I am going to make a big beer and I don’t want to mash twice. I don’t have enough room to add all of the grain and all of the strike water with a 1.25qts to 1 pound ratio but I think I can if I use a 1:1 ratio. Is using a 1:1 ratio too thick of a mash? Will it affect conversion? Will it affect mash temp?
Probably not. If so give it more time.
Have you considered adding sugar(s) or extract to hit those final gravity points vs mashing so much grain?
I already have some sugar built into the recipe so not an option on this one.
I’ve found that it really doesn’t matter much. I’ve gone as low as .66 and as high as 3
So I use a HERMS system and I will incorporate rice hulls. I don’t know how you mash but did you experience a sluggish/stuck recirculation when mashing at such a low ratio? What styles were you brewing with those mash ratios respectively ?
In cases like that, I sub in DME for some of the base malt to make the mash more manageable.
No hulls needed unless you are using a large amount of unhusked grains. 1:1 ratio is fine. Boosting the OG with DME is useful in cases like this. Big beers are typically thicker beers, and this is where supplementing with DME is a good idea, as Bob357 stated, because DME can add some thickness.
Thanks for the suggestions. I didn’t think of using DME.