Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

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Thanks for the write up; here's a question. If a person was to steep at 155*, or thereabouts, for 45-60 minutes, that would be like a mash, would it not?
 
yes, but there is a difference between mashing and steeping: the grains you use.

you need grains that have diastatic power. if you look at the grains at briess you will see the DP 140 on 2-row and you see that specialty malts, crystal malts, etc. do not have any diastatic power. basically, they do not contain enzymes and in turn cannot convert starches into sugars.

so, if you have grains included in your mash that have diastatic power, you are in fact doing a mash. if you are just using crystal malts, you are steeping.

it also depends on the amount of water you use. you can steep in a larger amount of water, but for mashing you want somewhere between 1-2 quarts of water per pound of grains.

i generally use 1.25 quart per pound when i do all grain. it gets a bit thinner with this method.

that being said, i still use a small amount of water at 155°F, even when i do a simple steep.
 
munich has diastatic power, but really only enough to convert itself. so yes, you would be doing a mash, but you may wish to throw a tiny amount of 2-row in there to help out, depending on your quantities.

read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastatic_power, it helped me

so according to wiki, you need a DP of 35° Litner or more.

Here is a comparison of different base malts and their diastatic power, in order from highest to lowest:

Red Wheat: 165
White Wheat: 160
6-row: 160
2-row: 140
Pilsen: 130
Vienna: 130
Rye: 105
Pale Ale: 85
Munich: 40
 
I'm headed to my LHBS tomorrow to pick up ingredients. I'm doing my first PM Thursday morning, a version of BierMuncher's OctoberFAST for a family party in late October. This tutorial will be used and I'm sure will be quite helpful.

Another thanks.
 
+1 for sticky.

Just like shecky for my next brew I will be doing BierMuncher's OktoberFast and this tutorial is just what I needed.

Thanks DB!
 
Well this is an excellent thread and with such it motivates me. However i am held back by a lack of knowledge. When looking into grains some places offer to mill them before they are packaged. Do i need to have this done when partial mashing, steeping or both?
 
Well this is an excellent thread and with such it motivates me. However i am held back by a lack of knowledge. When looking into grains some places offer to mill them before they are packaged. Do i need to have this done when partial mashing, steeping or both?
If you don't have the equipment to do so at home, then yes.

Rick
 
Well this is an excellent thread and with such it motivates me. However i am held back by a lack of knowledge. When looking into grains some places offer to mill them before they are packaged. Do i need to have this done when partial mashing, steeping or both?

yes, the grains should always be crushed..."cracked open" is best, not milled to dust.
 
Thanks for this. It's a great thread for me, as I'm going to attempt two partial mash batches tomorrow after nine years of doing no batches. I went crazy on buying supplies and actually have enough to do a third recipe (a hefe), but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to keep the fermenting temps down so I don't get much banana (which method to use). If I'm feeling froggy after the first two, I might jump on it.
 
make a small enclosed box out of foam and stick a couple of ice packs in there against the walls (not the carboy)

you can put it together with calk and duct tape. it's cheap, fast, easy and you can easily get ~20°F below ambient.

google son-of-fermentation chiller. it's the lazy man's model of that.

you could also fill a cooler or bucket with water and put your fermenter in there. change out ice every couple of days or so.

trust me, get your temp under control. it's one of the most important steps for a quality end product.
 
trust me, get your temp under control. it's one of the most important steps for a quality end product.

+1

In my opinion the three most important things in brewing good beer are (in order):

#1 Sanitation
#2 Fermentation temperature control
#3 Quality ingredients

If there was a #4 on that list, it'd be listen to DeathBrewer's and Revvy's advice. :D
 
Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm currently swapping ice packs out of two unplugged Sanyo 4912s. The fermometer temps are staying around 68-72 and a thermo probe in a bottle of water is reading around 60-63. I was hoping the fridges would adjust to higher temps, but the best I can do is in the 50s. Coming from a barbecue discipline, I'm enjoying monitoring the temps and making adjustments, but I'm sure some sort of temp controller is on my horizon.
 
I'm planning my first mini mash using this method and a Belgian Pale ale mini mash kit from AHB. The kit has 2 1/2 lbss of Belgian pale ale malt and 1/2 lb of Caravienne.

I am going to the LHBS later and was wondering if i could add another pound or so of additional grains. Is this a good idea or not. This is my fisrt venture away from extract brewing.

What do you guys/gals recommend?
 
I'm planning my first mini mash using this method and a Belgian Pale ale mini mash kit from AHB. The kit has 2 1/2 lbss of Belgian pale ale malt and 1/2 lb of Caravienne.

I am going to the LHBS later and was wondering if i could add another pound or so of additional grains. Is this a good idea or not. This is my fisrt venture away from extract brewing.

What do you guys/gals recommend?

For a Belgian Pale throw in .25# of Biscuit malt into the minimash, it'll rock your world. :rockin:
 
here is my belgian pale. it tasted JUST like a dekonick, albeit a little more alcoholic :D

Belgian Pale

A ProMash Recipe Report

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

16-B Belgian & French Ale, Belgian Pale Ale

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.054
Min IBU: 20 Max IBU: 30
Min Clr: 8 Max Clr: 14 Color in SRM, Lovibond

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

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.75
Anticipated OG: 1.060 Plato: 14.73
Anticipated SRM: 8.7
Anticipated IBU: 22.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71 %
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: 1.051 SG 12.61 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
78.4 10.00 lbs. Pilsener Belgium 1.037 2
7.8 1.00 lbs. CaraVienne Malt Belgium 1.034 22
7.8 1.00 lbs. Biscuit Malt Belgium 1.035 24
3.9 0.50 lbs. Flaked Oats America 1.033 2
2.0 0.25 lbs. Aromatic Malt Belgium 1.036 25

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.70 oz. Fuggle Pellet 4.25 12.7 60 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.20 6.3 35 min.
0.30 oz. Saazer Pellet 3.25 2.6 35 min.
0.30 oz. Saazer Pellet 3.25 1.1 15 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP550 Belgian Ale


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

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 12.75
Water Qts: 16.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 4.00 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.25 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 154 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 151 Time: 0
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 10


Total Mash Volume Gal: 5.02 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

it took a while for the caravienne to mellow out, though, because a pound was a bit much ;)

you could add:
0.25 biscuit, 0.5 lb flaked outs, 0.25 aromatic malt

something like that, no matter what start off with small quantities. all of these malts can be overpowering if too much is used.

let us know how it turns out!
:mug:
 
Deathbrewer, I have to say that you have a great thread here and all the questions make it better yet. You have done your homework well as evidenced by your answers and that is what makes you a good brewer. I look at brewing as an art and in order to be good at it you need to study what works for others who brew well and you have done that.
 
I'm glad people are finding this thread helpful!

i've only been brewing for four years, but i treat it like everything else...there's ALWAYS something to learn. no perfect style to brewing and definitely no one way to do it :D

I've done a ton of reading on brewing but I discover something new on these forums almost every day. HBT brought me into a new realm of brewing and i'm happy to give something back. i've got more experiments on the way and will have some new threads soon :)

this weekend i'm using this method to brew my little red hen ale and another beer at a friends house. it makes everything so easy, quick, and clean.

don't be afraid of the mini mash! keep the questions coming!
:mug:
 
Ok, so me & a buddy have JUST started brewing from extract, with a basic

paint-by-numbers kit. We're going to step it up next time because I'm sure

this won't taste great like a beer could with a little more effort. So.... when

you speak of diastatic power..this is the potential of the grain to create

sugars when boiled which then ferment into alcohol? And when you speak of

"efficiency", this is the maximum % of sugars that could be produced from

said grain? And the lower the DP, the more grain you'd need? I'm just trying

to clarify what I suspect I understand already. Thanks DB.
 
this is the potential of the grain to create

sugars when boiled which then ferment into alcohol?

Grain should NEVER be boiled because it will release unwanted tannins, resulting in mouth-puckering astringent beer

And when you speak of "efficiency", this is the maximum % of sugars that could be produced from said grain?

True, many things affect efficiency such as crush, temperatures, lautering techniques, etc.

And the lower the DP, the more grain you'd need?

Some specialty grains need to be mashed to convert their starches to fermentable sugars. One way to do that in a PM is to use a %age of base malts: 2-row, vienna, pilsner, munich, etc.

Any "seasoned" brewers feel free to edit some of my material, but i believe its correct.
 
diastatic power is the amount of enzymes the grains have that are able to convert starches into sugars. basically, the enzymes break them down into simple sugars that the yeast can eat.

after conversion is complete, you remove the grains and start your boil. never boil grains.

mashing is basically "steeping" at a specific temperature with a specific amount of water/grain ratio.

efficiency is the amount of sugars extracted from the grains (converted from straches)...good efficiency rates are generally higher than 70%

So grains with a higher diastatic power can convert the starches in other grains. grains like munich and vienna can't convert much else other than themselves. you generally would only need a small amount of 2-row to convert the other grains in a partial mash recipe.

more on Diastatic Power
 
Great thread! I have a brown ale bottled and am waiting for a free night to brew my octoberfest kit, but after that I am DEFINITELY going to try this! Can we please get this stickied?:ban:
 
lol, much call for this to be stickied! i'm all for that and appreciate it, although i'm not sure it's necessary. i will be directing people here often enough and keeping the thread alive. i'm going to make improvements to the original posts soon...some clarification is needed judging by the comments and messages i've been receiving.

oh, and i've been using the 10 min sparge instead of just doing a quick "teabag" :D

it has increased my efficiency...i've been at a steady 70% the last few batches.
 
weak...tell me it didn't go back in the wort!!!

i've always had a couple of gallons available when i use my 5 gallon pot.

i think i could do my little red hen all-grain 5 gallons with this recipe, which should be about the same quantity. i'm going to give it a shot soon, maybe this weekend...
 
weak...tell me it didn't go back in the wort!!!

i've always had a couple of gallons available when i use my 5 gallon pot.

i think i could do my little red hen all-grain 5 gallons with this recipe, which should be about the same quantity. i'm going to give it a shot soon, maybe this weekend...

The seam busted RIGHT after I got done sparging in my other pot. I had just picked up the bag and was letting it drain. No grain in the wort!
 
sweet...glad to hear that. sounds like you need a stronger bag now! :D

btw, anyone that notices my pics are down it is because my web host is down. i'm sure they're working on the problem...i can't contact them at the moment.
 
Is that a common occurance? I think I will need to also purchase a stronger bag if this is prone to happening. Needless to say, if the grains fell into my wort, I would not be a happy camper... :mad:
 
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