Taking the temperature o the mash in the combitun. Homebrewing – brewing beer at home. «Batch 39» American Ale.

Taking the temperature of the mash in the combitun. It’s about 160 degrees here. I had a difficult time getting it up to the 170 degree mark that the recipe called for at the end of the mashing process, known as «mashout.» It was taking forever, my temperature readings seemed inconsistent, and I didn’t want to keep adding hot water and diluting everything unnecessarily. I opted to scoop out a whole bunch of the mash water and heat it separately in a pot on the stove, then dumped it back into the tun. I wasn’t sure how hot to heat it on the stove, so kept it below the mashout temperature of 170. ..I knew that various problems can arise if you physically disturb the mash too much, but I couldn’t remember at what stage that was the case, and I didn’t know what else to do. This process of drawing off some of the mash and heating it separately is called decoction mashing, and is pretty common, so I’m not too worried about having ruined anything, although apparently you’re supposed to draw off not just mash water but the mash itself. Woops. Since none of this was part of the plan it leaves me not knowing what to expect in the end result. I’m crossing my fingers. Homebrewing – brewing beer at home. «Batch 39» American Ale.