All-grain newbie question about specialty grains

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
JesseL

JesseL

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
75
Reaction score
1
Location
Oakland, CA
Hello everyone,

I'm about to make the leap to all-grain, and I've just done the math to covert one of my favorite extract + specialty grains recipes to all-grain. My question is really simple: do I throw the specialty grains in with the base malt when I start the mash? Or should they be handled differently?

Thanks!

-Jesse
 
Add all of your grain to the strike water at the same time. Stir it well until you get to your mash temp and then wait!

Good luck on your first AG beer!
 
+1

Some of your specialty grains will have some convertible starches that your base malt will provide the enzymes to convert if mashed together. This is a good thing.

Make sure you get really close to your mashing temperature when you mash because different temperatures affect the type of sugars produces resulting in more malty or less malty (thin) beer.
 
Thank you for the help! Another question: As I'm used to boiling 3-4 gallons and then adding water to get 5 gallons before pitching my yeast, I'm uncertain what starting volume I should aim for before the boil. Some sources say 5.5 gallons, others say more. It's hard to predict how much is going to evaporate away during the boil. How much wort should I start with?
 
JesseL said:
Thank you for the help! Another question: As I'm used to boiling 3-4 gallons and then adding water to get 5 gallons before pitching my yeast, I'm uncertain what starting volume I should aim for before the boil. Some sources say 5.5 gallons, others say more. It's hard to predict how much is going to evaporate away during the boil. How much wort should I start with?
Click to expand...

When you start with 3-4 gallons, how much do you boil off? Is it the same pot?

Generally, planning on boiling off about 1 gallon an hour is a good guess, and figure about .5 gallons to trub losses and deadspace. When I brewed on my stovetop, I started with 6.4 gallons to end with 5.25 gallons. With my bigger system, I boil off a bit more.
 
Thanks, Yooper.

I won't be using the same pot. My new pot is a eight gallons, my original is five. Using my original pot, I'd lose about a gallon. Since evaporation is a function of surface area, I imagine I'd lose more from the larger pot over the same boil time.
 
JesseL said:
Thanks, Yooper.

I won't be using the same pot. My new pot is a eight gallons, my original is five. Using my original pot, I'd lose about a gallon. Since evaporation is a function of surface area, I imagine I'd lose more from the larger pot over the same boil time.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Figure even more than a gallon an hour, probably 1.5 gallons would be more realistic then.
 

Similar threads

sictransit701
Jamil’s Classic Styles Recipes Questions
Replies
4
Views
975
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
chris_
Dry irish stout recommendations?
Replies
18
Views
1K
uweschmitt
uweschmitt
P
Specialty grains contribution to OG
Replies
20
Views
2K
kevin58
kevin58
spacey
All Grain Equipment? Where to buy?
Replies
38
Views
2K
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
Nate
Beer gas cartridges?
Replies
2
Views
350
fluketamer
F
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top