Was this a partial mash?

Hi all, my wife got me a beer brewing kit for Xmas and now I'm officially an addict...

I did my first extract kit, a clone of Fuller's ESB. It's been bottled for a week and I threw one in the fridge yesterday and tried it last night

It tasted pretty good and I'm still alive to tell about it so that's good. Can't wait for 2 more weeks (plus fridge time) to see how it really came out.

I think it was a partial mash kit, it came with a bag of crushed grains that I steeped for 30 minutes. See what a noob I am, I'm not even sure if I did a partial mash!

Was this a partial mash? It still came with 6+ lbs of DME as well.

Just curious...

6 lbs of DME sounds right for an extract esb. those grains you steeped are called specialty grains. they give the brew color, flavor, and a little mouthfeel.

try this vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zK_9HQy9ME

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I thought that was the case but was little unclear. I think a lot of the clone recipe kits at my LBS have specialty grains that need to be steeped.

So now I'm on to my next brew, which brings me to my underlying question for this thread...

I know you can have pretty good luck with kits like these but some beers need to be done with either partial or all mash for best results.

I was planning on doing an American IPA clone next and was wondering if I'll have good luck with this style (extract w/spec grains)?

If not, which styles are good for extracts and which are better suited for mashing?

Thx!

Pelican521 said:

I was planning on doing an American IPA clone next and was wondering if I'll have good luck with this style (extract w/spec grains)?

If not, which styles are good for extracts and which are better suited for mashing?

Thx!

Click to expand...

Any style is fine for extract brewing, for the most part. There are some grains, like oats, that must be mashed but otherwise you can make any beer you want.

A partial mash simply uses some "base grains" instead of so much extract, to replace some of the extract in the beer.

A really great place to buy a kit, if that's what you want, is austinhomebrew.com. They have literally hundreds and hundreds of kits, and you could do an extract kit, OR a partial mash kit (and order it that way) because they have quality ingredients and instructions.

The only type of beer I'd suggest to stay away from right now is any beer that is a lager. Lagers require a bit more brewing experience due to tight temperature control and yeast requirements.

Otherwise, pick any beer that sounds good to you. Any ale, and IPAs especially, are simple to do.

Thanks, you guys are always very helpful. I'll check out austinhomebrew.com and see what they have as well.