It's the damned thermometer. The stupid brewing thermometer I got, which I stick into the mash. It's off by a whole 5C! Which means I've been mashing way lower than I should have been.
I first ran a side-by-side comparison with my digital cooking thermometer, and yep - it's a 5C difference. Just to be sure, I stuck the brewing thermometer into a pot of boiling water, and nope! It's still off. And finally, just to make entirely sure, I stuck it into my wort which was near, but not, boiling - it read 100C! Dang!!
Lesson of the year - calibrate your stuff! At least, this batch of Munich Helles will be mashed at the right temperature (68C - or, as the brewing thermometer should read, "73C")
2 comments:
Yeah, I had thermometers that varied up to 2c from each other, BUT not 5c!! That can really screw up the beer haha, but then again it didnt make any of your beer worse.
They say the best way to calibrate is to use an alcohol thermometer and put it into a glass full of ice with some water. It shld measure 0c.. That's what I did to calibrate my temp control for fermentation.
Or, I could get hold of Nick's electronic one .. that should be accurate!
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