My mash

[whistlewetter]

Ok, just going to give a description of my process, I've learned a good bit here, a lot just from my specific gravity thread. To start, my recipe, I bring 5 gallons of water to a boil, add 8lbs of cracked corn. Stir continuously for 5 minutes. I then turn the heat off and stir every 6 minutes until the temp drops between 155 and 159. At this point I add 2lbs of malted barley and stir. After stirring I cover and let sit 2.5 to 3hrs. Now, thanks to this site, I take a specific gravity reading which was 1.03. I added 4lbs of sugar which brought me to 1.06. I hydrated two packs of bread yeast in hot water and once it starts to foam I add it to the carboy. Again, thanks to this site, I just built two boxes that hold two carboys each. Each also has a 250 watt heat lamp to get Temps up. I am curious to get up and see what the temp of the boxes are. Feel free to let me know if I am completely wrong or on the right track.

[awerdenty]

It looks like your process is good, but your SG is low, did you do a temp correction for the hydrometer reading? With the 8 lbs of corn and 2 lbs barley you should be just under 1.060 and with added sugar it should end up around 1.095.

What type of malted barley did you use?

[whistlewetter]

I did not I must have missed that part. How do I do the temp correction? I get the malted barley from a brewery nearby.

[firewater69]

You need to cook that corn longer, until you get the starches released (cream corn consistancy). Then bring the temp down and add your malt. you will see an increase in your sg.

[moosemilk]

I always use BigR's step cooking method for corn and it works fantastic. heat to 130, pause 30 min. Heat to 165, pause 30 min, heat to 200, pause 30 min.

Start out with your water around 155-160 and should bring you to your first temp when you add the corn. After your last rest, cool it to mash temps (or a few degrees above as adding grain will cool it some). Keep it around 148 for a couple hours after adding your malt. Good cooler or wrap some heavy blankets around your pot.

Hope this helps. Also, iodine test really helps to make sure you got your conversion.

[awerdenty]

Just google hydrometer temp correction, I use the one from brewers friend and also use them for any calcs that arent on the parent site. Some barleys have a higher diastatic power than others which is necessary for converting those starches released from the corn into fermentable sugar, the iodine test will tell you if you still have starches left to convert. 6-row malted barley is considered to have the highest diastatic power with 2-row not far behind.