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Getting back into brewing after a few years of self-imposed absence. Rethinking a number of aspects of my technique. For example, I have always added water to grain, but frequently had trouble hitting my target without tweaking after with hot water or prolonged time with the lid open. Thinking about shifting to the opposite: adding grain to water. Since the tun and strike water temperature will have already stabilized, it seems likely to yield easier and more consistent temps. Palmer advised against this to avoid thermal shock of enzymes. I can see it occurring if you were adding grain slowly to a large mass of liquid, but if you dumped all your grain in at once and immediately stirred, I can't really imagine that this would risk denaturing more enzymes than occur when the strike water initially hits the grain bed the other way around. Any thoughts? Links to more updated articles/podcasts on the subject? (I've Google around a bit but most of what I found is just discussion on Palmer's original statement, without any science to bring it up to date on the homebrew scale.)

It basically sounds like the same thing I do as a BIAB'er and it's never something that I've been told to worry about.
So I can't imagine it'd be any different dumping your grains into a tun already filled with strike water.


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I'm in the add grains to the water camp, and I add to my full water volume. I consistently have well attenuated beers so I think it's a non-issue.

RubberToe wrote:I'm in the add grains to the water camp, and I add to my full water volume. I consistently have well attenuated beers so I think it's a non-issue.

Same here. I add grain slowly to full volume of strike water, haven't had attenuation issues.

jason.loxton wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 06, 2017 8:04 pm

Since the tun and strike water temperature will have already stabilized, it seems likely to yield easier and more consistent temps.

This is exactly why I switched to grain-to-water and since doing so I have hit my temps much more consistently. I also get far fewer doughballs (granted, the 24" whisk probably helps a bunch with that too). I know analogies between cooking and brewing don't always hold, but I also note that when baking you almost always add the dry ingredients to the wet and never all at once. If you stir while you're adding and keep a decent flow, I don't believe you're in much danger of thermal damage to enzymes. And even if there is some damage, I'm pretty sure that in most grists you've got way more enzymes available than are needed for conversion. If anything, I've seen a slight increase in efficiency since making the change, rather than a decrease.

if you add water to grain, you have a little less chance of getting clumping of the grain that results in the water not getting to all the grain. When you pour a a cup or more of grain into the water, it has a tendency to just sink as a single almost dry ball, and you have to be careful to stir it in and break it up (which can lead to hot-side aeration, which is a Bad Thing). otoh, I've always, added grain to water! Just make sure to stir well, without splashing too much.

Another "grain to water" brewer checking in. I've always brewed this way, and haven't had any issues.

Grain to water full volume 1 barrel batch. Zero issues.

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I'm a water-to-grain person myself. Grain in my MLT (with false bottom) and then underlet with my pump. Rarely end up with any dough balls and temps are pretty consistent.

I do water-to-grain. I also pre-heat my mash tun for a few minutes and wrap the whole thing in a couple of thick towels to keep the heat in. My problem is that the temps in some parts of the cooler are vastly different from others. Never seems to negatively affect my efficiency or attenuation though.

jeffsmith wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:02 am

I'm a water-to-grain person myself. Grain in my MLT (with false bottom) and then underlet with my pump. Rarely end up with any dough balls and temps are pretty consistent.

I was actually going to mention that if you're doing water to grain filling from the bottom is said to reduce doughballs and work really well.

LeafMan66_67 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:10 pm

RubberToe wrote:I'm in the add grains to the water camp, and I add to my full water volume. I consistently have well attenuated beers so I think it's a non-issue.

Same here. I add grain slowly to full volume of strike water, haven't had attenuation issues.

Same process for me

Grain to water here, I went from BIAB to a cooler, so going grain to water was what I knew. Never had any apparent issue with it.