Converting Nut Brown Recipe to Extract

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alexavery

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I saw this nut brown recipe over on the recipes forum. It got some good reviews. Would anyone be able to help me out and convert this to a 5 gallon extract recipe? (I'd boil 3.5 gallons and top off to 5 gallons)

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Nottingham
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.012
IBU: 22.7
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 16.3 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14


If you like nut browns, you'll love this one!

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.6 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4.3 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min) Hops 14.7 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (15 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Mash Grain Weight: 11.75 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.21 gal

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 14.69 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
 
How many pounds of specialty grains can you steep, and how good is your temp control during steeping?

If you have a five gallon kettle and can hold your temp go with 2-3# of pale malt and all the specialty grains as listed at 145-155F for one hour, then add 6.6# of pale LME at flameout.

I guess that is really more the PM version, but it will work pretty well.
 
I think the most specialty grains I've used so far is about 1.5 lbs. But I don't see why I couldn't steep more. I think I've got the temp control down pretty well while steeping. I move my pot on and off the burner to keep the temperature within a couple degrees either way of the target (which for me has been 155 based on my recipes from Midwest).

So thanks for the help...but now I think I am a little confused as to what partial mash is. I've been steeping grains at a constant temperature for my extract recipes. So is partial mash really that similar? Maybe just steeping a little longer than a typical extract recipe??
 
I think the most specialty grains I've used so far is about 1.5 lbs. But I don't see why I couldn't steep more. I think I've got the temp control down pretty well while steeping. I move my pot on and off the burner to keep the temperature within a couple degrees either way of the target (which for me has been 155 based on my recipes from Midwest).

So thanks for the help...but now I think I am a little confused as to what partial mash is. I've been steeping grains at a constant temperature for my extract recipes. So is partial mash really that similar? Maybe just steeping a little longer than a typical extract recipe??

Yes, the technique for steeping is very much like the technique for stovetop mashing. The main difference in technique is controlling the temperature for a set period of time and the amount of water you use. Because you need to use basemalt in a partial mash, there should always be some basic 2-row or 6-row malt to help convert the others. A good rule of thumb is one pound of base malt for every pound of specialty grains as a minimum. Also, it's important to mash in the correct amount of water. Too much water means the ph would be too high- so use 1.25-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain.

Sometimes in steeping, people add the steeping grains to the water and then bring it up to 150 degrees. In a PM, it's important to get the water up to temperature (about 5-6 degrees higher than the desired mash temp) and then add your grains. Make sure that they are "loose" in the mash water. If you're using a grain bag, that's fine but don't pack them tightly. Use a couple of bags if you have to. You want the grains to be thoroughly in contact with the water. Stir well. Then for sparging, you can either pull out the grain bag and "tea bag" it in 170 degree water in a separate pot, or lift up the grain bag in a colander and pour the 170 degree water over it. You can use up to .5 gallons per pound, to get to your boil volume.

Deathbrewer has an awesome picture tutorial, and it's helpful to "see" it in action.

For your recipe above, I'd do just as Poindexter suggested.
 
That looks like Lil' Sparky's Nut Brown - I make a partial mash version of this recipe on a regular basis. Here's what I do:

2 lb Maris Otter (you can also use 2-row, I just really like MO)
.75 lb (12 oz) Caramel/Crystal 60L
.5 lb (8 oz) victory malt
.25 lb (4 oz) chocolate malt
1 lb flaked oats
5.25 lbs light LME (or 4.25 lbs light DME), added late

I mash the grains using the grain bag/cooler method with 6 quarts of water for 1 hr at 150-152*F, then drain and sparge the grain bag in my boil kettle with 7 quarts water @170*F. Drain and remove bag, then pour the wort from the initial mash into the boil pot with the sparge runnings. Start the boil, adding hops per the original recipe. During the last 10 minutes I add the extract, finish the boil and then cool and top-up to 5.5 gallons.

+1 on Deathbrewer's stovetop PM method, the only thing I do different is mash in a 2 gallon round cooler instead of another pot. It's really easy once you figure out how to hit your temps right.
 
+1 on Deathbrewer's tutorial, I'm making the step to partial mash in the next week or two and I found his thread really comprehensive
 
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