In this entry, I'm going to cover a few options for all-grain mashing and review their relative pro's and con's, including the gear that you may wish to consider and/or need to go that particular route. I'll also share a few links to more information on the widely opinionated discussion on the varying mashing techniques that are out there. And hopefully in the end you will have a better idea of all the options available to you, and I will have worked out in my head which will work for my circumstance.

And for the record, this is not the definitive list of techniques or a complete dissertation covering all that you could possibly need to know about R.I.M.S. or other techniques of maintaining mash temperatures for single-step infusion mashes. Think of this as a primer to get you involved in the discussion and investigating what will work best for you.

Know your environment

When I had been brewing beer before my hiatus, I was brewing in our kitchen on the stove and fermenting/bottling in the basement. Of course, that was before we found out my wife and I were pregnant, and when I still had some space in our home to use for storing my equipment. Well times changed and our circumstances no longer afforded me the ability to brew and store like I had done before. This has me considering what my options are now and whether or not I will have to replace some of my equipment or even adjust my brewing process altogether.

Now that we'll essentially be brewing in my brother's garage that both opens up some possibilities and simultaneously removes some. For example, we no longer have the luxury of a conventional stove (gas or electric) and sink at our disposal as you would find in a kitchen, of course without making serious modifications to his detached garage. But on the flip side, suddenly propane becomes an option for heating. Additionally, we may even have cold storage options for making lagers or for storing kegs, whereas before I had no space to store kegs and keep special bottled beer for certain occasions. So it means that there will be some give and take with regard to options.

The fundamental consideration

By far, the most important factor for deciding how you mash comes down to a single question: how can I maintain a steady mashing temperature of 154–162°F (with a general pH range of 5.3–5.7) for 60 minutes? That temperature range ensures that you're creating an environment for the production of good enzymes and fermentable sugars. Anything below 154°F doesn't quite produce the level of sugars that you will need for effective fermenting. And should you exceed that level, you basically stop the production of the Alpha Amylase enzyme that produces maltose and other sugars.

You've heard in Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail that five is right out — the same can be said for 170°. At that point, the husk tannins become more soluble, which can lead to excessively sour or bitter tasting beer. You want the bitterness to come from the hops and the citrus flavor from the yeast, not from tannins produced in your wort.

The range of 154–162°F is your target, and there are many ways to get there and keep it there. So lets cover some of the different heating methods and your options for for gear.

Conventional single infusion mash

The most basic way of reaching and maintaining your mash temperature is the simple adding of grains to a container of X gallons of water at Y°, and keeping that container both insulated and sealed up so no heat can get out. In addition, it does require a little bit of math or the use of some readily available calculators for determining both the volume of strike water needed and at what temperature. This added math complexity, while not a big deal for some, can be irritating at best to others.

There are a few numbers that you need to know:

• Amount of wort going into the fermenter (gallons)
• Weight of total grains (pounds)
• Grain temperature (usually the ambient room temperature unless they're refrigerated)
• Your target mash temperature
• Total boil time (generally 60 minutes)

Based upon that information, most calculators can give you the total water needed, how much water for mashing is required, how much you will need for sparging, and what your initial strike water temperature should be. So for example, if I was making a 5 gallon batch, was using 14 pounds of grains, had a target mash temperature of 158° and a boil length of 60 minutes, I can expect that I will need 8.38 gallons total --- 4.73 for mashing and 3.66 for sparging, and my initial strike water temperature will be 171°F.

There's a great article that talks about calculating mash water in more detail along with a link to an excel spreadsheet that gives you the ability to plug in some numbers and come up with your totals. It's a decent read and will help take the mystery out of figuring out your mash water needs.

So with that formula and my result of 4.73 gallons (rounded to 4.75) of mash strike water at 171°F, if my grain and room temperature is truly what I set it to, that 171° should cool down to the general ballpark of my desired mash temperature of 158°. And my ability to maintain that steady temperature directly correlates to how well my mash tun is insulated and sealed up. So if you're just using a plain ol' kettle as your mash tun, consider wrapping it up in a sleeping bag or something that will help keep the heat in and keeping your stirring activity to just the initial mix of grains to water. For every time you open that lid and stir, heat escapes and the temperature will likely decrease one or two notches; so resist the temptation to open up your mash tun unless it's absolutely necessary.

Container options

This is probably the most flexible of all mashing options, so therefore you can use a variety of containers for your mash tun --- a picnic cooler, a large stock pot, a used stainless steel keg, or even a big bucket. Whatever you use, ensure that:

• It's sanitary
• You can keep it insulated
• It's a gallon or two larger than your ending volume of wort
• Is easy for you to use and clean

I've used those 10-gallon Rubbermaid coolers from Northern Brewer, outfitted with brass valves --- and provided that I get my strike water volume and temperature right, I can generally hit my target mash temperature. But I've had my moments and ended up adding near-boiling water to my mash to bring the temperature up. I swore that my beer would be screwed up, but I've proven that it's pretty hard to mess up beer brewing with small mistakes.

But even just a plain old kettle will work, too. You just have to make special considerations to keep it insulated and warm.

Heat source options

With single-infusion mashing where you're simply mixing strike water and grains, it basically comes down to how you wish to heat up your strike water --- stove top, propane burners, electric coil heaters, "heatsticks", etc. The only complexity involved is the transferring of your strike water to the mash tun; and frankly if you have two hands and are strong enough, it doesn't have to be that complex --- lift and dump, dough-in your grains. Done.

But what if you're having a more difficult time controlling that mash temperature? If you find yourself continually adding more and more hot water to try and bring the temperature up, perhaps it's time to consider heating options that involve more interaction between your mash tun and a heating element.

Recirculating Infusion Mash System (RIMS)

Not to be confused with Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System (HERMS), the RIMS system recirculates your wort out of the mash tun, through a direct heating mechanism such as a heat stick, and back into the mash tun. Maintaining a steady temperature in your mash relies not only on your initial strike temperature, but also using the right temperature in your heating element as the wort is pumped out of your mash tun, up through the heating element, and then back into the mash tun.

Right off the bat, you're going to need a pump and the necessary plumbing to take it from mash tun, to pump, to heater, and back to mash tun. So plan on spending at least a hundred bucks there.

Container options

Like the previous heating method, you can pretty much use the same containers for mashing so long as you can recirculate your wort out of the mash tun, down through a pump, back up through a heating element, and back into the mash tun. So there aren't necessarily special container considerations. Where you do have those extra considerations is in the heating element that is required. And that can be pricey.

Heat source options

Let's face it, about your only option is electricity. Because you want full control of your temperature, you will likely want to make a heat stick that uses a digital control system to monitor and adjust your temperature. Heat sticks are usually made from hot water heater replacement parts and will generally require 220 volts to power and have to be jerry-rigged into some plumbing from your pump back up to your mash tun. If you're not comfortable messing with electrical components and know how to make them in such a way that they'll perform well and safely with liquids, then RIMS is definitely not for you. I've seen some RIMS setups that are undoubtedly cool, especially with their digitally controlled heat sticks.

Beyond needing the 220 volts outlet to handle the high electricity demand to heat up large volumes of water, there are some who've demonstrated that it's also very easy to scorch your wort, whereby ruining your beer. Overheated beer...bad. 154-162°...good. So there is that to consider as well: how easily can I screw up my beer? Direct contact of wort to a heating element always has its risks...and burnt beer is one of them. Electrocuted brewer is another. I'm not really partial to either, myself.

Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System (HERMS)

The HERMS system is similar to the RIMS system in that you are recirculating the wort, sending it out through the false bottom, down through a pump, into the container for heating, and then back into the mash tun. The significant difference is that the wort doesn't come in direct contact with the heating element.

Most HERMS models send the wort through a copper coil positioned in a kettle or container of heated water (to the desired mash temperature) and then out the coil back into the mash tun. The obvious advantage of this system is that your wort is heated by its ambient environment (the copper coil immersed in hot water) and runs less of a risk of scorching.

As with RIMS, you'll need a pump and the necessary plumbing from and back to the mash tun. In addition, you will need coiled copper pipe to connect to your line for immersion. The flow essentially looks like this:

Mash > Pump > Immersion Coil Heater > Mash

Container options

While your mash tun can be pretty much anything in this scenario, your heating tank (often called the hot liquor tank) should be such that it can either support being heated from underneath by propane/gas burner or electric heater coil, or an electric heater coil immersed inside the vessel. Used stainless steel kegs and large stock pots will work best.

And because you're essentially just heating up water, you really don't need anything fancy --- just a container that you can heat up, measure the temperature of the water safely and accurately, and fit a copper coil in for the recirculation and heating of the wort.

Heating options

While you can get by with a simple electric coil heater or even a stove top, this is probably where propane burners excel. You can externally heat the vessel and have a relative even distribution of heat throughout the water.

If there's one thing that's certain, it's that there are a host of opinions on the subject. One quote I came across in someone's forum posting read: "There's never a consensus about ANYTHING in the brewing community. If you ask 10 brewers a question you'll get 12 different answers, and 3/4 of them will be opinions without any actual experience in it."

It's true. Just get out there and try what you think might work for you. If it doesn't work out, move onto something else and share about your experience with others. Heck, post your experiences as comments in this post. I'd love to hear of your experiences.

One other option: steam

I'll be the first to admit that there are probably more mash heating options out there than I know about, but this is one that I came across that took me by surprise --- heating with steam.

The idea is that you heat up water in a pressure cooker with a shut-off valve attached to it. From that valve you run it to whatever you're trying to heat up. While you probably could send it directly to the mash tun, my instincts tell me that you're going to end up with unevenly heated wort and risk scalding your grains as well.

So this might be a case for a heating technique for the HERMS method, still keeping the source of your heat away from the wort and using the ambient temperature to heat it up. In this case, you might send the steam into a bottom shut-off valve in your hot liquor tank.

My summary and assessment

The two perhaps safest options are the baseline single-step infusion method (add the water, stir and leave it), and the HERMS method with an external heating source that works best for you.

For my situation I want it to be flexible, allowing me to use either electric or propane heating methods --- and for me the HERMS method seems both the safest and the easiest to use, while giving me even more control when it comes to temperature regulation. So when I begin the process of planning out my brewing rig, I will probably be using something based on this heating method.

And because other people have unique experiences of their own and brewing/heating methods they prefer, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Post your comments below!