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I have normally mashed out at 172F/77.8C while fly sparging. I switched to batch sparging without adjusting my mashout-water-addition temperature, and have been mashing out at 180F/82C.

Are there any consequences to mashing out at a higher temperature than 172F?

All the homebrew I've made since switching to this method have been bad.

thesquaregroot
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Matthew Moisen
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  • Define how you homebrew is bad now. I don't see how an 8degree increase in mash out temp would be to troublesome. And batch sparging should be more forgiving with respect to the pH of the sparge. You also don't say whether you sparge water is at these temps or you actually achieve a 172F-180F mash temperature. – brewchez Aug 09 '16 at 16:28
  • Also clarify what your actual mash temperature is. I assume you've done a normal mash rest in the 150-154 range and now you are talking about raising the temperature to mash out. Not that you are mashing in 172F. – brewchez Aug 09 '16 at 16:32
  • @brewchez all of the beers seem noticeably thinner and less flavorful since I started mashing out at 180F. my favorite beer which I've brewed dozens of time came out like this as well. I always mash at 149/150F. My pH is generally between 5.0 and 5.3. With fly sparging, I have mashed out to 172F, since I switched to batch sparging I have been mashing out at 180F. – Matthew Moisen Aug 09 '16 at 17:03
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    If you batch sparge, there's really no need to mash out. You get to the boil so soon that it really has little effect. I stopped mashing out 12-14 years ago. No change in beer quality and faster and easier. – Denny Conn Aug 09 '16 at 17:48
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    I have no good ideas as to why your beers would seem thin now. Mash out shouldn't effect that significantly. I'd double check your mash temperatures, and efficiency. All I can think of is that sometimes using the same MT for batch as you do fly can change things slightly. The obvious thing to try is to drop your sparge water temp a few degrees and try and get back to the 172 you are used too. See if that fixes the issue. I doubt it but its a place to start. – brewchez Aug 10 '16 at 14:17
  • everything feels backwards here. higher temp usually yields more mouth feel and OG reading errors that yield thicker beer. When you take OG are you correcting for temp correctly? http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/12/20/mash-temperature-and-beer-body-in-all-grain-brewing/ – DaFi4 Sep 10 '16 at 06:41

3 Answers3

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Not recommended

As Molot stated your "mash" must be much lower or enzymes will denature. After saccarification, temps can be raised for protein rests mash-out etc.

Mash-out shouldn't exceed 168° unless the sparge water is treated to be below pH 6.0. If the sparge water is too alkaline (pH 6.0+) AND 170°F tannins will extract from the husks making the beer astringent.

thesquaregroot
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Evil Zymurgist
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  • He's talking about mash out, not the mash itself. The point being to denature the enzymes. – brewchez Aug 10 '16 at 14:11
  • @brewchez yeah that's the way I read it, was just clarifing molots answer. I was mainly trying to caution on tannins. Where is he's fly spargin g properly "piston" style and cuts off before sparge water hits the kettle he's probably ok with high temps, but hard to do so... Not recomended – Evil Zymurgist Aug 10 '16 at 19:17
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At about 80 C enzymes start to denature, and no longer work. You end up with little fermentables and a lot of starch.

A rough rule is:

  • 62°C for maximum fermentable sugars, mostly maltose (alcohol in finished beer)
  • 72°C for maximum not fermentable sugars (body and residual sweetness)
  • 82°C for mash out, and to stop any conversion

If you mash at, say, 65°C, and you only sparge at 82°C and it's bad, but was OK when you did sparge at 78°C, it means you should simply mash longer. Your previous process didn't break all enzymes before sparge, so starch could also be converted during sparge, filtration, and before boil. Now it cannot, so you need to make sure it's all converted before sparge. Consider iodine test, or two hours mash, with generous stir every 20 minutes.

Mołot
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  • He's talking about mash out, not the mash itself. The point being to denature the enzymes. – brewchez Aug 10 '16 at 14:11
  • @brewchez Of course. I know. "Your previous process didn't break all enzymes before sparge, so starch could also be converted during sparge, filtration, and before boil." - I was sure this makes it pretty clear what I meant. Apparently not. Any suggestion how to reword my answer? – Mołot Aug 10 '16 at 14:42
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The higher mash-out temperature shouldn't affect anything. Did you double check your process when you sparge? Are your OG numbers correct? If they're low, perhaps, you're not getting effective rinsing of your grains but are instead essentially channeling sparge water into your boil kettle. If your OG numbers are still correct with the new method, and you've changed no other procedure I'd invest in a pH meter.

Eddie Rowe
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