Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

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Death, just wanted to thank you for the instructions. I'm 30 minutes into the boil and this has been my best brew day yet. I am not sure why i was scared of partial mashes for so long, it takes longer but a much more enjoyable process.

I have an 8 gallon kettle with 4 gallons or so in there boiling away. With only a mild chlorine in the water (brewed the last 3-4 batches were fine) its nice to make sure everything is boiled away.

Only issue I had was keeping the mash temp stable, it varied between 150-158, but I'll fix that next time around.

My wife was wondering why I was reading stuff on the internet with some guy in camo though.
 
Got to be one more to say big thanks for this guide. I'm currently 'teabagging' my 3rd batch (chuckle), 2nd partial mash. Looking into converting an AG to PM for the next batch.

DB, if you can stand to hear it again, this thread has been immensely helpful to make this new addictive hobby even more fun.

Cheers!
 
Thanks for the comments, everyone. And I wear the camo because I've had it for 15 years and it's the most comfortable shirt I own ;)

Thanks DB.

I usually do 5 gallon batches and have a 7 gallon kettle. If I bought say a 5 gallon kettle, would you mash in the 5 g and boil in the 7?

Correct.

Sorry if this is a lot of questions, I just want to do this right:

It'll be beer no matter what :D

I was looking at your water ratios, so if I did 6 lbs of grain in (I think what you said) is 2 or so gallons.

Correct again...that would be about 1.33 quarts of water per pound of grain. Use this site to get your strike temp:

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

How much would you use to sparge?

I generally use an additional 2-2.5 gallons for this size batch.

Then pour the strike water from the partial mash into the sparge water?

Yep, in your 7 gallon pot, for the boil.

How many gallons would that probably be after boil?

You actually lose less water to absorption with this method than you would with a mash tun. I'd guess with a total of 4 gallons, you'll end up with a little less than 4 after you add the extract, possibly 3 after the boil.

I'm used to cooling 2 gallons in the fridge to chill down the wort after boil.

I would use a water bath in your sink or in a tub and change out the water a few times. Add ice the last couple of times, if you can. Here's been my method in the past:

cool1.jpg


cool2.jpg
 
satan sign above your sink, skull shower curtain. your either single or very lucky to have a wife like that ;)
 
Thanks, i'm certainly working on the back problem.

my absolute favorite recipes for this method are my dunkelweizens. it can be as simple as:

Grains:
3 lbs Wheat Malt
2 lbs Munich Malt
¼ lbs Chocolate Malt (pale chocolate is wonderful in this recipe)

Extract: 3 lbs Wheat Dry Malt Extract

Hops: 0.75 oz Tettnanger, hallertau or saaz (at ~4% AA)

Yeast: WLP 300

After reading a lot and thinking over about it, I brewed this recipe with your method yesterday. I could not find that specific yeast though... I decided to opt for the Darnstar Munich instead. It's already fermenting like crazy. Hope it will do the trick. I can't wait to taste it!

Thank for the recipe and more important, thanks for the great tutorial!
 
I imagine something along these lines has already been asked and answered already but I don't feel like sifting through 101 pages to find it.

I currently only have one 7.5 gallon kettle. I also have a basic 8 quart stock pot. Would it be better to make a thicker mash and use extra water for sparging or do a thin mash with less sparge water?
 
Have you considered using a Gott or Rubbermaid Cooler for your mash tun? I frequently (almost always) mash into a 5 gallon Gott that has an adapter for a valve (available at any LBS or online).

The Gott cooler (or whatever brand) is an excellent method of keeping mash at a constant temp. I also use a stainless false bottom that is 10 times better than the plastic kind that float around causing the mash to coagulate in the exit tube. Once the mash is done, you can boil that amount, which should be way less than 5 gallons, then add water at the end. You can also easily sparge back into the cooler until the wort runs clear or at the desired SG point.


Be sure to adjust your hop count and time.
 
I imagine something along these lines has already been asked and answered already but I don't feel like sifting through 101 pages to find it.

I currently only have one 7.5 gallon kettle. I also have a basic 8 quart stock pot. Would it be better to make a thicker mash and use extra water for sparging or do a thin mash with less sparge water?

I like to mash at 1.5 quarts per pound of grain. However, 1.25 quarts per pound works well, too. Anything less is unadvised. I generally sparge with less water and often even top-off instead of running all my water through the grain.

You would have to do a pretty small sparge with an 8 quart pot, especially since you need to leave room for top-off.

I would go with one of two options. Use a lot of grain and do a "no-sparge"...this can be a little more spendy as you will get low efficiency, but it works well. Option 2, use a "pour-over" sparge by mashing in your big pot and then using the 2 gallons of water from your other pot and pouring it over the grains while they sit in a colander over the big pot.
 
Have you considered using a Gott or Rubbermaid Cooler for your mash tun? I frequently (almost always) mash into a 5 gallon Gott that has an adapter for a valve (available at any LBS or online).

The Gott cooler (or whatever brand) is an excellent method of keeping mash at a constant temp. I also use a stainless false bottom that is 10 times better than the plastic kind that float around causing the mash to coagulate in the exit tube. Once the mash is done, you can boil that amount, which should be way less than 5 gallons, then add water at the end. You can also easily sparge back into the cooler until the wort runs clear or at the desired SG point.


Be sure to adjust your hop count and time.

I don't know how you are talking to here, but I think you're missing the point of this method. The main point is minimizing the amount of equipment you need to start with. Most brewers would only need to buy a bag to use this method.
 
I like to mash at 1.5 quarts per pound of grain. However, 1.25 quarts per pound works well, too. Anything less is unadvised. I generally sparge with less water and often even top-off instead of running all my water through the grain.

You would have to do a pretty small sparge with an 8 quart pot, especially since you need to leave room for top-off.

I would go with one of two options. Use a lot of grain and do a "no-sparge"...this can be a little more spendy as you will get low efficiency, but it works well. Option 2, use a "pour-over" sparge by mashing in your big pot and then using the 2 gallons of water from your other pot and pouring it over the grains while they sit in a colander over the big pot.
So for 5 pounds of grain, could I mash with 1.5 gallons and then sparge with something like 2.5 gallons and then simply top off with 2.5 to have a 6.5 gallon pre boil volume?
 
I am also in a similar situation. I've mashed with 1,25 qt/lb in my kettle. Then, once it's finished, I put the grain bag aside and transfer the mashed water in my bottling bucket. Then I put back the grain bag in my kettle, and put sparge water and let it sit for 10 minutes, covered. Once it's done, I remove the grain bag, and put back the mashed water that is in my bottling bucket to mix it with the sparged water. I can then proceed with the boil.

I know this is probably not ideal, but I can brew while I wait to get another kettle. And this way, I am able to mash and sparge with enough water. As sanitation goes, usually more transfer means more risks, but then, everything is boiled for minimum 60 minutes afterward.
 
So for 5 pounds of grain, could I mash with 1.5 gallons and then sparge with something like 2.5 gallons and then simply top off with 2.5 to have a 6.5 gallon pre boil volume?

5 lbs. x 1.25 qts/lb = 6.25 qts = 1.56 gallons

1.5 gallons mash for 5 lb is okay, but it's kind of the minimum, according to DeathBrewer. Based on his advice, 1.875 gal. would possibly provide better efficiency.

That's $.02 from another amateur, heh.
 
Whats up death. Listen im also in the same situation as you space and equipment wise and Id like to run a good 5 or 6 lb mash in addition to extract as you did. This would also save money in the long run since grain is cheaper than extract and would also add more general quality in comparison to full extract runs in my opinion. I havent run partial mashes before and I have some questions about your procedure.

First off, how much grain and extract did you use in your partial mash, I missed that during your tutorial. Secondly, Im trying to understand why you use 150 degrees for 30 mins and 170 degrees for 10. I understand that 150 degrees brings the sugars out via enzyme and 170 will destroy the now unwanted enzymes. What I dont understand is why not just use 150, 160 or anything up to a boil for sparging since youre going to full boil the wort anyways. Lastly how long did you boil your grain wort + extract mix. Im sorry if you mentioned any of these things I may have missed something reading through.
 
"Listen im also in the same situation as you space and equipment wise and Id like to run a good 5 or 6 lb mash in addition to extract as you did. This would also save moneyE=gust in the long run since grain is cheaper than extract and would also add more general quality in comparison to full extract runs in my opinion. I havent run partial mashes before and I have some questions about your procedure."

Ok, I am not Death here but let me chime in here because I think there are some general misconceptions that many new brewers have. I used to be an AG Nazi, just so you know. I used to think that if it weren't AG, then it probably was not worth brewing. I graduated from kits rather quickly and brewed for a few years strictly AG.

I decided that AG was taking a LOT of my time, adding 60-90 minutes to each brew.. sometimes 120 minutes if you count the extra time for cleanup. But at LEAST 60 minutes each brew was taking place.

Quality? Well, not so fast here. I would prefer to say I have more "Artistic Freedom" but I would dare say the beer is exactly the same if not better if I use at least SOME extracts.

Price cheaper? Again, not so fast. Initially grain is cheaper but when you factor in cost to process and loss of product due to efficiency, I start to question the ACTUAL savings. What about your time? Let's factor in $5.00 an hour. What is that worth toward the cost of extract?

I am not saying that AG brewing is bad. In the most technical terms, it probably allows for a wider expansion of what you can do with beer. However, I think it is not wise to discount using some extracts. I have been doing Partial for over 4 years now with an occasional AG. I don't use the canned kits, but that is my preference.

I am just saying not to be limited in thinking that just because you don't do AG that things will be BAD. The beer is going to be excellent if you do the other things well. Saving time has GOT to be worth something if you are like me and have to work a busy schedule.
 
First off, how much grain and extract did you use in your partial mash, I missed that during your tutorial. Secondly, Im trying to understand why you use 150 degrees for 30 mins and 170 degrees for 10. I understand that 150 degrees brings the sugars out via enzyme and 170 will destroy the now unwanted enzymes. What I dont understand is why not just use 150, 160 or anything up to a boil for sparging since youre going to full boil the wort anyways. Lastly how long did you boil your grain wort + extract mix. Im sorry if you mentioned any of these things I may have missed something reading through.

Now for the second answer. The amount of extract one uses can vary depending on the recipe. If you want to convert the amount of grain that extract is equal to, then it is about 75 % for LME and about 60% for DME. Usually partial mash substitutes only the base malts and then you use the rest of the specialty malts for the flavor and color.

Sparging at 170F is about the optimal temperature you want to sparge at. Any higher will produce some very nasty polyphenol reactions that are not desirable.
http://homebrewandchemistry.blogspot.com/2007/11/tannins-and-icky-beer.html
 
Ya beerman, this is going to be a partial mash. Im going to use 6 lbs 2 row and 2lbs dry light. I think partial would be optimizing between all grain and all extract. So Im going for a sculpin clone which is supposed to be all grain but I think this will do.

This is my first partial so check this out.
122 protein rest 10mins
140 enzyme rest 10 mins
150 starch to sugar 40 mins
170 mash out sparge 5 mins<----this was my question. the higher the temp below 170 the more sugars I can sparge out without harming my combined wort. Is that correct?

now I can combine this sparge wort from 170 to the now beginning to boil mixture of extract and original grain wort correct? I intend to add bittering hops at this point and boil this whole mix for 45 minutes- 1 hour. Am I on the right track with this? So the total time for this should be about 2 hours. Up from the original 1 hour for all extract brewing.
 
DeathBrewer,


I must say that it's quite amazing that this thread has been going for over two years! Nice!

Here's my question for you:

If I were to mash for the full 60 minutes, do you think it would be best for me to add my specialty malt about thirty minutes into the mash process? So as not to extract tannins from, say, Black malt. Or is this really something to not worry about?

I ask this because I recently had the opportunity to brew with one of the brewers from a nearby brew pub. If I'm not mistaken he added the specialty malt at the 30 minute mark. I just wanted to run this by you to see if I'm being an overly concerned ******.

Thanks so much.

And, thanks for this awesome information!

-Adam
 
don't know if it's here in the 102 pages, but which would yield better:
1) letting the bag sit in the sparge water for 10 to 15mins and then pouring wort in, like is described here,,or:

2) putting the grain in a colander over the wort pot and sparging by pouring over the grain slowly.

Just curious, I can do either but wanted to know what others thought.

thanks
Joe
 
One is fly sparging and one is batch sparging.

I think the consensus (if there is one) is that fly sparging (the method DB uses) is better, but either works. Fly sparging is certainly more safe, since it doesn't involve pouring extremely hot water, potentially spilling it on delicate flesh. ;)
 
thanks, he mentioned also that a longer than 10mins in the batch sparge yielded better conversion. Have we determined what that number is?

big thx!
 
any info on how much longer than 10mins to leave in sparge for better conversion??
I know for all grain sometimes you can sparge for an hour, just wanted to know as I am doing this tomorrow, with my 5gal cooler.
 
I don't think he meant leaving it in sparge water for more than ten minutes will yield better conversion. I think he meant better efficiency by dissolving more sugars, and making it easy to lauter that sugar. Conversion happens during the mash, not the sparge. The sparge is meant to raise the temperature of the mash to make it easier to lauter the wort. The hotter the sparge water, the easier the lauter. I''m pretty sure whether you batch or fly sparge, that's true. I'm pretty new to brewing, but I've read a lot about all grain. If DB said conversion, then maybe that's true, but I'd be curious to see where he said that.
 
So let me see if I have all this right.

Anything listed on this list
as must mash can be used for this method?

Step 2, I can leave this on the stove to keep the temperature correct? Does it matter if lid is on or off?

Does length of step 2 vary by grain type?

Step 4.5 Does it matter how much sparge water there is? Yours is 1 to 1 vs the mash. Lets say I only need 1 gallon for mash and am going to do a 3 gallon boil, would I still sparge 1 to 1, so 1 gallon or could I just put the 2 gallons in at that point.

Right now my brew pot is 16qts, if I needed a 2 gallon mash some day could I sparge in just 1 gallon then add the mash wort and continue on like a regular extract batch?

Is this thread considered just a intro to partial mash? Are there more techniques that are really worthwhile?
 
I'm going to ressurect this thread Threadus ressurectus!! there, I've done it;
anywho I've been all grain for quite some time, my brother had tasted my last batch of beer (Dirty Blonde Ale) and liked it so much, he wants to try his hand at brewing, so, over christmas when I head back to Mass, I'm going to show him how to make beer!
But I couldn't remember the last partial I did for the life of me, so I searched and stumbled upon this, gave it a read, and it reminded me of the process I used to use. I started with a partial many years ago (never did any full on extract) so I think thats where I want to start him, AG isn't that much more difficult as far as process is concerned, it's the extra (well bigger) equipment and grain volume that make it more difficult, and hell I used to make pretty good PM beers **pat myself on back**, so it should be alright.

I wonder how pissed my mom is going to get when both of us show up and mess up her kitchen, get hammered, and leave 5 gallons bubbling away in her closet...
 
I have a BIAB question, how sweet should the mash taste?
I brewed one last weekend and it was barely sweet at all.

Here's the grain bill (it was a Chimay Blue clone)


(partial grain "big tea bag" method, start with around 6 gal water)
2 lbs. Munich Malt
.5 lbs. Belgian Caramunich
.5 lbs. Belgian Aromatic
.5 lbs. Belgian Special B
1 lbs. Torrified Wheat

60 minutes at 155ºF
 
I have a BIAB question, how sweet should the mash taste?
I brewed one last weekend and it was barely sweet at all.

Here's the grain bill (it was a Chimay Blue clone)


(partial grain "big tea bag" method, start with around 6 gal water)
2 lbs. Munich Malt
.5 lbs. Belgian Caramunich
.5 lbs. Belgian Aromatic
.5 lbs. Belgian Special B
1 lbs. Torrified Wheat

60 minutes at 155ºF

It all depends on the gravity of the wort, as well as the individuals perception of sweet.

That isn't a lot of malt to be overly sweet. Also keep in mind that the malt you do have has very low diadastic power, meaning the 2lbs of Munich is barely enough to convert itself, along with the specialty malts. You may not have got an incredible amount of sugar from them.

That in mind, what about after your boil? You would have boiled off water, and that should definitly taste sweet.

This is all IMO as I don't do partials. I don't even know how I'm linked to this thread, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents.
 
Yeah, I'm still learning about diastatic power and whatnot...
If I do a repeat of this one, should I add in some 2 row to provide enzymes?
 
Yeah, I'm still learning about diastatic power and whatnot...
If I do a repeat of this one, should I add in some 2 row to provide enzymes?

I would say yes, maybe a Belgium Pale Ale malt if you want to stick with the Chimay, but would probably need a good amount to have enough diastatic power to convert the 2.5lbs of specialty malts. 2-Row will get the job done, use at least 50% base malt and have good results with my PM's (typically 5lbs 2-Row, and 2.5 to 4lbs of specialty)
 
Yeah, I'm still learning about diastatic power and whatnot...
If I do a repeat of this one, should I add in some 2 row to provide enzymes?

Well, I don't know, I'm not a partial brewer, but it seems to me that it would be a great place to start
 
Hello all. I've been on hiatus for over a month. Sorry if I missed any pressing questions. Please re-post if you are still waiting for an answer. I should be around more often now that I have a computer again.
:mug:
 
After heating the strike water to the right temp and adding the grains, do you remove the pot from the heat all together, or do you leave it on low? Last time I tried a PM (my fist PM btw) I had a really hard time keeping the temperature at 150F-152F and found that it went above 170F a couple times (I added cold water to cool). If you remove from heat, do you worry about temp loss and do you check the temp while you are mashing?

thanks for the help btw. Also are you still doing 3 batches a week?
 
After heating the strike water to the right temp and adding the grains, do you remove the pot from the heat all together, or do you leave it on low?

Depends on how well your pot holds heat. If it can maintain, then yes, remove it. Some people wrap it in a sleeping bag or fire-proof insulation to hold the temperature. I personally turn the burner on and off to make up for heat loss... but that's not very precise.


Last time I tried a PM (my fist PM btw) I had a really hard time keeping the temperature at 150F-152F and found that it went above 170F a couple times (I added cold water to cool).

Sounds like your heat source is pretty finicky, but also, maybe your thermometer isn't super accurate. Are you sure you weren't just measuring layers of heat in your mash (stratification)?


If you remove from heat, do you worry about temp loss and do you check the temp while you are mashing?

Some people worry more than others. Yes, you should check the temp while mashing. I hover like a Momma Hen over her eggs when I mash. ;)
 
After heating the strike water to the right temp and adding the grains, do you remove the pot from the heat all together, or do you leave it on low? Last time I tried a PM (my fist PM btw) I had a really hard time keeping the temperature at 150F-152F and found that it went above 170F a couple times (I added cold water to cool). If you remove from heat, do you worry about temp loss and do you check the temp while you are mashing?

Pre-heat the oven to your desired mash temp (or just below), then just pop it in and set the timer. I like to mash around 152, so I pre-heat to 150F. The one issue is my ovens lowest setting is 170, so i set there and watch the heat rise till 150, then shut off. I don't get worried about being completely precise about hitting mash temp with the oven, this is just minimizing loss vs being at room temp, just don't go over and raise your mash temp.
 
I always use a RubberMaid or Gott cooler for my mash tun. I have a stainless steel false bottom (worth every penny) to keep the big particles out. I mash in at about 170F if I am using 6 or more lbs of grain. Less than 6, I have to adjust the final mash usually by adding some cold water. It is always easier to cool than to heat in my case. The coolers hold the correct temps for an amazing amount of time. I run two or three Vorlauf cycles before adding the wort into the kettle.

I am pretty happy with using coolers for the mash tun and I even convert them to cooling towers when I am done mashing.
 

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