OK...first attempt at partial mash and I used this method. I am pretty sure I messed up. Not that the beer will be bad. Just that I think I had really bad efficiency.
I had a problem keeping the mash between 150 and 155. When I put the grain in the 170F water dropped to 148. So I applied some heat and got it back to 154 and wrapped up the pot. 10 minutes later and the temp was down to 144. So I applied more heat and gave the mash some stirring. Then when I was back to ~154 I removed from heat and wrapped it up again. 15 minutes later I checked and the mash was at 161F. So left the lid off and stirred it for a little while. It some time but the mash returned to 153. Then I back to below 150.... You get the idea.
In the end when I checked the gravity of the 5 gal wort prior to pitching the yeast my reading was 1.040 (had hoped for something closer to 1.050). If the reading it correct then I believe I managed only 50% efficiency. Normally when I have brewed extracts and I missed my expected OG I'd just chaulk up as poor mixing or something like that.
Can poor mixing once again be the problem with a partial mash? My boil was only about 3gals.
Sounds like what I went through a couple hours ago. This was my second brew and my first partial mash. For the first 20 mins it was up down up down. For a while hovering around 160, then I put water in to chill, and overshot and it got in the 140’s. Then I heated it up again, but too much. Finally got it to level out at 155 and I wrapped it in a towel wrapped in tinfoil (as seen in this thread) but over the rest of the hour it dropped (I think I need a thicker towel and more tinfoil). Went down to the low 140’s near the end but I said the heck with it, I did an iodine test and there was full conversion at that point anyway.
I was shooting for 1.050 but got 1.042. Guess that works for a wit?
I won’t be too hard on myself, it was my second beer and there was no sign of any starch and I had a lot of fun. I think this is an awesome method and I can’t wait to make my third beer (a porter) with it in a few weeks.
I've often had the temp drop when I have too much headspace and/or not enough insulation. It always seems to go down to 140°F and stick there. I wonder what that's about. In any case, it still made fantastic beer
More important is hitting your temp the first time. It still takes some getting used to and changes a little with different equipment, but you can get a better handle on it by using promash or this calculator:
Deathbrewer, is there any reason this couldnt work for a 5 gallon all grain batch in two 30 qt pots? I got a turkey fryer for $30 and am thinking about getting another one.
There is a link in my sig for stove-top all-grain. Two 30 qt pots will work fine. I use a 5 gallon pot for the mash so there is less headspace and less heat loss, but it limits the amount of grain I can use, so it is only for smaller beers. A 30 qt would allow you to do any size beer, although you might strain your back lifting that heavy bag.
Alright so last night my roommate and I did our first Partial Mash using this technique. It went alright but im pretty sure my conversion wasnt very good. We had to split the sparge water into 2-2gallon pots due to not having a 3 or bigger gallon pot to sparge (what do u think deathbrewer?).
So we had the same problem with getting the temperature to stay consistant pretty much most the mash period. I used a floating thermometer for the first time and probably wont use that thing again because of how many hot and cold spots those things hit. It looked like everytime i took a reading it would vary 10-15 degrees everytime. Sometimes it would say as low as 140 and other times as high as 165 maybe even 170 at times. Lesson learned but how do u manage to keep the temp in a 5 gal pot with only 2 gals of water? Seemed the headspace was way to much and thats why the temp keeps changing.
We brewed blacklab's (i think) cascades/orange pale ale and boy did it smell good during the brew. I forgot to take a gravity reading and had already pitched the yeast and thrown the airlock on so i wont be able to do the conversion math but im sure its pretty low. We did 10 minute sparges in each of the 2 gallon pots with 1 gallon of water so it sparged for 20 minutes. I figured this might help the efficiency out a little bit. Any ideas as to how this might turn out?
I've found that the glass thermometer is the best tool for reading the temperature of the mash. Any other thermometer will also be subject to hot and cold spots.
One reason for getting wild readings is impatience or being overly concerned. Calculate your strike water so you should be in the neighborhood of your intended mash, mash in and cover for at least 5 minutes. This will allow the temperature to stabilize and you should get an accurate reading. If you need to correct, add a small amount of hot or cold water, stir well and let it sit for another 5 minutes before checking the temp again.
I'm sure it will turn out fine...it would be nice to know what your efficiency was, however, or it's all speculation. Why do you think you got poor efficiency? Bobby_M has a thread regarding double-batch sparging, which is what you did in essence. It increases efficiency.
And everyone, please don't worry too much about your mash temp dropping. Get it in the range you want, keep it covered, and let it sit. As I've said many times, I've often had my partial mash batches drop down to 140°F by the end of the mash. I've never experienced any off flavors or poor conversion due to this...simply a drier beer, which I prefer
7 lbs of grain with 2.5 gallons of water (1.43qt/lb) gives you a total of 3.06 gallons for your mash
Is there an easy way to guesstimate how much grain/water you can fit in a X-sized pot? I have a 24qt currently for extract brewing and I am thinking of getting a larger pot for full boils while using the 24 for mashing.
Would I be able to get away with, say, 8 or even 9 lbs of grains in there?
edit -- just answered my own question - the calculator linked a couple posts up has a function for this. Cool!
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Brauhaus 2151.
Yes these are bruises from brewing. Yes I'm comfortable with that.
BB1: EdWort's Apfelwein
BB2: IDA2 In the Doghouse Pale Ale
Bottled: IDA In the Doghouse Ale, JSW Citrus Wheat (Yuzu/Kabosu), FTS Oatmeal Stout, J2SW Citrus Wheat (Yuzu/Kabosu
/Shikuwasa), NBA Nut Brown Ale
So its been approximatly 30 hours and its been my most vigorous fermentation yet ( 3 extract, this one Partial Mash) of course this is only the second time i have used dry yeast. Two of my extracts were wyeast liquid yeast and were good ferments but not very vigorous. Any chance its because there was a decent conversion and the yeast have plenty of sugar to feast on from the malt? (yeah i know i forgot to take a hydrometer reading....it was a long drunken night the night before so brew day was rough but still fun)
Honestly, no way of knowing. I'm sure it'll be good, tho. Chalk this one up to experience, enjoy the beer and be sure to take that gravity reading next time.
I just tried this method tonight, with some modification. I only have one kettle, so after mashing, I racked the "first runnings" to a bucket, then lautered in the kettle and racked the first runnings back into the kettle once the grains were removed.
I'm a little stymied by my hydrometer reading, though. My grain bill was:
5 lb American 2-row
6 oz Crystal 40L
2 oz Belgian Special B
5.25 lb DME
With an assumed efficiency of 70%, some software (beer tools pro) tells me I should have gotten an OG of around 1.072. But I'm measuring more like 1.080, which implies an efficiency of ~90%! This really can't be right, somehow. It's fine to take a hydrometer reading directly from a wine thief cylinder, right? It's not too narrow or anything? Is there a certain amount of time one should wait (for the heavier particles to fall to the bottom of the carboy) before taking the OG reading?
It could be a poor mixture of DME or you could have ended in a little less than 5 gallons.
Or it could be right. I often get close to 90% efficiency when I do large scale brewing and it has happened before with this system (but not common.) Just make sure you mix very well when using extract. Particles aren't really a problem.
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