Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

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The amount of water during a mash affects which enzymes are more active, i.e., more water means a more "malty" beer. If you want a malty beer (a scotch ale, a bock) then use more water (1.75 qt/lb) or if you want a "crisp" beer (lagers especially) then use 1.25 qt/lb. Any volume in between will have an intermediate effect.

These are just approximations, the actual volumes depend on the crush of the grain, which grains you use, etc. Just remember to use more water for a more malty beer and a higher final gravity. :)

While you have a point with the amount of water, I think the values for those results are a little small. YES, water does affect starch conversion, but not as much as temperature. Different levels of temperature activate different proteins which act differently and give you a sweeter or thinner beer. Now, once you have your temp locked in for your style, water does make a difference, but not a HUGE difference. When you talk about more water making the beer maltier, you are right, but not on the level of 1.25 vs 1.75.

The amount of water only affects the ability for the proteins to find and seek out the startches. Imagin if you will, 1 qt vs 5 qts per pound (5 is wayyyy to high). With 1 qt/lb there is less volume, and less space for the proteins to travel in order to get to the startches. In a 5 qt/lb mash (which probably wouldn't work too well, but it emphasises the point) the volume is so great that the proteins and startches are too spread out (diluted) to find each other and convert the startches. So, you will get more conversion of startches to fermentables (making the beer thinner because more fermentables means more attenuation) if they can find each other easier. Now, this is true for what I just describded, but the difference between 1.25 and 1.75 isn't as intense, and you won't see that much of an effect (in fact, you'd probably get better conversion with 1.75, making the beer thinner, but you reach a point where there is too much water, and it affects the conversion in the opposite way). You can go up to 2-3 qts before it starts to go the other way.

So, the point of all this is the amount of water affects the ability for the proteins to get to the startches, however, a much more important variable for the characteristic of the beer is temperature. Different temperatures bring out different proteins (hence the idea of step mashing). These different proteins convert the startches differently, making it a better variable to control for having maltier or crisper beers. You can compound the effects, like mashing at a higher temp and more water, to get more effects, but the amount of water is just dilution, when temperature give you different animals to work with.

If I can, I always go to 2 qt (which is not that high, historically) per pound. You will get a better conversion of whatever characteristic you are going for with your mash temp. You can still have quite a crisp beer with a larger amount of water, and a malty beer with a smaller one. Temp rules the roost
 
You are correct, temp rules the roost.

Volume can make a difference, and the difference between 1.25 and 1.75 is pretty slight.

Cheers. :mug:
 
I heard this idea on a recent Basic Brewing Radio show....

The idea is to add your grain bag to the unheated water in the pot, and let the whole system come to mash temperature together.

As long as you keep an eye on the temperature, and stir occasionally, can you guys think of a reason NOT to do this?
It sounds way easier than doing all kinds of calculations, missing the temp, adding hot/cold water, etc.
 
I think the reason that people tend to think in terms of adding hot water to the grain is that the bigger set ups tend to use unheated mash kettles, adding a mixture of hot and cold water at a very specific temperature in order to get the mash right. That is also the way of people who mash in a cooler with a false bottom, they add water at a specific temperature and don't heat it any further while it's on the grain.

I can't think of a reason why a homebrewer who mashes in a pot would not add the grain directly to the water and heat them together -- as long as you don't go over temp, and as long as you don't scorch your bag on the bottom of the pot.
 
Can you combine base grains and specialty grains when you mash or should the specialty grains be steeped separately?
 
I think the reason that people tend to think in terms of adding hot water to the grain is that the bigger set ups tend to use unheated mash kettles, adding a mixture of hot and cold water at a very specific temperature in order to get the mash right. That is also the way of people who mash in a cooler with a false bottom, they add water at a specific temperature and don't heat it any further while it's on the grain.

I can't think of a reason why a homebrewer who mashes in a pot would not add the grain directly to the water and heat them together -- as long as you don't go over temp, and as long as you don't scorch your bag on the bottom of the pot.

One reason I can think of is that the bottom of the pot (where the grains rest) gets much hotter than the surrounding water temp. If you have 120F on the top, the bottom is heating up much higher to bring the contents of the pot to a higer temp. You can scortch your grains if you aren't careful. I would go slow if you want to try it, it would be much quicker to heat the water rapidly and add the grains
 
Can you combine base grains and specialty grains when you mash or should the specialty grains be steeped separately?

combine them, you will get a little bit of conversion out of the specialty grains from the base malts you mash with
 
One reason I can think of is that the bottom of the pot (where the grains rest) gets much hotter than the surrounding water temp. If you have 120F on the top, the bottom is heating up much higher to bring the contents of the pot to a higer temp. You can scortch your grains if you aren't careful. I would go slow if you want to try it, it would be much quicker to heat the water rapidly and add the grains

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/index77.html#post2648272

too everyone thinking of skipping steps
 
If you do the calculations (the easiest way is to use this calculator) then you should hit close enough to your target temperature. I personally would not heat the grain and water together. It would be too easy to melt the bag, scorch your grain, or get your temp too high. It would require constant stirring. It sounds like more work to me.

There are some crazy methods out there for grain use, but for beginners, it's always best to mash all the grains together.
 
DeathBrewer, I've finally done it! Thanks so much for the tutorial and for answering everyone's questions throughout the thread...I've really done very little at work since I've found your tutorial threads.

My friend's Paula Deen 16qt pot worked perfect head-space-wise for my 5.5lbs of grain @ 1.40qt/lb of water. It has a domed lid so I put a sheet of foil over the top flat as a false lid to cut down even more on head space, then I put on the normal lid. To my surprise (after figuring out my initial strike tempature, adding grains and stirring twice during) I only lost 2ºF over my hour long mash! That blew me away as I was skeptical that all you need to do is wrap a blanket around your pot to keep it at temperature (shame on me).
5439711347_38f5172a63.jpg


Weekend day drinking hat was a must for my first brew, couldn't let it miss all the action
5440313364_9c287e2378_m.jpg


I do have a general brewing question, though it may have been answered after page 50 of this thread (still digging through)...how do you get a 'clean' wort sample to get an accurate OG before racking to primary? I ended up grabbing a sample of wort both before (last 10sec. of boil) and after cooling (via auto siphon), I felt it was too 'dirty' w/ cloudy clouds floating around in it to get an accurate reading. Any tips?


Anyway, off to the shop this weekend to get another secondary and some more grain!
 
Regarding water volume, I am shooting for a maltier beer (Dead Guy), do you suggest 1.5qt/lb or 2.0qt/lb?

This is for a 5 gallon batch.
 
Regarding water volume, I am shooting for a maltier beer (Dead Guy), do you suggest 1.5qt/lb or 2.0qt/lb?

This is for a 5 gallon batch.

You should be more worried about your temp, I don't think you would be able to notice the difference between 1.5 and 2. If you have poor efficiency, go with 2, but if not, I've had success doing a DG clone with around 1.5
 
I plan on 152 for the mash temperature. Which recipe did you use for your DG clone?

What yeast are you planning to use? I think for something as malty as DG you will want to raise your mash temp, possibly to as much as 155-158*. I have mashed at 152-153* and fermented w/ highly attenuative strains like Wyeast 1056 or WLP 550 that came out VERY dry. You need way more unfermentable dextrins in you wort to achieve that sweetness you are looking for.

Good luck and post updates :mug:
 
The yeast will be Pacman.

The Can You Brew It episode of Dead Guy Clone with John Maier said 152 is the target temperature for the real-thing. The recpie is:

10 lbs 9.28 oz - Briess 2-Row Brewer's Malt
3 lbs, 9.6 oz - Weyermann Cara Munich II ®
1 lbs, 9 oz - Briess 2 Row Caramel 40

Perle, GR Pellets 1.41 oz @ 90 mins
Saaz, US Pellets 1.13 oz @ 1 mins

Wyeast Labs Pacman
 
I do have a general brewing question, though it may have been answered after page 50 of this thread (still digging through)...how do you get a 'clean' wort sample to get an accurate OG before racking to primary? I ended up grabbing a sample of wort both before (last 10sec. of boil) and after cooling (via auto siphon), I felt it was too 'dirty' w/ cloudy clouds floating around in it to get an accurate reading. Any tips?

I usually get my sample from the primary, just before pitching. I mix the water and wort VERY well and then take a sample with a wine thief.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cloudy. You should still be able to get an accurate reading, with few exceptions.

It should DEFINITELY be cool before you sample. You want your sample to be at 60*F with most hydrometers. Other than that, mixing is most important...with extract the sugars tend to settle and you need to shake well before taking a good reading.

Be sure to account for dilution, too, if you take a sample before you add water.
 
Step 10:
Ferment...i split this 5 gallon batch into two 3 gallon fermenters and topped off with tap water. You may not be able to use your tap water to top off...you can either boil and cool some h20 or use bottled water if you'd like. I also used two different yeasts (notty and windsor) and eventually blended them back together into one keg.

13split.jpg


As for target gravity, i usually shoot for the middle of the style at 65% efficiency. i've experienced as low as 60%, but it's usually in the 65-70 range. as this is meant to be an enjoyable brew day, i don't take a sample until the beer is finished, poured and topped off.

EDIT: Since using the 10 minute sparge, my efficiency has been at a steady 70% efficiency for the last 4 batches.

I hope this helps inspire some people to make the jump to partial mashing from extract! all you really need is the bag in addition to some regular equipment to see how easy it is. once i started doing this, there was no turning back. i regularly make partial mash and all-grain batches nearly 3 times a week now.

let me know if you have any questions on this process or if you need any easy partial mash recipes. some of my favorites are hefeweizens, dunkelweizens and cream ales, as well as the irish rye stout in my drop down.

Take care and keep brewing!
:mug:



Hey! This is AWESOME! Thanks for sharing and all the pictures really help too! I am new at brewing and have a question. To this point I've made two batches. One kit, one extract, and now I am on to a partial mash. I have all of the ingredients, except, 2row. I almost starting tea bagging my wheat malt, and other malts together...and then I stopped to ask some questions. Fortunately I didn't start because I don't think I would have ended up with enough fermentable sugars to make this beer delicious!

So, anyways...here is my recipe http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/507. Just copy and paste to your browser.

It talks about mashing, but it says nothing about 2row, and the mashing directions seem significantly different from yours.

My question is, how would you mash the malts together? How would you change this recipe to make it work?

Thanks!
 
I've just done my first mini-mash. I converted a cooler to a mash tun, but don't have a pot big enough for a full boil, plus would need a wort chiller at that point. I want to mash/lauter in the cooler, then xfer to the pot for a regular boil with extract. Made a bunch of mistakes and was nervous doing it, but believe this will still be a delicious batch of beer and can't wait to try. I hope mini-mashing gets more popular as a stepping stone or alternative to all grain. Lots of fun!
My wife uses the spent grains to make bread, it's incredible, especially right out of the oven. I chill using the same method. I find the water out of the tap is cold enough to drop the temp right down, then add ice when it needs the extra kick.
-Roscoe
 
After a few kit batches, finally got all my supplies for an excursion into Partial and AG a la Deathbrewer.

Did this last night in my narrow NYC kitchen with requisite tiny stove:
SdS.jpg


I mashed my 6lbs of Belgian Pilsener in 2 gallons of water (1.33) in my 5 gallon pot with the grain in a 5 gallon painters bag and I got nearly all of it back (no squeezing) at 1.033. Then Sparged the bag and dipped it with the rest of my water in an 8 gallon pot and headed for extract/full boil/hop additions, and now 5 gallons in fermenter A and an interminable wait.

Hit all my numbers right on with the mini mash and SG was spot on with the recipe at 1.051. Now i just have to not screw up the fermentation. Pitched at 72. It did dip to about 68 during the night but should hold 72-74 for the next day or so then i'll begin the ramp to 80...

Hope it comes reasonably close in flavor to the original i tried although it appears a bit darker; from the extract I assume.
 
How are you keeping your temp from going crazy?

Manhattan apartments are notoriously hot.

My kitchen with window open is a constant 74 (and that's the cold part of the apartment) when outside temps are 0-65 or so. I have a window fan that if turned on will bring it to 62-68 depending on outside temps and if i close that window...BAM 80.

If i need colder I've been wrapping it in wet t shirts with a fan blowing on it and windows open, if I ever need hotter I could move it to the other side of the room by the heat pipe. or wrap in a blanket.

I did a lot of test readings of temps before i started brewing in this place as I figured fermentation temps would be difficult. But it seems as long as I brew beers that like 66+ before the weather gets to hot I'm good.

In the summer i'll stick an AC in the kitchen window.
 
I know you guys dont control the heat, thats why i asked. At least you have someplace with a somewhat constand temp
 
I know you guys dont control the heat, thats why i asked. At least you have someplace with a somewhat constand temp


And lucky for me i live in a landmarked building so electricity is free. Them fans can run 24-7...
 
I will soon be doing my first partial mash, I will for the most part be using the instructions that are provided in this thread with a little change
Instead of mashing in the the stanless steel vessel, I purchased a 5 Gal Igloo Water Cooler to use as a mash tun, I decided that this size would be best to procure now Because i plan to start all grain next year and did not want to purchase a second cooler.

I decided to run a test on how well the cooler will hold temp.

Clean, Room temp Mash tun
heated 4.3 qts water to 167

After Dump Temp: 161 down 6
30 min: 152 down 9
60 min: 147 down 5 from 1/2 hour down 14 from dump

I ran the test again with the now pre heated mash tun
heating a new batch of water, 4.3 qts to 167
discarded the old water to and immediately adding the freshly heated water.

After Dump: 165 down 2
30 min:158 down 7
60 min: 152 6 from 1/2 hour down 13 from dump
90 min: 150
120 min: 145

So It appears that Pre heating the Mash tun has very little effect on the loss of heat from the vessel

Does the grain offer enough insulation to maintain the temp at 148-154?
 
That was great really helpfull. I have my first pm coming in the mail thats post makes me feel alo better about doing it. THANKS BRO
 
Doing my first pm today--thanks for taking the pics, helps a lot and don't need to buy extra equipment at this point!
 
followed your pictorial for my first stovetop partial mash and hit my OG dead on. thanks for writing this up.
 
I looked over and didn't come across this question. I read a few books and asked questions at my local HBS how long do most people primary and bottle condition? I primary for 2 weeks and so far my first batch is in the bottle for 2 weeks. The basement I use is at an ambient 58-60 degrees. I am currently doing a pale ale and a brown ale but hope to go to lagers in the future, but know they need colder temps.
 
I did my first biab last weekend using this method (although when it came time I couldn't find this thread) pretty closely. I was pretty stoked, and now I'm excited to try my next one.
 
just did Biab PM the other day and I thought about changing my brewing to accomodate this method. It's a lot easier than an AG brew day, and cuts time off the day. I've been brewing AG for the last couple of batches, but revisiting this method makes me realize that I'd definitely throw this method in between AG brews. the only thing keeping me from brewing PM all the time is the cost of extract. I do 10 gallon or more batches and am trying to keep my batch price down.
 
Can I just say I am unbelievably psyched to be trying this method on Jamil's APA this weekend?

LHBS was out of stock on Munich LME and I decided to convert the recipe to Partial Mash and mash the Munich and Victory (with a little help from .5lb 2 row) from his recipe solely because I was emboldened by this thread.

Wish me luck!
 
I looked over and didn't come across this question. I read a few books and asked questions at my local HBS how long do most people primary and bottle condition? I primary for 2 weeks and so far my first batch is in the bottle for 2 weeks. The basement I use is at an ambient 58-60 degrees. I am currently doing a pale ale and a brown ale but hope to go to lagers in the future, but know they need colder temps.

"3 x 3 x 2" is my rule of thumb (when bottling).

3 weeks primary
3 weeks bottle
2 days in the fridge

These are my minimums for "good quality". If you leave it longer in any given step, the beer gets better (except for dry-hopped beers, drink them sooner rather than later).
 
Just kegged my first partial mash last night! Just wanted to say thanks for all of the tips! You made it easy on this new guy!
 
I finally did my first partial mash yesterday, but I'm afraid that I didn't get very good efficiency from my grain. Truth be told, I didn't realize it was a partial mash kit when I bought it, but I thought "WTF, I can handle this." NB has instructions included, and I sort of followed them while referencing this article. In the end, my OG was 1.054 when the instructions said it should be 1.065, and brew calculus told me it should be 1.069. The beer is their RyePA. Here's what I did:

Heated 5 quarts of water to 162 degrees. Placed 5 lbs of grain in mesh bag into water, adjusted temp to 152, covered it, wrapped it in a towel, placed it in the oven on warm for 1 hour. Heated 5 quarts of sparge water in my brew pot to 160. Removed the grain bag from the first pot and drained as best I could and then tea-bagged it in the sparge water for 10 minutes. Drained, discarded grains, poured the wort from the first pot in with the sparge water/wort in the brew pot, and proceeded as usual with my boil. My other fermentables included 6 lbs of Amber malt syrup. It seems like I did everything right, but that's a pretty low OG.
 
... Placed 5 lbs of grain in mesh bag into water.


This may sound like a dumb question to some, but it's not:

Were your grains crushed?

If they looked like shiny brown grass-seed, and they didn't look like sunflower seed husks in course flour, then there's your problem. It's the first thing to be sure of, in my experience.

After that, considering it was a kit, I don't know where exactly you went wrong. :(
 

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