Doing my first partial mash today and I'm worried that I didn't break up my grains enough. Had to crush crystal malt and some toasted pilsner malt. I used a wine bottle on a cookie sheet. How big an effect will this have on my wort?
What happens if you don't crush your grains enough?
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ArcaneXor
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It'll reduce your efficiency and flavor contribution from the grain. Investing in a mill, or having your grain milled by a local shop or online retailer are going to be much more effective at giving you a consistent product.
Tim_Kreitz
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Beezy
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If you get 30-40 % eff it's going to be like water.
It'll be thin and more hoppy than you had expected.
onipar
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Looks like the bulk of your fermentables will come from the DME anyway, so you may not have to worry very much. Take a gravity reading before you chill the wort (making sure to adjust for the temperature difference). Compare the reading to the OG your recipe says you'll have. If it's close, you are okay. If you feel it's too low, you could add extra DME, LME, or even a little sugar to add to the fermentables.
The reason I suggest doing this before you chill is because then you should be able to simply add the extra sugar straight to the wort and it will dissolve. If you chill first, you might have to boil the sugar in a little water to dissolve it before adding to the wort. That's okay too though.
temptnmonkey
Well-Known Member
Is this a 5 gallon batch?
You are pretty light on your malt totals. You should target a OG of 1.060-1070 range for an IPA. You're on the bottom tier of IPA (about 1.055) here.
Maybe add another lb of light DME?
But yeah lower malt efficiency means a lower starting gravity (less fermentables) which means less for the yeast to eat... and if you put in a traditional IPA hop bill, it will be unbalanced. If you reached your est. OG, then I imagine all is well.
You are pretty light on your malt totals. You should target a OG of 1.060-1070 range for an IPA. You're on the bottom tier of IPA (about 1.055) here.
Maybe add another lb of light DME?
But yeah lower malt efficiency means a lower starting gravity (less fermentables) which means less for the yeast to eat... and if you put in a traditional IPA hop bill, it will be unbalanced. If you reached your est. OG, then I imagine all is well.
Ravenshead
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Is this really a partial mash or are you just steeping your specialty grains? From your recipe, it looks more like your steeping (though pilsner really needs to be mashed IIRC).
If you are steeping the lack of a good crush won't really hurt too much. If it is mash, I still don't think it will matter too much since you're only mashing 1.5 lbs. That's just not a large enough portion of the total sugars to make a huge difference.
If you are steeping the lack of a good crush won't really hurt too much. If it is mash, I still don't think it will matter too much since you're only mashing 1.5 lbs. That's just not a large enough portion of the total sugars to make a huge difference.
Ravenshead
Well-Known Member
If your grain is in a bag and you are just soaking for a while in the brew kettle than you are steeping.
If you soaked them in a seperate container for about an hour at a specific temperature (150 F to 158 F)and then drained the resulting wort into your kettle than you did a partial mash.
If you soaked them in a seperate container for about an hour at a specific temperature (150 F to 158 F)and then drained the resulting wort into your kettle than you did a partial mash.
Grains soaked in hot water (150F-160) for 30 minutes. I then took the bag out and put them in 1/2 liter of water at the same temp for 5 more minutes and then added that water to the kettle and then added my DME and hops for a 60 minute boil.
Ravenshead
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Yup, that's steeping. I wouldn't worry too much about the crush. It's not as critical with steeping as it is with mashing.
I'm guessing that toasting the pilsner helps with starch conversion. Regular pilsner needs to be mashed to work.
I'm guessing that toasting the pilsner helps with starch conversion. Regular pilsner needs to be mashed to work.
If you "steep" at 150-155 for 30 minutes or more with 1.25-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, and then rinse with more water, that's a mash! It can be in a bag, and still be a mash. The actual conversion takes place with a prescribed amount of water at a prescribed temperature- the way it happens really doesn't matter a bit.
Mashing only 1.5 pounds of grain won't produce much in the way of fermentables anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Mashing only 1.5 pounds of grain won't produce much in the way of fermentables anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Germelli1
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When I do partial mash, I brew in a bag so I just crush in the blender. Not ideal but you don't have to worry about flour or stuck sparges
Ravenshead
Well-Known Member
Now that I read it again you're right. It's kind of an easy partial-BIAB that doesn't require much in the way of special pots or equipment. I like it.
Begs the question though, where is the line between steeping and partial mash? Before I went AG, I used to "steep" my specialty grains in 150-ish water for about an hour. Then I would squeeze the bag to get as much water out as possible. Then bring the pre-wort up to a boil, add my extract and ..yada..yada.. I called that steeping but I guess it could also be called a no-sparge-BIAB-partial-mash too. I realize that I was using way more water per pound of grain than typical for a mash (3 gallons for 3 lbs max.) but where is the limit?
onipar
Well-Known Member
Now that I read it again you're right. It's kind of an easy partial-BIAB that doesn't require much in the way of special pots or equipment. I like it.
For me, I simply define it based on whether or not there are grains present that require mashing (and it's being done at the correct temps and times to extract the fermentables).
Now that I read it again you're right. It's kind of an easy partial-BIAB that doesn't require much in the way of special pots or equipment. I like it.
Yep, that's all it is. If there are grains that are converted during a mash, and you've provided the proper time, temperature, and the correct amount of water, there will be conversion. That's actually what a mash does- takes starches from the grain, and through enzymatic activity, convert them into fermentable sugars.
You can steep crystal malt all day long, but without a basemalt, there will be no mash. The actual mashing converts starches to sugar, so you need the enzymes present. You can mash a very small amount of grain, like in this case 1.5 pounds. Or a very large amount of grain. The size of the grainbill isn't what makes a mash- it's providing malt with diastastic power in an environment that will allow conversion.
I used a combination of instructions from the Papazian book and Deathbrewers sticky on easy partial mash brewing. I ended up with an OG of 1.058 after adjustments for temperature. I now realize that I used an extra 50 grams each of the crystal malt and the pilsner malt. So now I'm unsure if this means I crushed the grains enough or if the the extra grain was what allowed me to come closer to my target of 1052-1056. Or if, as others have suggested, that maybe the grains don't have that much of an impact in this recipe.
