uwmgdman
Well-Known Member
I don't want to start a 'the point of a PM is' debate...with that said
1) I know I could go all grain and at some point in the next 1-2 years I will....
2) I could build Rich's type PM mash tun, but I'll just save my money for the above.
3) Some say who care about the PM efficiency, it's for adding flavor/using grains than need mashing and use extract to make OG. That's fine, but for me, I disagree as I mash up to 6 lbs of grain trying to cut the needed extract amounts back and still hit my OG.
I've been doing partial mashes lately and am I very pleased with the results, except for the low efficiency of my PM.
My process follows:
In a 3 gal pot, heat 1 qt/lb of water to my calculated strike temp, remove from stove, add grain in a nylon grain bag into the pot, stir the hell out of it, put the cover on and into the 150F oven. Temp drop is only 1-3F in 60 minutes.
I then place a large colander over brew pot and pour '1st runnings' slowly over grain. While that is going on I've heated more water (1-1.25 qt/lb) to 165-170F and then after '1st runnings' are done I slowly pour that over the grain.
My efficiency is in the mid 40s. I don't want the world but mid to maybe upper 50s would be nice.
My question for anyone that has done this or just someone who's thinking about it:
Which would have the better efficiency: The method above or instead of slowly pouring the sparge water over the grains, add the grain bag to the sparge water and sit for 10-15 mins; then circulate that 'sparged wort' over the grain in the colander into the brew pot the same way I outlined above?
(So the only difference is I let the grain sit in the sparge water for 10-15 mins and go ahead like above, I'm basically thinking a mini-batch sparge will give me better efficiency, hopefully the 10-15% I'm hoping for.) Also, I should ideally be using more sparge water, but I'm limited to my pots.
Thanks for listening to my rambling. I think I'll try this method and see what I get regardless, but I'm just curious to other's input whether they've done it both ways or have some insight.
Thanks again,
Justin
1) I know I could go all grain and at some point in the next 1-2 years I will....
2) I could build Rich's type PM mash tun, but I'll just save my money for the above.
3) Some say who care about the PM efficiency, it's for adding flavor/using grains than need mashing and use extract to make OG. That's fine, but for me, I disagree as I mash up to 6 lbs of grain trying to cut the needed extract amounts back and still hit my OG.
I've been doing partial mashes lately and am I very pleased with the results, except for the low efficiency of my PM.
My process follows:
In a 3 gal pot, heat 1 qt/lb of water to my calculated strike temp, remove from stove, add grain in a nylon grain bag into the pot, stir the hell out of it, put the cover on and into the 150F oven. Temp drop is only 1-3F in 60 minutes.
I then place a large colander over brew pot and pour '1st runnings' slowly over grain. While that is going on I've heated more water (1-1.25 qt/lb) to 165-170F and then after '1st runnings' are done I slowly pour that over the grain.
My efficiency is in the mid 40s. I don't want the world but mid to maybe upper 50s would be nice.
My question for anyone that has done this or just someone who's thinking about it:
Which would have the better efficiency: The method above or instead of slowly pouring the sparge water over the grains, add the grain bag to the sparge water and sit for 10-15 mins; then circulate that 'sparged wort' over the grain in the colander into the brew pot the same way I outlined above?
(So the only difference is I let the grain sit in the sparge water for 10-15 mins and go ahead like above, I'm basically thinking a mini-batch sparge will give me better efficiency, hopefully the 10-15% I'm hoping for.) Also, I should ideally be using more sparge water, but I'm limited to my pots.
Thanks for listening to my rambling. I think I'll try this method and see what I get regardless, but I'm just curious to other's input whether they've done it both ways or have some insight.
Thanks again,
Justin