If you want the pic to show here, you need to link to the pic itself and not the flickr page. Like so…
is that mash only or mash+sparge? does it matter?
My crush is a lot finer than that.
what is your gap set at?
Give us total water including both mash and sparge. You’re batch sparging correct?
Have you calibrated the thermometer?
all of my measurements went out the window. eight gallons to 16.25 pounds (only 3/4 lbs wheat added last twenty minutes) resulted in a concrete block of a mash. thinking 0.039" gap is more than sufficient. I had to dump the whole tun into my kettle and filter it off through the bazooka. I added the sparge to the kettle too, I have no idea how much I lost.
edit: best i can tell I lost about 2.5 gallons. I had an eight gallon mash (should have been seven, ended up way too hot) and a three gallon sparge. I’m now sitting about 8.5 gallons in my kettle.
32 F in an ice bath. do I need to use the 212 F method instead?
kettle thermometer was 208 F at rolling boil, which explains why my mash was hot today. but I always use the thermometer that was calibrated correctly to set my mash before I put the lid on. I’ll have to wait until next time to measure my losses.
You might want to try conditioning your malt with a little water before grinding. Check out Kai’s article here: Malt Conditioning - German brewing and more. That may help with your lautering problems.
The best way is to calibrate it at the mash temperature range, 150F or so. Just because it’s right at 32F and/or 212F doesn’t really tell you that it’s accurate at 150F
dumb question… how do I know what 150 F ACTUALLY is if my thermometer isn’t calibrated correctly? I did both the 32F and 212F tests on my portable and 212F on my kettle (didn’t have the ice to make five gallons of 32F water), and they’re both right there, or as right there as I can see on a small analog dial.
You don’t need 5 gallons of 32f ice water, a cup will do. Take a cup and throw in 2 or 3 ice cubes and wait 10 minutes and measure. A cup @ 32f is 32f, 5 gallons @ 32f is 32f, 10,000 gallons of 32f is 32f. Same with boiling; a sauce pan @ boiling is the same temp as 5 gallon boiling is the same as 10,000 gallon boiling.
Put your thinking cap on.
my kettle thermometer is welded to the kettle, at the 4.5 gallon line. I suppose if I got really adventurous, I could tip the kettle at an awkward angle and hold a cup of icewater over the probe, but then I wouldn’t have any free hands to make the adjustments.
My experience has shown a slight increase in efficiency when using a higher water to grist ratio. I find that 1.5:1 vs 1.25:1 has produced a 5-10% increase in efficiency on average. Kai’s experiments have shown that this is most likely due to increased conversion efficiency.
However there is no evidence to show that a higher water to grist ratio will increase fermentability.
That’s still on the thick side of thin.
How to prepare an proper ice bath from ThermoWorks to calibrate your thermometer.
http://www.thermoworks.com/blog/2010/10/making-a-proper-ice-bath/
I have no idea. I just adjusted it til I got the crush I wanted. I use a JSP adjustable. I closed the gap as far as I could, then backed it off til I could just see the rollers move. That’s where its been for the last 12 years.
I use a calibrated, certified lab thermometer.
Of course if your certified lab thermometer is glass, I recommend that it not be used for everyday brewery usage. Keep it safe and use it only to calibrate your ‘brewing work’ thermometers. I’m betting that Denny does this too.