Partial Mash/partial boil

I want to do a partial mash. It willl be my first,but can only do 3-4 gallon boil. Is it ok to do a partial mash with a 3-4 gallon boil? Seems like all i have read is to do a full boil.
Thanks
ToBrew

No its fine do it this way. Do your partial mash, get your 4 gallons of wort, boil it down and use a late extract addition to get your gravity to where it needs to be, taking into account the top off water post boil to get to 5 gallons.

If you stick to extra light or light DME and late extract, you'll get a SRM that's about right, and normal hop utilization, as well as the more complex flavors that mashing gets you vs. using just extracts and/or steeping grains.

I've made about 30 PM batches in my 3.5 gallon boil pot. I shoot for 3 gallons mash/sparge runnings and start the boil with only that. I wait until the last 10 minutes to add my extract, this way I can still get lighter color and I really don't have to adjust the hops additions for the partial boil. It also makes cooling the wort easier because I'm topping off with 3 gallons of pre-chilled water.

If you're doing a late liquid malt extract, should I bring it back to a boil or will the hot wort (200 deg. F at extract addition) be enough to sterilize the extract by letting it sit for 10 minutes?

I am a little confused on this point. I had one DME late addition and the instructions simply said to mix into boiled wort until fully dissolved. Is there less chance of bugs and germs in DME than LME?

I shut off the burner when I add the extract, stir well and then fire it back up and start the timer back up for the last 10 minutes once it starts boiling again. It's probably hot enough to sterilize anyway, I'm more concerned about the hop boil times than anything, and it only takes me an extra 10 minutes or less to restart the boil.

I'll try that this weekend, I'm brewing an Oatmeal Stout and I wanted to add the Dark Malt Extract late just to try the technique. I know it won't affect the color of the beer because it is going to be dark one way or another but it will give me an idea as to how long it takes to mix in and restart the boil.

I have been a little disappointed with my Heffeweizen brews just because they have been much darker than I would like. They taste great and I have no shortage of takers to drink it but they have been more of a red ale color than a nice cloudy yellow.

Rubberband said:

I'll try that this weekend, I'm brewing an Oatmeal Stout and I wanted to add the Dark Malt Extract late just to try the technique. I know it won't affect the color of the beer because it is going to be dark one way or another but it will give me an idea as to how long it takes to mix in and restart the boil.

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If you have another pot, just boil the extract for 10-15 minutes in the other pot and mix the two pots together going into the fermenter. I've done my last few PM batches this way and much prefer it to stopping my boil, mixing in DME, etc.

I started using this technique when I switched to partial mashing. I do late extract add as well. I've done 2 batches this way and they are noticeably better than my prior extract/steeping grain batches. I still need to get my mash temps under control but there's not going back! I do strongly recommend using brewing software to develop your recipes as it's so much easier to plan out your schedule and ingredients.

the moisture content of LME does make it a little more suspect. I've heard of people opening a can of old LME and its molded on top.

DME is just easier to work with and is why more people prefer it.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but does anyone do this with 10g batches? I currently have a 5g MLT and am thinking about stepping up to 10g batches for some of the lower gravity beers I will do?