Tannin Question

[Doogie]

Greetings all, I have been "lurking" here for a while but this is my first post.

I finally got around to doing my first all-grain batch. Everything went fine except for the mash out, the mash temp crept up to 175-180 F. Ouch. I think this affects the tannin, leaching it from the grain husks creating a bitter tasting beer. Not sure though.
I just racked the beer today and tried a sample, it had quite a bite and after taste to it. I know its still green beer but is the high mash temp to blame? What is your experience at this stage of an all-grain beer.

Cheers,

[Beerconnoisseur]

My experience with all-grain thus far is pretty limited. But, from the three batches I've brewed, it seems much better to sparge with water that is a bit under 170 degrees Fahrenheit, than it is to risk extracting harsh tasting tannins.

Next time, if the sparge water is too hot, I would simply drop in an ice cube or two to cool things down a few degrees. You're going to boil the wort anyway, so it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

Then again, all my ice cubes are made from reverse osmosis filtered water... which makes them fairly safe to start with. :p

[Doogie]

Thanks for the reply. I got the sparge water at the right temp it was unfortunately the mash/water that took the temp spike. I guess I can look forward to an "edgier" beer ;-)

[ray m]

Doogie, how did you get the mash temp. to spike like that? What was your water temp when you added it to the grain? In my experience, whenever I added my water (170*) to my grain, my temp. at the beginning of the mash time was always in the 150* to 155* range, and remained in that area for the 1 hour mash time.

[Doogie]

Ahhh, ya about that :) I kept the burner going, (but reducing the heat) on the mash, I thought it would need a little heat to keep up the temp. Turns out the mash holds the heat pretty well and by keeping the heat on, before I knew it the temp was out of control. The initial strike temp was good and when I added the grain it started at about 150 F then up it went.

I should have turned the burner completely off and monitored the temp adjusting as needed.

Well, live and learn I guess...

ps. My strike and mash temps were just like yours 170 F strike then the after the grain was added it came down to around 150 F.

[ray m]

That explains things. What are you using for your mash tun? It sounds like the kettle itself if I'm reading your threads correctly. May I suggest an insulated picnic cooler? I picked up a 34 gallon picnic cooler for @ $20 at WalMart. (I think it's 34 gal!)Works great and keeps the temp consistent---I usually only lose 1 or 2 degrees (depending on how much I open the damn thing to check my mash)!

[Doogie]

In the what was I thinking category... I am using a cooler as my lauter tun, but I did my 1 hour mash out in the kettle.
I guess I could have used the cooler. *brain goes fizzle, click, whirr*

Great idea, the cooler is a much better way to go!

I have a pale ale I going to do this weekend, this batch should go far smoother.

Thanks again!