Mash Temperature Trouble.

[Greg2013]

Today i decided to brew and i ran into the same issue that has plauged me for the last several brews.Beersmith usually tells me to mash in with strike water @76c roughly,my grain bill is usually 6.5kg again roughly,this to hit a mash temp of 68c.Trouble is today for instance when i did that i transferred 17lt@76c into MT via gravity feed silicone hose,mashed in as normal and the damn mash temp was 64C,i had the kettle ready but even after adding an additional 3lt@90c the mash temp still only came  up to 65c so rather than messing with it anymore i covered MT with a duvet and mashed away.This is an american brown ale mash kit from HBC.

What effect will this have and what the hell am i doing wrong ?

[Kieran the Human]

Are you preheating your mash tun? Are you taking into account the lower temperature of the grist with the cold weather?

[nigel_c]

I found by pre hearing the mash ton before doughing in make a big difference but I think the main thing is getting use to your kit. I know what temp I need to hit even though beer smith gives me slightly different numbers. Get to know your kit.
Simples.

[Greg2013]

Are you preheating your mash tun? Are you taking into account the lower temperature of the grist with the cold weather?

I reckon that is where i fell down this time as i forgot to pre heat the MT.

I found by pre hearing the mash ton before doughing in make a big difference but I think the main thing is getting use to your kit. I know what temp I need to hit even though beer smith gives me slightly different numbers. Get to know your kit.
Simples.

New equipment so this brew and the next couple i am using to dial it all in correctly,i have it roughly correct right now just needs fine tuning.

[Garry]

Are you adjusting the grain temp and mash tun temp to suit the conditions on brewday?



It's good to hold back 2 litres of the strike water to allow you to adjust the mash temp. Use the "mash adjust" tool in beersmith if you need to make adjustments.

This beer will be fine. The low mash temp will give you more fermentable stuff than expected so you'll just end up with a thinner bodied beer and a higher ABV.

[Greg2013]

Are you adjusting the grain temp and mash tun temp to suit the conditions on brewday?



It's good to hold back 2 litres of the strike water to allow you to adjust the mash temp. Use the "mash adjust" tool in beersmith if you need to make adjustments.

This beer will be fine. The low mash temp will give you more fermentable stuff than expected so you'll just end up with a thinner bodied beer and a higher ABV.

I have never used that section before Garry and tbh i never even knew i had to until CH pointed it out to me the other day,i assumed it was all auto calculated by Beersmith. I am doing another brew tomorrow so i will try my hand at filling in that section for that one and see what results i get i guess.

[Greg2013]

Tbh what i need is a lesson in how to adjust that mash tab for each individual brew on brew day 

[Kieran the Human]

Just use this

http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/

[Greg2013]

Well onward and upward another brew day today and we shall see what temps will be like i guess,better not forget to preheat the MT this time