Checking

Mash temperature during a brew.

My first chance to brew a beer since February, and it was very nice to have that time, and do a little bit of tidying in the garage in between things.

For those not in the know. The malted barley has to have the starches converted into fermentable sugars in order to brew. To do this the malted barley is held in water between 60 and 70 degrees C for around an hour (mashing). This allows the enzymes to convert the starches over. Depending which end of the 60 to 70 scale you are can change the body of the beer as the temperature activates or denatures different enzymes.

This temperature check was towards the end of the mash, which had started at about 63 C.

I will find out how well it turned out in a couple of weeks. It smelt good going into the fermenting vessel. Here's hoping it keeps that fresh, fruity hoppy aroma!