Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

Because it is not just to change the temperature. You want to "rinse" your grains during your sparge to extract sugars. Think of it like this: After your mash is done, sugars like to "cling" to the grains, so they have to be rinsed off.

There are essentially two types of sparge:

1. Fly Sparge. This is where the grains are kept in a mash tun. It is drained from the bottom while being filled at the top, so there is constantly water running over the grains inside and extracting the sugars.

2. Batch Sparge. This is pretty much what we are doing with this method. In a true mash tun, the wort is drained from the bottom completely, then more water is added, the grain is mixed up and it is drained again.

3. There is another method: No sparge aka BIAB (brew in a bag). This is where a high concentration of water is used with your grains and then the bag is lifted up and left to drain. This method can work well for some, but I'm not sure how high you can go with the water without problems in the mash and I'm not convinced effiency won't suffer from this method.

I do not think that adding more water to the initial boil pot would work well in extracting the sugar from the grains. It also comes into how much water you can fit in a pot. This method is designed for stovetop, where many people use very small pots.

DeathBrewer said:

Because it is not just to change the temperature. You want to "rinse" your grains during your sparge to extract sugars. Think of it like this: After your mash is done, sugars like to "cling" to the grains, so they have to be rinsed off.

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Wouldn't tea-bagging, stirring, splashing, etc., and all of the added fresh water all help rinse the sugars off of the grain? Yes, you probably won't get as much sugar off the grains as with other methods, but I would think you should still be able to get a large amount of the sugars off, especially if you sparge for (let's say) an extra 10 minutes.

DeathBrewer said:

I do not think that adding more water to the initial boil pot would work well in extracting the sugar from the grains.

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I guess this is the part that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. I don't understand why not.

DeathBrewer said:

It also comes into how much water you can fit in a pot. This method is designed for stovetop, where many people use very small pots.

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Indeed, but if someone has only 1 medium sized pot instead of 2, I think this might be a decent workaround. Plus, you'd only have to clean 1 pot instead of 2.

LVBen said:

Wouldn't tea-bagging, stirring, splashing, etc., and all of the added fresh water all help rinse the sugars off of the grain? Yes, you probably won't get as much sugar off the grains as with other methods, but I would think you should still be able to get a large amount of the sugars off, especially if you sparge for (let's say) an extra 10 minutes.

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Time doesn't really make a difference...the work should be done rather quickly...unless you're counting fly sparging (a slow trickle will extract more than a rush of water...in regards to channeling). Besides, sparging too long at too high a temp will extract tannins and give you an off flavor.

LVBen said:

I guess this is the part that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. I don't understand why not.

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Because the wort is saturated with sugar and can't extract more sugar. You're not "rinsing" the grain, you're just making the wort a little more diluted. The sugars will still "cling" to the grain unless you rinse with water that can extract it. Also, when you drain the bag, much of the sugars will stay with the grain, which would otherwise be rinsed off with the new sparge of water.

LVBen said:

Indeed, but if someone has only 1 medium sized pot instead of 2, I think this might be a decent workaround. Plus, you'd only have to clean 1 pot instead of 2.

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I just rinse my mash pot with hot water and it's clean, so nah...I think you're getting overly lazy

If you want to use 1 medium-sized pot, I would recommend doing a "pour-over" sparge:

1. Use your medium-sized pot to mash (be sure to leave headroom for more water
2. Heat up additional water in 2-3 small pots or saucepans for your sparge
3. Use a colander to hold your grain bag and let it drain for a moment
4. Pour the additional water over the grain bag and into the pot. This is your sparge.

That will give you higher efficiency and much better flavor than simply pouring more water in.

So... basically... 2 gallons of fresh water is better to extract sugar than a combined 3 gallons (1 gal of mash water and 2 gallons of fresh water)?

Kinda. It's not just "fresh water", it's the fact that it's being rinsed. I could get into reiterative mashing, but I don't want to "muddy the water" as I often do.

I mean, I'm sure it will work, but why bother when you can get better efficiency doing a "pour-over" sparge. Also, if you're going to use all the water, why add it? You might as well just do a "no-sparge" from the get-go. It just seems counter-productive to me.

DeathBrewer said:

You might as well just do a "no-sparge" from the get-go. It just seems counter-productive to me.

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Yeah, you are right! I read some posts about no-sparge vs batch sparging. Sounds like what I am describing is no-sparge and the differences in efficiency can be small enough to be worthwhile. I can just add all of the water at the beginning. Using 1 pot, 1 batch of water, and no transferring grains from one pot to another (and no re-clamping) is simpler to me and leaves fewer chances for mistakes (i.e. accidentally spilling the grains).
It sounds like people can get 70% efficiency with no-sparge as long as they make sure their conversion is high and don't use ridiculous amounts of grains. I'm not going to get 85% efficiency anyway since I don't have the equipment for fly sparging, so the difference is really only about $1 or $2 of extra grain to buy for a 5-gallon batch.

Thanks for the info.

Edit: Now I'm 2nd guessing myself. Maybe I will get better conversion with less mash water.

LOL...don't second guess...just go for it.

Try one beer with the no-sparge and try one with the "pour-over" sparge...you'll figure out what you like.

Me and my best friend did an all-grain brew last night. He made an MLT, but he didn't quite get the fittings correct, so it had a leak, and we couldn't use it. We ended up doing a stove-top brew with a pour-over sparge last night. We used a 7.5 gallon pot for the mash, a 3 gallon pot for heating water, and a 6 gallon bottling bucket for the pour over sparge. We had 13 pounds (10 base, 3 specialty) of grains and used a 5-gallon paint strainer bag. He made a few decisions that may have messed up the efficiency a little bit, but it was his beer, so he made the calls. We ended up with approximately 69% efficiency.

~70% efficiency is pretty standard with these methods. Sounds like it went well.

Yes, it was definitely a success!

Quick question: I'll be doing my first PM recipe on Sunday, so just wanted to find out if I'm thinking the right way. My recipe has 4.5lbs of grain, so should I still use 2 Gal of water for the mash, or should I calculate it at 1.25 qt / gal? This would give me a bit over 1.5 gal? Does this make much of a difference? Should I just got with 2 gal for mash and 2 gal for sparge?

I'm also going to pick up two 5 Gal pots, as the 32 qt pot I currently have is HUGE and does not leave me enough room to heat the sparge water at the same time. Just want to make sure 5 Gal is def big enough?

Actuallly you can just buy 1 20-22qt pot and i use the normall kitchen one for the litttlle other water to boil..Use the 32qt for the first mash and final boil...then when i take my grain bag out i put the 8"stainless strainer over the same pot and put two or 3 qts poured slowly over the grain to get most of the sugars off and then to the 22 qt pot at 166 degrees..I start heating the big pot right away and desolve the Extract in it also...then the smaller post has about 1.5 gallons and then when done in the 22 qt pot i put the bag in the stainer again and use the smaller 3rd pots water to pour over slow again then is done by me.......

fotomatt1 said:

Quick question: I'll be doing my first PM recipe on Sunday, so just wanted to find out if I'm thinking the right way. My recipe has 4.5lbs of grain, so should I still use 2 Gal of water for the mash, or should I calculate it at 1.25 qt / gal? This would give me a bit over 1.5 gal? Does this make much of a difference? Should I just got with 2 gal for mash and 2 gal for sparge?

I'm also going to pick up two 5 Gal pots, as the 32 qt pot I currently have is HUGE and does not leave me enough room to heat the sparge water at the same time. Just want to make sure 5 Gal is def big enough?

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That'll work fine. I generally use a 1.5qt/lb ratio now (or 1.4, whatever rounds off nicely) when I do all-grain.

5 gal is definitely big enough for a partial boil. What type of stove are you using that won't fit the 32qt and a single 5 gal?

RC4U12 said:

Actuallly you can just 1 20-22qt pot and i use the normall kitchen one for the litttlle other water to boil..Use the 32qt for the first mash and final boil...then when i take my grain bag out i put the 8"stainless strainer over the same pot and put two or 3 qts poured slowly over the grain to get most of the sugars off and then to the 22 qt pot at 166 degrees..I start heating the big pot right away and desolve the Extract in it also...then the smaller post has about 1.5 gallons and then when done in the 22 qt pot i put the bag in the stainer again and use the smaller 3rd pots water to pour over slow again then is done by me.......

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The pour-over method is getting popular, I see

DeathBrewer said:

What type of stove are you using that won't fit the 32qt and a single 5 gal?

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I'm in a small apartment and only have a 24" wide stove. Only good thing about it is that I can fit the 32qt across two burners to get it to a boil faster.

First attempt at this method last night. Biggest problem, I think, was the malt not being properly milled. I don't have a mill so I just used a rolling pin and my kitchen counter. I don't even know what properly milled grain looks like so I think I may have gone a little light b/c I was scared to turn it to powder.

My OG after mash, but before extract addition, was only 1.015 so I think my effeciency was pretty poor. Not a huge deal, I added some extract late in the boil and that brought it the number up to target.

Everything else went according to plan and I had airlock activity less than 12 hours later. Nothing aggresive, but steady bubble music. We'll see.....

Thanks for the thread, it has been really helpful.

fotomatt1 said:

I'm in a small apartment and only have a 24" wide stove. Only good thing about it is that I can fit the 32qt across two burners to get it to a boil faster.

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You only need one pot on a burner at a time. Just mash in a smaller pot and set it aside (wrapped in blankets, if you want, to maintain heat) and heat your sparge water in the big pot.

tysonj55 said:

First attempt at this method last night. Biggest problem, I think, was the malt not being properly milled. I don't have a mill so I just used a rolling pin and my kitchen counter. I don't even know what properly milled grain looks like so I think I may have gone a little light b/c I was scared to turn it to powder.

My OG after mash, but before extract addition, was only 1.015 so I think my effeciency was pretty poor. Not a huge deal, I added some extract late in the boil and that brought it the number up to target.

Everything else went according to plan and I had airlock activity less than 12 hours later. Nothing aggresive, but steady bubble music. We'll see.....

Thanks for the thread, it has been really helpful.

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Definitely the problem. I would by pre-milled for anything more than a pound, or it's a true PITA.

Whats the story on storing pre-milled? It's is not available where I shop so that means that I would have to order online and may want to order in bulk to save on shipping costs.

I wouldn't store shredded grains for more than a week, and that's if they are stored in a tight container (they usually come in a sealed bag) in a cool, dry place. If you want to save money in the long-run, get a mill.

DeathBrewer said:

I wouldn't store shredded grains for more than a week, and that's if they are stored in a tight container...

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Great site. This is my first post.

Just as a antidote relative to grain storage, I’m in the middle of an interesting experiment. I had concocted a detailed micro batch (1 gal carboy) AG clone of Celebration Ale. I purchased the ingredients but ended up just leaving the cracked grains (in only a brown paper shopping bag, taped shut) and hops (in small thick ziplock baggies, that I sucked the air out of) and yeast (pouch of Safale US-05) in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator for – get this – 2.5 years! I decided it was time and just brewed it up. I could not hardly believe that the yeast took off within the hour. I did not even hydrate them. Just pored evenly across the surface of the wort, per the instructions. I fully expected to wait a week and see no action and just dump it, or possibly throwing good money after bad, to go down and purchase some new yeast and pitch it and just generally expected terrible brew. (It was well over a year after the yeast’s stamped expiration date.)

The weight of the grains decreased dramatically (from 2.8 pounds down to 2.12 pounds) However, they tasted to the mouth and smelled just as fresh cracked grain. I couldn’t believe that either. I expected dry cardboard, or at least to have SOME idea that they were old. I assume water has slowly evaporated out, and that accounts for the weight diff.

I didn’t adjust anything in the recipe. I’m used to 5 gallon AG batches, and this little micro caught me out and I over boiled it way down to under half a gallon. I decided to not add water (because I’ve never done that – somehow admitting defeat) and just went with it in the spirit of experimentation. So what - it’s stronger (like Bart Simpson and his all syrup slushy.) Dry hopped. Hops looked, smelled, and tasted the same. I just bottled, and it turned out that I ended up with exactly one large Grolsch style bottle of beer (used 2 coopers drops). I’m a few days into a four week conditioning wait.

Talk about a hand crafted “aged” specialty beer… Unbelievable amount of time and energy to make a single bottle of beer! I almost can’t wait.

Anyway – although I’ve not actually tasted the beer yet, I have no problem with having crushed grains (or dry yeast) stored in the refrigerator for ANY amount of time. That bugaboo has been definitively killed in my world. I used to get worried if the grain was in there for two days! Waaaahahahahahah.

DeathBrewer said:

I wouldn't store shredded grains for more than a week, and that's if they are stored in a tight container (they usually come in a sealed bag) in a cool, dry place. If you want to save money in the long-run, get a mill.

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What is wrong with leaving crushed grains in an airtight container for a short amount of time? I have some crushed crystal 60L I bought a lot of and use it from time to time. I haven't noticed any change.

Of course, there is still a minor amount of moisture in the grains, which is why the previous post noticed a decrease in weight. Perhaps I am getting away with it because they are specialty grains? Never even gave it a thought.

Fresh grain > Old grain

It will work for years, but that doesn't change the fact that fresh ingredients will make for a better beer, unless you are specifically trying for something different.

You can get away with it forever, just as ipso posted, but don't count on your yeast being good after 2 years, don't count on your grains tasting fresh after a month in storage, don't count on your hops being good after years of storage.

So, yes, it will work. That doesn't mean you should do it

I've got 2 of these under my belt now... to figure out my efficiency I basically fiddle with the efficiency number in Beer Alchemy until I get my O.G.

I got 55% on my first one, 50% on this one. What's one thing I can focus on next time to try to boost the efficiency? i'm following the steps pretty closely.

I'm using 1.25 q/lb for mash water. Would a little looser mash boost efficiency maybe?

I gotta say I love this method. 3 tries, 3 times >80%efficiency

Thanks so much for posting this :rockin:

It may have been covered in this thread, but I don't have the energy to read through 87 pages trying to find it, hahaha.

I'd love to try a partial mash for my next batch but I only have one 5 gallon pot. My next biggest pot will barely hold 1 gallon of water. Could I mash in a fermentor bucket and heat my sparge water in my 5 gallon pot? Would there be too much heat loss from mashing in a plastic bucket? What if I wrapped it in blankets?

Sure, that will work fine.

This is an awesome thread, and I apologize if this has been addressed somewhere earlier in here, but I'm confused about the part where you steep the grains in the ~170 degree water after the primary soak in the ~150.

1: I thought that the purpose of steeping in the lower degree water is to avoid releasing tannins at a higher temp. Wouldn't steeping in the higher temp afterwards release those suckers? It apparently doesn't since you've been using this method for a while, I just wonder why...

2: What does steeping in the hotter water add to the flavor? Is it basically just shocking the rest of the goods out of the grain that wasn't achieved in the 150 water?

Thanks for the awesome thread.. Despite my confusion, I used your method last week on a chocolate oatmeal stout where I needed to get the oatmeal flavor/body with this method. I racked it yesterday and it smells pretty good.

residue said:

This is an awesome thread, and I apologize if this has been addressed somewhere earlier in here, but I'm confused about the part where you steep the grains in the ~170 degree water after the primary soak in the ~150.

1: I thought that the purpose of steeping in the lower degree water is to avoid releasing tannins at a higher temp. Wouldn't steeping in the higher temp afterwards release those suckers? It apparently doesn't since you've been using this method for a while, I just wonder why...

2: What does steeping in the hotter water add to the flavor? Is it basically just shocking the rest of the goods out of the grain that wasn't achieved in the 150 water?

Thanks for the awesome thread.. Despite my confusion, I used your method last week on a chocolate oatmeal stout where I needed to get the oatmeal flavor/body with this method. I racked it yesterday and it smells pretty good.

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"Sparging" is a better term. What you are doing is extracting the sugar from the grains. Higher temperatures absorb sugar better, but if you go too high, then you extract stuff that you do not want, so water that is approximately 170F is what is commonly used.

Temperatures of around 150°F is "mashing"...during this time, the enzymes are working on the starches in the grains and converting them into simpler sugars, which your yeast will later eat. If you mash too high, the sugars will be more complex and much of it will not be able to be consumed (and turned into alcohol) by the yeast. This will leave the beer more "dextrinous" and is not recommended by me. If you want a more "malty" or "sweet" beer, I prefer to use the malts and the yeast to my advantage...rarely do I use a high mash temp (I don't go above 154°F or so.)

Enzymes are killed at about 162°F. The main purpose of the final "sparge" is to rinse the grains of sugars that are ALREADY converted, and therefore increasing your efficiency. Basically, the sugars are ready, but they are stuck to the grain and need to be rinsed off. This is why I also recommend pouring some water through the bag before you dunk it for the sparge.

Temperatures of over 168°F (and possibly lower, depending on the time it sits, the pH and a othe factors) can result in extraction of tannins. If your sparge water is 170°F, it will drop significantly when you add your grain from the mash, so it should hopefully not be high enough to extract tannins.

DeathBrewer said:

Temperatures of around 150°F is "mashing"...during this time, the enzymes are working on the starches in the grains and converting them into simpler sugars, which your yeast will later eat. If you mash too high, the sugars will be more complex and much of it will not be able to be consumed (and turned into alcohol) by the yeast. This will leave the beer more "dextrinous" and is not recommended by me. If you want a more "malty" or "sweet" beer, I prefer to use the malts and the yeast to my advantage...rarely do I use a high mash temp (I don't go above 154°F or so.)

Enzymes are killed at about 162°F. The main purpose of the final "sparge" is to rinse the grains of sugars that are ALREADY converted, and therefore increasing your efficiency. Basically, the sugars are ready, but they are stuck to the grain and need to be rinsed off. This is why I also recommend pouring some water through the bag before you dunk it for the sparge.

Temperatures of over 168°F (and possibly lower, depending on the time it sits, the pH and a othe factors) can result in extraction of tannins. If your sparge water is 170°F, it will drop significantly when you add your grain from the mash, so it should hopefully not be high enough to extract tannins.

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Awesome, so when you stick the grain into the sparge water, even though it was initially heated to 175, the addition of that large blob of somewhat cooler grain will take the sparge temperature somewhere low enough to not cause tannin release. Thanks LV, and of course Death-B

Correct. It works different with different equipment/ratios/etc. so you just have to dial in what works for you.

DeathBrewer,

Thanks for the guide, man! I'm currently doing 5 gallon extract batches and I want to move to this method instead.

I'm currently doing full boils and not using any top-off water in the fermenter, and I want to keep doing that. Looking at your instructions - you say you used approx. 2 gallons strike water to mash in, and another two gallons later for the sparge water. So, some of that's gonna be absorbed by the grains I'm guessing, and you'll lose some to boil off - are you having to use a lot of tap water to top off and end up with 5 gallons?

If I want to use more water volume in general with your method - would I be better off having a greater volume of sparge water? I have an 8 gallon kettle currently, so I'm assuming I'd use that for sparge water, and a smaller pot for mashing - since I'm going to have to lift that one up and pour it into the other kettle.

All correct assumptions.

I wouldn't sparge with more than 3 gallons if you're only using 5 lbs of grain or so (you can risk over-sparging), and then just top off before your boil if you want to do a full boil.

Or you could use more grain AND water! I do all-grain with this method, mashing in a 5 gallon pot and boiling in a 7.5 gallon. Check the all-grain thread in my sig.

I recommend pouring some of your sparge water over the grains (a colander helps) before you dunk it in the sparge...this will increase efficiency.

DeathBrewer said:

I recommend pouring some of your sparge water over the grains (a colander helps) before you dunk it in the sparge...this will increase efficiency.

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Ok, this is the part I don't get. How am I pouring water out of the same vessel I'm about to dunk grain in? Do you have a third pot with extra sparge water? Am I retarded?

Yes, you're grabbing the water from the sparge pot. I just scoop it out with a saucepan and pour a little over the grain and let it drain into the mash (original pot.) I do a little less than a gallon and then sparge in about 2 gallons (3 gallons total) for partial mash.

DeathBrewer said:

All correct assumptions.

I wouldn't sparge with more than 3 gallons if you're only using 5 lbs of grain or so (you can risk over-sparging), and then just top off before your boil if you want to do a full boil.

Or you could use more grain AND water! I do all-grain with this method, mashing in a 5 gallon pot and boiling in a 7.5 gallon. Check the all-grain thread in my sig.

I recommend pouring some of your sparge water over the grains (a colander helps) before you dunk it in the sparge...this will increase efficiency.

Click to expand...

So what if I took my 8 gal kettle and mashed in there (there would be a lot of headspace...). At the same time, I'd have sparge water being brought up to 170. Then I took my grain bag out of the mash, dunked it in the sparge water or left it still (or whatever is appropriate) for 10 minutes.

Then what if I hung my straining bag back up in the larger mash kettle and secured it with the binder clips, and slowly poured all my sparge water through the grains? Would this work?

EDIT: and then if I wanted to get to 6 gallons pre-boil, I'd just top off with tap water - not talking about oversparging or using more than the 3 gal you're suggesting.

Before I answer this...if you are using your 8 gallon for mash, what are you using for sparge? If you have a smaller pot (4-5 gallons is best) then that would be better for mashing and using the bigger pot would be better for sparging.

If I'm reading right, you CAN do a pour-over sparge without dunking or dunk without a pour-over. I find that using both gets me pretty consistent ~75-80% efficiency.

Well I'm not doing any of this yet - and I only have the one 8 gallon kettle. I don't mind purchasing a small 4-5 gallon to mash in though. I guess it's the using the saucepan to dip into the sparge water for the pour-over part that is confusing me. How do you know how much of the sparge water to dip out? Why wouldn't you want to use all of it?

When you say this part:

I do a little less than a gallon and then sparge in about 2 gallons (3 gallons total) for partial mash.

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Are you meaning that you dip out 1 gallon to pour over the grain, leaving 2 in the sparge water pot?

The way I'm thinking about it - if my mash was already in the larger pot, I could take the whole volume of sparge water in the smaller pot and pour it over the grain, without using the saucepan or whatever to dip it out.

Thank you in advance for being so patient with my questions - I have a feeling I'm making this harder than it is.

Arrrggg!!!! I'm so confused!



2 gals for mash, 3 gals for sparge, 5 gals for... Hell, I lost track!

I'm just going back to page one and doing it that way!

lol

burgs...I would recommend buying a 5 gallon pot to mash in. Then you can do light all-grain beers when you want to. Plus they're cheap and fairly easy to find.

Burgs said:

Are you meaning that you dip out 1 gallon to pour over the grain, leaving 2 in the sparge water pot?

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Exactly.

Burgs said:

The way I'm thinking about it - if my mash was already in the larger pot, I could take the whole volume of sparge water in the smaller pot and pour it over the grain, without using the saucepan or whatever to dip it out.

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That will work, too.

Burgs said:

Thank you in advance for being so patient with my questions - I have a feeling I'm making this harder than it is.

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No problem...I tend to make things confusing when I do crazy stuff like the pour-over addition