :thumb:
Graham

 

[StevieDS]

Interesting :hmm: I've never tried adding water to grain via the mt drain, I might give that a go next brew day.

It's the way most professional brewers do it.

So I tried underletting for the first time yesterday, why didn't it occur to me before So much easier than adding grain to water!

 

[barry44]

Am I getting this right? To underlet you place the grain in the mash tun and then add the strike water to it?

 

[london_lhr]

correct, BUT the water is added via the mash tun tap from the bottom and NOT poured on top of the grain......

 

[dennisking]

It helps when underletting to put a couple of kettles of boiling water in the mash tun for 15mins or so before adding the grain to warm the tun. My normal brewing plan means I then use this hot water in the sink after to use for washing up.

 

[barry44]

Ah, I see now. I use my boiler for the strike water and as such need to pour the dead space water in as well. I trust that I can do this once the water is above the grain?

 

[joe1002]

I wouldn't imagine that would be a problem, but why don't you just add extra water to account for your dead space? For example, my HLT has 1.8l of dead space so if I need to mash in with say 12l I put 13.8l in my HLT. When under letting I just open up the taps and let it all drain into the mt.

 

[barry44]

I treat my water as per the recommendations of the bru n water excel sheet which is tied to the volume of strike water required.

I could add the salts directly to the grain but I was advised to add them to the cold water prior to heating it.