Stepping up to partial mash

Like the title says, I think I am ready to step up my game a little. For my 5th batch, I will be brewing my first partial mash brew. I decided to go with a AHS DFH 60 minute clone. I wanted to have something with good instructions for my first time so I went with a kit. I think I have a pretty good understanding of what to do. I made my starter last night in anticipation of a Saturday brew day.

That's about it really, I am pretty excited about advancing my brewing knowledge and I think this is a good step in the right direction. I don't see myself doing more than a few of these before I move on to all grain. I have only been brewing for 6 months and thanks to HBT, every batch so far has been a success. I am confident that success will continue!

Congrats!
You'll be looking up mash tun prices before you know it. It only took me one partial batch to go into all-grain.

I have to say that using Deathbrewer's stovetop PM method has worked wonders for me. I like the fact that I didn't need to buy any new equipment either. At this point, I'm satisfied and probably won't make the step up to AG.

Have fun! I think you'll find that it's worth it.

I just moved to All Grain straight from extract. I would recommend it, it's really not nearly as intimidating as you think. Drop $50-$60 on a mash tun and skip PM

Just my advice. Good Luck!

Hokie_Brewer said:

I just moved to All Grain straight from extract. I would recommend it, it's really not nearly as intimidating as you think. Drop $50-$60 on a mash tun and skip PM

Just my advice. Good Luck!

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The funny thing is, I already have a mash tun! I have a big round gatorade cooler. I also have an old sanke keg (don't worry, it is purchased) that I intend to eventually convert to a keggle. I will probably get working on them sometime this summer. The keggle will be pretty important as I currently do not have the ability to do a full boil.

Baby steps!!

Congrats! I stepped up to partial mash recently too and think it's awesome! All I could think about during it was how I can't wait to go all grain! It definitely isn't as scary as I thought it was and I'm glad other people are seeing that too!

Speaking of baby steps, a nice baby step into the AG world is to do a couple of 2.5 gal AG batches. You have the mash tun, and your PMs will mash - what, five or six pounds of grain? If you can do that, then you can make a small full-boil AG batch on your stovetop. I found that's a nice way to experiment with AG before you buy more equipment.

JonM said:

Speaking of baby steps, a nice baby step into the AG world is to do a couple of 2.5 gal AG batches. You have the mash tun, and your PMs will mash - what, five or six pounds of grain? If you can do that, then you can make a small full-boil AG batch on your stovetop. I found that's a nice way to experiment with AG before you buy more equipment.

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I actually thought about that, but I think I am going to do a few PM's and while I am working on my keggle/mash tun projects and go right to 5 gal batches.

Hokie_Brewer said:

I just moved to All Grain straight from extract. I would recommend it, it's really not nearly as intimidating as you think. Drop $50-$60 on a mash tun and skip PM

Just my advice. Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Not that simple for most of us that can't boil the full volume of an AG batch.

ChshreCat said:

Not that simple for most of us that can't boil the full volume of an AG batch.

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True. I still have to get a propane burner and a wort chiller.

Thought I would update..

Everything went fairly smooth. I was able to keep my mash temp between 148-155 for the 1-hour period. The wort was much more cloudy then I am use to seeing with extract batches but I am assuming that is normal from mashing. I had a hard time getting a good cold break for some reason so the irish moss didn't do it's job very effectively, but I'm not too worried about that. OG was 1.061, target was 1.064

I pitched my starter (WLP002) and had activity within 6 hours! This is the most active fermentation I have had yet. In less than 24 hours I had krausen to the top of my 6 gallon carboy, luckily I used a blow-off tube. My only real concern is that the fermentation was so active that temps got up to 72 degrees. Hopefully that isn't too high, I know this yeast likes 64-68.

I think I will do a few more of these to improve my methods and in the mean time, I'll start piecing together my all-grain setup.