Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

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DB -- or anyone skilled in partial mashing -- is there an upper limit to how much grain can go in the partial? Like, is 7 pounds grain and 3 pounds DME in the last 15 minutes for a 5-gallon batch out of the question? And if so, is there any reason not to use the same partial mash methods for an all-grain beer?
 
good question...i just made an all-grain 5 gallon breakfast stout with 9 lbs of grain using this method. it filled my 5 gallon stockpot (mash pot) almost to the top, which was great because i had zero temperature loss with the lack of head space.

the only limits would be what your container can hold and how much you want to lift (that 9 lbs was quite a bit heavier with absorption ;) still no big deal, tho. you could always use a hoist for a big beer.) make sure your bag can handle it, too.

also, remember you should use more water with more grain, so you have to have pots that are big enough. a proper amount of water to the mash and sparge will help increase efficiency. i usually put enough water in the 2nd pot so that i can do a full boil (as an example: 5 gallons of water + 2 gallons mash water - absorption = 6+ gallons preboil)
 
you should be able to get quite a bit more with a thicker mash.

this calculator works pretty well: Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators

at 1.25 quarts/lb of grain (my usual minimum), i can fit 12 lbs of grain for a total mash volume of 4.71 gallons (leaving a small amount of space)

i probably wouldn't do more than 10 lbs in my 5 gallon, tho. might get messy.
 
DeathBrewer,

Did my first PM this weekend and just wanted to say 'thanks' for this great post. I referenced it throughout the entire process. More than that, it somehow took a lot of the mystery/intimidation away.

:mug:
 
Great thread DeathBrewer, I'm on my 2nd batch of extract brewing right now and will probably do a few more until I jump to mini-mash. This will make a great reference tool. thanks.
 
Awesome thread DeathBrewer! Cant wait to try it, Could not be explained in any easier to understand terms. I need all the easy explanations I can get. Just a tip! Dont ever listen to old bald guys when it comes to hair fashion tips.
 
lol, thanks everyone!

i'm glad to see how helpful this thread has been. still need to make those edits in the beginning. i'm trying to make everything crystal clear so that jump to partial mashes (and all-grain for that matter) doesn't seem like such a feat. work is hell, i'll get it done as soon as i can.

in the meantime, keep posting those questions! it only helps people more and the feedback i have received as of yet has already helped me improve this process and gain 5%+ efficiency!
:mug:
 
I've gotta thank you as well DB, your write-up answered a lot of questions for me and I'm trying my first PM tomorrow as well. Keep up the good work!
 
You might set a large colander on top of the pot, rather than be left holding the bag. Given the bag, a canning rack (which has rather big spaces) might even work, and that has hooked handles to hold it up in place.

This might be enough to get me to give PM or even AG a try - I already have a 10 gallon brewpot and a canning element on the stove (if you don't have one, and you brew on an electric stove, I recommend them highly. You can put the original element back in and take the canning element with you when you move out). Any appliance store should be able to order one if they don't have one in stock.

I've been wary of the fuss and time of getting into AG and mashing and lauter tuns and RIMS and HERMS (which seem to have replaced RIMS as the acronym of choice, but I'm carefully avoiding finding out too much about them - trying to make beer, not equipment). But I already do a full-volume boil for 5 gallon batches and steep pounds of chocolate malt, so mashing may not really be much more work/time with this method.

:mug:
 
well, this method is supposed to minimize equipment, to. those colanders are expensive...

...i'm already in the market :D something like this:

Wire_Strainer.jpg


but bigger, set it on top of the pots.
 
I'm trying this on the weekend with your dunkel recipe. An online efficiency calculator showed 2.8% ABV with 70% efficiency. Is this right? I know somewhere you talked about raising the gravity by adding more malt?...or something. Thanks.
 
I'm trying this on the weekend with your dunkel recipe. An online efficiency calculator showed 2.8% ABV with 70% efficiency. Is this right? I know somewhere you talked about raising the gravity by adding more malt?...or something. Thanks.

Did you factor in the DME? It's a partial mash because it uses both base/specialty grains as well as Malt Extract.
 
Thanks, that's really helpful. I see 7 gallons for the boil. I was thinking of doing 2 gallons for the mash and 2 for the sparge, making it 4 for the boil....and then topping to 5.5 gallons for ferment. Should be good right? Thanks again.
 
that'll work great, except it won't be a 4 gallon boil. you'll get about a gallon that water absorbed, so you may want to sparge with 3 gallons if you have a 5+ gallon pot.

That's what i do when i do a partial boil. you'll get less utilization on the hops, but with the low ABV, it'll balance just fine.
 
sweet. so what would give me more hop utilization with a partial boil? nothing? sorry to bug you with newbie questions.
 
i wouldn't worry about it. you will get less hop utilization, but it won't make a huge difference. this is not a heavy beer and the hops are there soley for balance.

you could do a late extract addition if you want, that will help with utilization during the first part of the boil.

you could also increase the amount just a bit and aim for the high end of the range (check out bjcp.org)

i personally wouldn't worry about it, as long as your hops are comparable to what is in my recipe.

what hops are you using, anyway? it'll make a difference with the AA%, pellet/whole, and quantity.
 
Saaz pellets at .75 oz. I think I will try the late extract addition. I really wasn't specifically concerned with this beer. Just trying to get a better understanding of what's going on. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.
 
This is a VERY noob question, but when you refer to extract, you are talking about dry extract? or Liquid? In the kits that I have they have a dry one, and a liquid one that comes in a can. Thanks!
 
In this recipe i'm referrring to dry malt extract. i usually use dry malt extract (DME)

liquid is the same stuff, you just have to use a little more since it has less sugars per pound. you could use 4 lbs of Wheat LME in that recipe.

some extract in the cans are pre-hopped. if so, you'll have to take that into account when making your recipe.
 
You say 3 water changes over 30 minutes gets you down to pitching temperature.

I've had my brewpot submerged for the past 30 minutes, with one change, and I'm still hovering around 90-100 degrees.

At what point does one say, eff this, I'm buying a wort chiller?
 
The only reason i don't use a wort chiller in my apartment is because it is carpeted ;)

You're pretty close to temp, tho. what you could do is get some big chunks of ice to keep in the freezer, then add that to the water the last time you change it out.

moving the pot around in the water helps, too. when the pot just sits there, it creates a blanket of heat around it and there is not much temp transfer, so it takes longer to cool. the more you move the wort and the water around it, the faster it will cool.

if you're topping off, you could even add sanitized water or ice to get down to temp. (boiled then cooled water, that is...then put in a sanitized container and freeze)
 
DB thanks for this awesome thread. It will definitely be a thread i come back to as I am in the process of moving over to PM or possibly AG. This will def be a good help in that transition.
 
A quick question. Are these the correct ingredients? I have only purchased two kits so far, and am not familiar with grains. Thanks Death (or whoever provides feedback :)).


Chocolate Malt
- *Grain Combining Option Please do not combine these grains
- Amount 0 lb.
- Fractional Amount 4 oz.
- Grain Milling Option Milled Grain
$1.10
Munich Malt
- *Grain Combining Option Please do not combine these grains
- Amount 2 lbs
- Fractional Amount None
- Grain Milling Option Milled Grain
$4.00
White Wheat
- *Grain Combining Option Please do not combine these grains
- Amount 3 lbs
- Fractional Amount None
- Grain Milling Option Milled Grain
$5.10
Saaz Pellet Hops (US) (1 oz)
$3.99
Wheat Dried Malt Extract (DME)
- Amount 3 lbs
$11.97
White Labs Hefeweizen Ale WLP300
- BrewVint Yeast Fuel No Thanks
- Ice Pack None
$6.49
Priming Sugar (4.5oz)
$0.79
Sub-Total: $33.44
 
bear, it's much easier once you figure out your system. i know, for instance, that i experience a drop of about 6°F on a normal day when i add my grains to my preheated water. This is true for my keg mash tun, but is different in my stockpot and likewise in my cooler.

i try not to regulate too much. once i have it where i want, i let it sit for the mash. then it doesn't matter greatly how much it drops. besides, the higher you fill your stockpot, the less heat loss you will experience. so, the more grain you use the better it works!

i recently used this method with 10 lbs of grain. i think i could do 12 with a thick mash (and a bigger pot for the sparge.) i might give that a shot next week.

Mirage, that will certainly do the trick! there are always variations depending on where you buy it. i've tried that exact recipe with red wheat and white wheat, british chocolate and pale chocolate and american chocolate, belgian munich and german munich, wlp300 and wlp380, etc. it's always a winner ;)

what is the alpha acid content of those hops? that's the only thing that may be off...if they are a bit higher AA%, you may wish to use only 0.75 oz, but it will probably be fine either way.

oh, and you may wish to get an ice pack for your yeast if your shipping will take a few days. those yeasties are as important as the rest of the ingredients.
:mug:
 
Gotcha! I don't know the AA on the hops, but they only come in 1oz packages from AHS unless I am mistaken, so I was going to measure out .75 oz and save the rest. Thanks for the info on the ice pack, should I also opt for the nutrient? Where do you buy your grains from? AHS didn't have all the different kinds of chocolate. :ban:
 
ahh, i see. you haven't ordered yet. well, when they get in...let me know what the AA% is. they say it is pretty low, so you MIGHT want to use the whole 1 ounce.

I buy from my LHBS, Oak Barrel, in Berkeley. Some times i buy from MoreBeer in concord, as well. They have a website here. They have pale chocolate, which was very good.

AHS is a great store. I'd stick with your order. you can use the nutrient if you want, it can't hurt. i use it occasionally if i have some lying around or i think the beer needs it.
:mug:
 
ahh, i see. you haven't ordered yet. well, when they get in...let me know what the AA% is. they say it is pretty low, so you MIGHT want to use the whole 1 ounce.

I finally got my ingredients together and my Saaz are at 5.8% AA. Much higher than they said they would be. .75ounces? or maybe just .5?
 
assuming those are pellets, 0.75 ounces is a little high. 0.5 ounces would work, but is a little on the low side. i'd go with 0.6 ounces, especially if you are doing a partial boil. here's what promash says:

Dunkelweizen

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

15-B German Wheat and Rye Beer, Dunkelweizen

Min OG: 1.044 Max OG: 1.056
Min IBU: 10 Max IBU: 18
Min Clr: 14 Max Clr: 23 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 8.25
Anticipated OG: 1.051 Plato: 12.55
Anticipated SRM: 13.4
Anticipated IBU: 15.5
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.47 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.043 SG 10.74 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
36.4 3.00 lbs. White Wheat Belgium 1.040 3
24.2 2.00 lbs. Munich Malt Germany 1.037 8
3.0 0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
36.4 3.00 lbs. Briess DME- Weizen America 1.046 8

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.60 oz. Saazer Pellet 5.80 15.5 60 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 5.25
Water Qts: 8.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 2.00 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.52 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 153 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 0 Time: 0
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 10


Total Mash Volume Gal: 2.42 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

:mug:
 
I'm working on an online order to test out this mini mash setup....i noticed that online brew shops have fine nylon bags & coarse nylon bags....which do you recommend for this method?
 
DeathBrewer -

At the risk of sounding so redundant - Kudos on the great post. The sign of a real teacher is someone who can make it sound so simple. You have all the necessaries and none of the confusing complications.

Looking forward to trying your method this weekend as a matter of fact. I would love to see more of your recipes. Are they on The Recipator?

By the way, your hair is awesome! I noticed some others commented on it, too. As a female, I have to say - I'm jealous ;-)

Thanks again. Happy brewing! I'm sending lots of good vibes for your back problems to straighten out. I'm not sure there's much worse than problems with the back. Take care.
 

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