Beersmith and Countertop Partial Mash

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mcartt11

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Anyone know the best way to set up the mash profile within Beersmith for the mashing procedure described in the article below:

https://byo.com/stories/item/507-countertop-partial-mashing

I have played around with using the single infusion mash examples that are built in but seem to either be missing something or just don't fully understand what I am doing (the most likely answer).

I am using Beersmith 2.

Thanks in advance.
 
So, to provide a bit more info, I have captured a screen shot of what my mash and sparge volumes look like. What isn't making sense is how I get 3.11 gallons as my estimated brew boil volume when I'm sparging with 2.39 gallons and should get 1.01 from my mash. By my simple math that would be 3.4 gallons as a preboil volume.

I only have a 4 gallon kettle and have previously always done extract batches with 2.5 - 3 gallon boils. So, I feel like I really can't get much over 3 gallons without risking a boilover. Definitely don't feel like I can do a 3.4 gallon boil without a problem. The troubling part however is why the software is calculating the volumes that it is. What I am missing?

Beersmith Mash.PNG
 
Definitely a case of just not knowing what I am doing. I realized after I converted an all grain recipe to partial mash that the Mash Volume Needed isn't the amount of mash produced, but is the volume the mash and water will take up in the Mash Tun. So, after all of this I think I've actually got it.

I will however say that the conversion feature within Beersmith doesn't seem to work that well. I converted both all grain and extract recipes to partial mash and the results you get are really crazy and don't seem to maximize to the equipment profiles. Not to mention that in some cases, it didn't even convert and of the malts in an all grain recipe to an extract.

It just seems easier to make a copy of a recipe and convert it manually.
 
I will however say that the conversion feature within Beersmith doesn't seem to work that well. I converted both all grain and extract recipes to partial mash and the results you get are really crazy and don't seem to maximize to the equipment profiles. Not to mention that in some cases, it didn't even convert and of the malts in an all grain recipe to an extract.

The conversion feature depends on what's in the ingredient description for a replacement. Not all grains have replacements and not all extracts have grain.

It also isn't as simple as just assigning a malt to each, either. All extracts have fermentability, which implies base malt. But, what of the darker extracts? What proportion of dark extracts should be pale or roast, or is roast even appropriate? Perhaps it's just Carafe or Sinamar for color? Is extract amber because of caramel malt or Munich? Again, what kind and how much?

I think you're correct to make the conversion manually. After all, the entire point of being all grain is to lay the flavor foundation exactly as you want it.
 
I brewed this way for the better part of the last year, and use a similar process now but have just scaled down to doing smaller all-grain batches.

I use beersmith without any issues, although with that method I don't really ever worry about getting the profile calculating correctly. The only thing you really need to worry about is getting the strike water temp correct.

I also agree about converting recipes with Beersmith being easier to do manually.

FWIW I never managed over 3 gallons of boil water without adding water beyond my mash/sparge.

I'm curious how you have 2.39gal of sparge water, though. The original BYO article calls for you to sparge in the cooler. Unless you're using larger than a 2 gallon cooler that's kind of impossible.

That being said, I recently switched to dunk/batch sparging in my boil kettle which simplifies the process greatly and allows me to use more sparge water to get my boil volume up.

P.S. I limited myself to 4lbs of grain like the article, but soon realized I could do 5+lbs of grain with no issue. I wish I had known that right off the bat.
 
What isn't making sense is how I get 3.11 gallons as my estimated brew boil volume when I'm sparging with 2.39 gallons and should get 1.01 from my mash. ... What I am missing?

The difference between the predicted boil volume and the sparge water is 0.72 gallons. This represents what BeerSmith thinks should be your first runnings volume. You show 0.45 gallons of water absorption in the mash, which is in line with the default of 0.96 fluid ounces absorption per weight ounce of grain (fl oz/oz).

Backing that up, the total of your first runnings plus absorption shows a liquor to grist ratio of about 1.25:1.

With the same water ratio, to get 1.01 gallon of first runnings, your absorption needs to be reduced to 0.34. You can find that at Options > Advanced at the top of the column.

However, I'm very skeptical that you have less than 0.7 fl oz/oz without waiting a very long time for the wort to drain out. Instead, if you typically measure 1.01 gallons for this size mash, it seems more likely that you have an extra couple of quarts inadvertently added to the mash.
 
I brewed this way for the better part of the last year, and use a similar process now but have just scaled down to doing smaller all-grain batches.

I use beersmith without any issues, although with that method I don't really ever worry about getting the profile calculating correctly. The only thing you really need to worry about is getting the strike water temp correct.

I also agree about converting recipes with Beersmith being easier to do manually.

FWIW I never managed over 3 gallons of boil water without adding water beyond my mash/sparge.

I'm curious how you have 2.39gal of sparge water, though. The original BYO article calls for you to sparge in the cooler. Unless you're using larger than a 2 gallon cooler that's kind of impossible.

That being said, I recently switched to dunk/batch sparging in my boil kettle which simplifies the process greatly and allows me to use more sparge water to get my boil volume up.

P.S. I limited myself to 4lbs of grain like the article, but soon realized I could do 5+lbs of grain with no issue. I wish I had known that right off the bat.

I have a 3 gallon cooler, so that is why the sparge volume is actually more than the 2 gallon mentioned in the article. I haven't actually done a batch yet, I have still just been playing around with numbers in Beersmith trying to get the numbers figured out to make sure I can follow the process.

I actually have a 5 gallon cooler as well, but only have a 5 gallon brew kettle. So, basically I am still doing a partial boil with extracts up to now. I plan to just do partial mash partial boil for now. Based on other posts here it seems like it will probably be better to use the smaller cooler to avoid heat loss during the mash.
 
I have a 3 gallon cooler, so that is why the sparge volume is actually more than the 2 gallon mentioned in the article. I haven't actually done a batch yet, I have still just been playing around with numbers in Beersmith trying to get the numbers figured out to make sure I can follow the process.

I actually have a 5 gallon cooler as well, but only have a 5 gallon brew kettle. So, basically I am still doing a partial boil with extracts up to now. I plan to just do partial mash partial boil for now. Based on other posts here it seems like it will probably be better to use the smaller cooler to avoid heat loss during the mash.

Makes sense. FWIW using a 5 gallon cooler would probably be fine, but you might as well use the 3 gallon cooler for now.

Sorry to stray away from the original topic, but as someone who's spent a lot of time tweaking this process, let me suggest a few things:

1) Mash as much as you can. The BYO article mentions a 4 pound mash, but I found I could easily do over 5 with my 2 gallon cooler. Since you have a 3-gallon cooler, you should be able to push that upwards of 7 or 8lbs without much trouble.

The grainbill you're playing around with right now in your calculations is at 3.75lbs. You could easily double that and have no problems mashing it.

2) Batch sparge in your kettle. I found that transferring the first runnings to the kettle, having a third vessel to heat sparge water, etc., was totally unnecessary. Mashing in the cooler, transferring the grain to the kettle where containing heated sparge water, and then transferring the first runnings into the kettle makes way more sense and is much easier.

3) Get Fermcap and boil as much as you can. I used to struggle to boil more than 3 gallons or so without boil-over issues, and then I started using Fermcap. Now I can get a nice rolling boil going at 4 gallons with no boil over risk.

For starters I'd consider mashing ~7 or so pounds of grain with 9qts of water, and then sparging with 9qts of water. With grain absorption that should leave you around a 4-gal boil volume. That should be about right, I think. Mashing and boiling as much as you can is kind of a no-brainer as you're increasing the quality of your beer and making it less expensive for basically nothing.

Just some ideas I wish I'd come up with a year ago :)
 
I really appreciate the tips. I was wondering about sparging and I like your idea of doing that in the kettle. As the grain bill got bigger, I was wondering where the limit would be. As I played around with the grain bill, mash, and equipment numbers, there was a point where the sparge volume starts to get less than the mash volume and I assumed that I didn't want to go much below that 50/50 mark.

I've never used fermcap, but will give it a try. I am likely only going to do a batch or 2 with the setup that I have now as I plan to get a larger kettle soon. My issue will then become how much I can get boiling on my stovetop. I am hoping that with a heat stick I can get a full volume boil going. If I can, then the 5 gallon cooler will help me get to the point where I should be able to make many recipes all grain. For the occasional bigger beer, I will likely just do them as a partial mash.

Of course, doing full boils brings on a whole new issue that I really haven't had until now which is getting the wort cooled quickly. With a partial boil, I use really cold water for top up and that and an ice bath brings the wort temp down quickly. With a full boil, I guess I am likely looking at a wort chiller. Or another option is to boil 5-6 gallons and just split into 2 fermentors and use my current top up process. Essentially do a 10 gallon partial mash partial boil. Choices, choices, it is one of the things that makes this hobby so much fun.

Thanks again for the tips. I'm brewing this weekend and will let you know how it goes.
 
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