Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

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Although I've read the whole thread in the past, I can't remember if these questions were asked:

-Does it matter if you pour the mash wort into the sparge water or vice versa?

-Why do you prefer DME? (Maybe that's for other threads but I was interested in your opinion.) I was surprised how expensive it is, even though a little less is needed.

Thanks.
 
DME mixes well and doesn't scourch like LME, but mainly it's the convenience of storage.

I actually prefer the Wheat LME from briess over their DME. It tastes awesome...I think maybe because it carmelizes a bit during the boil? I dunno...

You are supposed to pour the wort into the sparge using this method. It's either that, or boil them in separate pots.
 
Deatherbrewer, thanks for the write up! Gave this a shot yesterday and it worked out great.

If you were to do a full 5 gallon boil recipe, how would you use the extra water? In the sparging pot?

I have a large colander and was curious, after sparging, would there be a benefit in efficiency to running some additional hot water over the grains until the water for the boil was topped off?
 
Yes, you would use extra water in the sparge pot and some additional water poured over the top will increase efficiency. I wouldn't do too much, tho, you can oversparge and extract tannins from the grains. Maybe ½ gallon poured over after dunking, the rest in the sparge pot. There may be some additional info in my Stovetop All-Grain Brewing thread.
 
Thanks, DeathBrewer, you inspired me to get some more equipment and make my upcoming batches a partial-mash 5 gallon and an all grain 2.5. My poor wallet....but thanks to your help I realized most of this was stuff I wanted for doing larger extract boils. Now, I just hope my apartment stove can keep up.
 
I'm going to make the jump this weekend on a partial mash based off your instructions.

I'm going to aim for 6.5-7 gallons of wort to boil down to 5 so hopefully i'll have a good 5 gallons when I'm done.

Thanks!
 
Hey Db.

I was wondering if it would be possible to do a protein rest at 122 for my witbier using your stovetop method.

If so, should I add boiling water to get up to mashing temp afterwards, or use direct heat while stirring?
 
Direct heat is difficult with an electric burner, but may be possible with a gas flame. Just remember that it will rise a few degrees after you turn the heat off.

I personally would go for an infusion mash for your first time...direct heat can be tough with a small volume on stovetop. Go for a thick ratio, so that you don't have to add too much water to get to temp.

Or, even better, use a decoction mash. I love doing a decoction and have never had trouble hitting my temps.

Promash can help determine your steps and how much to add. So can beersmith and many online calculators.

I can't go home for a few hours, but you're making me want to brew. I might actually have to do an extract batch tonight :D
 
Awesome write up. I am trying to verify what I have read. I just purchased a few kits from AHB (mini-mash) and was going to follow your steps.

The Nut Brown I have only has 2.5lbs of grains to mash, so then would I only need 3.125 quarts of water? Sure doesn't seem like enough? And then how much do I boil in the sparge pot?

Another homemade recipe nut brown kit has 4.5lbs of grains, so I would need 5.625 quarts of water? And how much sparge water?
 
Deathbrewer, awesome how to!!:rockin:

I am new to brewing and this site so please bear with me. I have not had the pleasure of a first brew yet, however I have read every comment on all 49 pages of this thread and I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance about the process of adding yeast before I begin. I have heard people on other threads talk about using a starter and seen some recipe using brown sugar/corn syrup added with the yeast.

Deathbrewer, could you please clarify the process about adding the yeast. Specifically the need for a starter or adding any sugars. I would love to brew your Dunkelweizen and Hefeweizens recipe that you listed but I dont want to miss some obviously simple step. Thanks!
 
Awesome write up. I am trying to verify what I have read. I just purchased a few kits from AHB (mini-mash) and was going to follow your steps.

The Nut Brown I have only has 2.5lbs of grains to mash, so then would I only need 3.125 quarts of water? Sure doesn't seem like enough? And then how much do I boil in the sparge pot?

Another homemade recipe nut brown kit has 4.5lbs of grains, so I would need 5.625 quarts of water? And how much sparge water?

You can use anywhere between about 1.25-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, so keep it simple...

With 2.5 lbs of grain, I would use 4 quarts or 1 gal of water (1.6qt/lb.) Sparge with another 1 gallon, then add water for your boil.

With 4.5 lbs of grain, I would use 6 quarts or 1.5 gal of water (1.33qt/lb) and sparge with 2 gallons.

The only reason you don't want to use more water for your sparge is you don't want to "oversparge" your grains and extract tannins. I generally use only slightly more sparge water than I do mash water...then top off if I need to. If I can, I use the exact amount of sparge water I need to reach my boil volume, but again...that's only if I have enough grain that I won't oversparge.
 
You can use anywhere between about 1.25-2 quarts of water per pound of grain, so keep it simple...

With 2.5 lbs of grain, I would use 4 quarts or 1 gal of water (1.6qt/lb.) Sparge with another 1 gallon, then add water for your boil.

With 4.5 lbs of grain, I would use 6 quarts or 1.5 gal of water (1.33qt/lb) and sparge with 2 gallons.

The only reason you don't want to use more water for your sparge is you don't want to "oversparge" your grains and extract tannins. I generally use only slightly more sparge water than I do mash water...then top off if I need to. If I can, I use the exact amount of sparge water I need to reach my boil volume, but again...that's only if I have enough grain that I won't oversparge.

Thanks for the reply. We attempted the easy partial mash the other night using a higher ratio of 2qt/lb, so now we will knock it down. Everything went smoothly except I was unable to keep the mashing pot temperature stable. Once we hit 165*, I turned the temp to low added the grains, stirred, and waited. Next thing I know the temperature dropped only 3*. Once the temp was 155, I left it alone, checking every 5 minutes. After about 10, the temp was 145, well crap...turn the burner up and warm the pot. After warming for a few minutes and stirring, the thermometer shot up to 165. We continued this battle for the whole hour.

Any tips? We are on an electric stove with a 11q ss mash pot and a 5 gallon ss boil pot.
 
Deathbrewer, awesome how to!!:rockin:

I am new to brewing and this site so please bear with me. I have not had the pleasure of a first brew yet, however I have read every comment on all 49 pages of this thread and I was hoping that someone could give me some guidance about the process of adding yeast before I begin. I have heard people on other threads talk about using a starter and seen some recipe using brown sugar/corn syrup added with the yeast.

Deathbrewer, could you please clarify the process about adding the yeast. Specifically the need for a starter or adding any sugars. I would love to brew your Dunkelweizen and Hefeweizens recipe that you listed but I dont want to miss some obviously simple step. Thanks!

As long as you have a fresh vial of yeast and you have a beer that is on the lighter side, you don't need a starter.

If you do make a starter, there is lots of information on this site, but basically you just boil up 1/2 cup of dry malt extract in 2 cups of water and cool it. Then place in a sanitary vessel, such as a 1L flask or large bottle, with another 2 cups of clean (bottled works best) water (total should be about 800mL when finished.) Add your yeast and cover with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil. Swirl it up every chance you get for 24-48 hours and then pitch directly into your fermentation vessel after your wort is ready.

If you are using dry yeast, you don't need a starter for a 5 gallon batch.
 
Thanks for the reply. We attempted the easy partial mash the other night using a higher ratio of 2qt/lb, so now we will knock it down. Everything went smoothly except I was unable to keep the mashing pot temperature stable. Once we hit 165*, I turned the temp to low added the grains, stirred, and waited. Next thing I know the temperature dropped only 3*. Once the temp was 155, I left it alone, checking every 5 minutes. After about 10, the temp was 145, well crap...turn the burner up and warm the pot. After warming for a few minutes and stirring, the thermometer shot up to 165. We continued this battle for the whole hour.

Any tips? We are on an electric stove with a 11q ss mash pot and a 5 gallon ss boil pot.

Use these calculators to find the right temps to start.

Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators

Your water need not be as warm when you are using a higher ratio of water.

After you add your grains, throw your thermometer in, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and THEN check your temp...this will give you a more accurate reading, as the temp won't fluctuate from hot spots after everything settles.

After you have hit your temp, you can cover your pot with blankets to maintain heat. DO NOT check it every 10 minutes, as you will just lose heat every time you check it. Check once, if you'd like, half-way through and

Other than that, I wouldn't worry about it. If your temp drops to 145°F after 30 minutes...no big deal...you still got plenty of flavor and sugars from it.

I would NEVER use an electric burner to regulate temperature. If you really want to control it, keep 2 seperate pots of water on your stove, one that is kept boiling and then one that is cold, that way you can add small amounts of water to change your temp. Remember to let it sit in between additions and only add a very small amount at a time to correct temp...it's best to know your calculations.

Again, it's difficult to just read the temp from a thermometer until you let it sit for a while, so the best thing you can do is get your numbers right the first time...get your system down. Use those calculators, and don't worry about a few degrees difference with this system.
 
As long as you have a fresh vial of yeast and you have a beer that is on the lighter side, you don't need a starter.

If you do make a starter, there is lots of information on this site, but basically you just boil up 1/2 cup of dry malt extract in 2 cups of water and cool it. Then place in a sanitary vessel, such as a 1L flask or large bottle, with another 2 cups of clean (bottled works best) water (total should be about 800mL when finished.) Add your yeast and cover with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil. Swirl it up every chance you get for 24-48 hours and then pitch directly into your fermentation vessel after your wort is ready.

If you are using dry yeast, you don't need a starter for a 5 gallon batch.

Thanks for the reply. So after reading your comment, logic would tell me that if I am going to brew a dark beer then I need a starter unless I plan on using a dry yeast. Does this always hold true?

Please correct me if I am wrong but basically when you are pitching the yeast you are doing nothing more than opening the pack of yeast and adding it into the cooled wort, and stirring. Is that it? I am still curious about the use of priming sugar when adding yeast. Is this something that is done everyime or only when specifically called for by the recipe?
 
Not light in terms of color, but light in terms of gravity, to be specific. A starter is to make sure you have a high yeast cell count so that it won't get "tired out" before finishing fermentation of a strong beer. A milder stout or brown ale won't need a starter, but a light colored but strong IPA or tripel will.

Priming sugar generally means corn sugar, cane sugar, or malt extract added during bottling: its purpose is to cause enough fermentation to carbonate the beer in the bottles. Sugar added to a starter should be always malt extract, since its purpose is to let the yeast feed and reproduce in a well-aerated and nutrient-rich environment before being added to your main wort.
 
I brewed my first Partial Mash on Saturday in just my 5th batch, and your pictures really helped me out. I was a little worried, but, I relaxed, I drank a home brew, and I waited. I hit my targets perfectly, and the beer smells even better than my extract batches.

Thanks, DeathBrewer! If you're ever in Cleveland, I owe you a night you're likely to forget, thanks to all the homebrew!

:mug:
 
DB, I know this is probably a noober question but here i go.. In step 2 you insert all of your grain inside the mesh in pot 1. Step 3 you heat up second pot with 2gal of water. Step 4 Drain the grain with out squeezing. Then you tea bag the grain in the second pot for 10 min..... ok here is where i am lost.... you proceed to use the second pot to make the wart add everything else to it and so on... well what ever happened to the first pot that was used for the mash... i appologise if this has already been answered but there is 50 pages of questions.. i read 30 of them.. lol.. well thanks for the help..

+1
 
you add the first pot into the second pot, and making one complete pot of your "wort". Just lightly pour it in before your "boil" with as little splashing as necessary

no worries...lots to read here...as I've said, I've learned a lot myself!
:mug:

Let me know if you need anything else.
 
Thanks for the tips. Brewed my second mini mash last night and everything worked great. It actually went so well, I think I am going to hold off on the MLT until I get into AG or bigger PM.

One question as usual: Early in the thread you spoke of efficiency...how is that determined and what affects the efficiency?

Also, following your procedure my starting gravities have been a little higher than expected, is that a problem or a benefit from PM?
 
Having a higher starting gravity means you got better efficiency than you had expected. I use promash to determine my efficiency. Basically, you plug in your recipe and, based on your starting gravity, you determine your efficiency.
 
About to try this out this weekend using my variation of your dunkelweizen...I have about 5.5lbs of grist and I have a kettle that can hold over 6 gal of water...

How much water should I be boiling with the grains and how much water in the sparge container?

Just trying to get everything mapped out to make this weekend smooth...

here is the recipe im using again

Broners&Brewbies SlamDUNKelweizen (Deathbrewer edit)
15-B Dunkelweizen
Author: Broners&Brewbies
Date: 5/31/09

Size: 5.24 gal
Efficiency: 70.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 164.95 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.050 (1.044 - 1.056)
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.010 - 1.014)
Color: 18.83 (14.0 - 23.0)
Alcohol: 4.88% (4.3% - 5.6%)
Bitterness: 14.5 (10.0 - 18.0)

Ingredients:
1.0 lb Carawheat®
2.0 lb Dark Wheat Malt
2.0 lb Munich 10L Malt
.5 lb Pale Chocolate Malt
3.0 lb Dry Wheat
1.0 oz Hallertau (3.8%) - added during boil, boiled 50.0 min
.5 oz Hallertau Tradition (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
.5 oz Hallertau Tradition (6.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
.25 oz Orange Peel (dried) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m


Notes
This recipe was derived from Deathbrewer on homebrewtalk.com. Thanks to him for giving me a great recipe to build off of! Here is a copy of the original recipe

Grains:
3 lbs Wheat Malt
2 lbs Munich Malt
¼ lbs Chocolate Malt (pale chocolate is wonderful in this recipe)

Extract: 3 lbs Wheat Dry Malt Extract

Hops: 0.75 oz Tettnanger, hallertau or saaz (at ~4% AA)

Yeast: WLP 300

ferment in the mid 60s if you can

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3


The ABV is a little lower then what I was looking for do you think it would be okay to bump the dark wheat malt up to 3lbs in beer tools it keeps me within style boundaries but bumps the abv up above 5% which is a little closer to what I wanted to see. There is also the option of doing 1.5lbs of carawheat and 2.5 lbs of dark wheat malt which gets me a little darker color (good thing) and the higher abv...I just dont want this to end up OVERLY sweet!


any tips?
 
Does that dark wheat have any diastatic power? It may not have any enzymes and, if not, you will not get good conversion from your grains...

Just looked it up, and it appears to have only 10% diastatic power, which is not enough to convert even itself. I would replace some of your munich with pale malt to ensure you get proper conversion.

That being said, this recipe works perfect with my 2 gallon mash, 2 gallon sparge. Your sparge could go up to 4 gallons, depending on your pot size. Don't "boil" any of it, of course, just make sure your mash is at about 148-154°F after you add you grains. Use this calculator, it really helps:

Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators
 
okay apparently I need to take a step back and re-think my situation because that just went way over my head :)....I know you replied to try and help but I think I just got even more lost...I dont have any pale malt on hand I guess I could order some and wait for it to show up (im in germany and have to wait on the mail) Here is what I have on hand as far as ingredients...if you see any work arounds in here let me know otherwise I will order the pale malt (crisp) probably 1 or 2 lbs. If you dont mind answer a few questions what would be the purpose of the sparge being 4 gallons if my mash pot can hold 4 gallons? If I stick with your tried and true method of 2 gal mash and 2 gal sparge do you just add another gallon or two when you go to the regular boil portion?

all of my ingredients on hand are

3 lbs of cara wheat
2 lbs munich 10L
3 lbs Dark wheat
1/2 lb of Pale Choc

and
3 lbs plain wheat DME

edit: okay so Ive figured out that diastatic power is basically the grains ability to break down starches into sugars...what your saying is that since im using all of these Dark malt grains im not going to be able to effectively convert the starches into enough sugar and will end up with a very weak beer. Why would I replace some of the munich 10L with pale malt and not some of the dark wheat? Im guessing because of the style of beer? Im also not seeing how you found the 10% diastatic power here is a link to the grain I ordered....

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=3915

thanks again DB for helping me out
 
Yeah, you could replace some of the dark wheat with regular malted wheat or replace some of the munich with pale malt, but I would keep your barley/wheat ratio where it's at.

I'd probably replace half of the dark wheat with malted wheat, actually. 3 lbs is a little much anyway.


The carawheat is a crystal malt, too, so don't use too much of that. 1 lb is probably as high as I would go.
 
oh no no..That wasnt my ratio this is just what I have sitting in the cupboard! ;)

the ratio I was going to use is up a few posts

1.0 lb Carawheat®
2.0 lb Dark Wheat Malt
2.0 lb Munich 10L Malt
.5 lb Pale Chocolate Malt
3.0 lb Dry Wheat

so what about subbing .5 lb from each the munich and the dark wheat and then adding in 1 lb of the pale malt?

or as an alternative subbing 1 lb from each the munich and dark wheat and respectively adding 1lb of White Wheat (Rahr)- 1 lb for the dark wheat and 1 lb of pale malt to sub for the munich 10L? Its cheap stuff so I really dont mind buying a few more I just want to make sure this comes out right.

Im going to make a new post to get some info without cluttering up your post. I dont want to threadjack ;)
 
What does the water to grain ratio affect? Is it okay to use more water so it's easier to cover the grains? I'm not sure how Beer Smith comes up with the recommended numbers, but it's telling me that 2 qts of sparge (versus 3.5 qts mash) is sufficient for 2.5 lbs of grain.
 
I would use at least 3 quarts of water for your mash. The enzymes work best at a certain temperature and volumes, and the common thought is that 1.25-2 quarts per pound of grain is best.

I used to ALWAYS use 1.25qt/lb when I mashed. Lately I've been using a higher ratio (1.5-1.6 qt/lb) of water and I've gotten better efficiency and a smoother mash.
 
oh no no..That wasnt my ratio this is just what I have sitting in the cupboard! ;)

the ratio I was going to use is up a few posts

1.0 lb Carawheat®
2.0 lb Dark Wheat Malt
2.0 lb Munich 10L Malt
.5 lb Pale Chocolate Malt
3.0 lb Dry Wheat

so what about subbing .5 lb from each the munich and the dark wheat and then adding in 1 lb of the pale malt?

or as an alternative subbing 1 lb from each the munich and dark wheat and respectively adding 1lb of White Wheat (Rahr)- 1 lb for the dark wheat and 1 lb of pale malt to sub for the munich 10L? Its cheap stuff so I really dont mind buying a few more I just want to make sure this comes out right.

Im going to make a new post to get some info without cluttering up your post. I dont want to threadjack ;)

Either of those would work. Your second example would absolutely ENSURE that you have enough enzymes to tackle the job.

And now worries about the threadjack. This thread was made strictly for the purpose of asking and answering questions on easy partial mashing.
:mug:
 
Hey so I tried your thing with the binder clips on the paint strainer bag (was going to use dowels, but saw yours and thought "hmm that looks easier") and it worked great. Thanks for the idea.
 
Did the easy PM brewing again last night and thought ... this is awesome. Thanks again.
 
Hey DeathBrewer. Thanks for this awesome post. After reading through it, I was inspired to start partial mashes and I ordered a couple of mini mash kits from AHS. Not satisfied with the 4 pounds of grain that came with them, I upped the bill to 5.5 pounds and just finished brewing a Two Hearted IPA clone. OG came in at 1.068. Man, I am excited.
 
Hey DeathBrewer. Thanks for this awesome post. After reading through it, I was inspired to start partial mashes and I ordered a couple of mini mash kits from AHS. Not satisfied with the 4 pounds of grain that came with them, I upped the bill to 5.5 pounds and just finished brewing a Two Hearted IPA clone. OG came in at 1.068. Man, I am excited.

Right the **** on :D

:rockin:
 
God this technique sucks! Every brew i have done with technique has given stuck mashes and the beer tastes terrible!

Ha kidding! :p I owe all the beers that I have brewed thus far to this technique and I have made some pretty ****ing bomb beers. I usually mash around 7# of grain and about 2#s of dry extract. I figured that I would give some feedback on this technique (as if there isnt enough). Once i get a big enough pot i'll be moving to the AG stovetop method. DB I am expecting 85% efficiency on those when I try them!!!!

:mug::rockin:
 
your expecting 85% efficiency with the stove top brew in a bag method?

what are you doing to get such a high efficiency?

most brewers that use BIAB (that i know of) are lucky to hit 70%.
 
I stated as low as 60% with the original method. Got 61% the other day. Using more water helps. In the mash and/or in the sparge. It's not the best method for efficiency. I've found my best efficiency in my keggles when I'm doing very large batches (thermal mass...maybe?)

This system is fantastic for easy brewing, and I still use it weekly, but for efficiency, I've found little consistency.
 
Question about mash temps..

I used your DIY this weekend to make my variation of your dunkelweizen (thanks) and I had one giant kettle that I usually use for my extract boils on the turkey fryer (its about 7 gal capacity) I heated up 2 gallons in that pot to about 170 put my grains in and the temp didnt really drop that much so I put a little bit of cooler water in there to drop it took a reading with my instant therm. and saw 155 so i put the lid on wrapped the pot in foil a few times and let it sit. When I pulled the lid off after the hour was up I was shocked to see the temperature was actually 160-165ish!!!

What kind of effect can that have on my efficiency?

I also had to use a 2 gallon stock pot with 1 gal at a time for my sparge I hope that it will work out fine....after it was all said and done my OG after my DME and boil was pretty spot on so things *seem* okay. I just hope I dont have a bunch of off flavors from mashing to hot :(
 
I'm wondering if you left the heat on low on your heat source. the technique that most of us use is to turn the heat all the way off and give it a quick blast for a minute or two when the temp drops a couple degrees.
 
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