I'm wondering what the dividing line is considered to be between extract brewing with specialty grains and partial-mash brewing--and how best to handle crossing that line.
I ordered the ingredients for an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Brown Ale, inspired by the book Radical Brewing and Northern Brewer's small-batch beer of the same name. The thing is, I've only brewed two beers before, and they were both extract/specialty, and I didn't really realize that partial-mashing was different from extract/specialty.
At what point is a recipe considered partial-mash? I'm assuming it's based on the quantity of non-extract grains. The recipe I created has 4 lbs. of DME and 4 lbs. of grain--and the stuff is on its way (darn Northern Brewer for their efficiency!).
Assuming that this recipe would be best handled through a partial mash, what's the best way of handling it? I was thinking of running to Home Depot and grabbing a 2-gallon round cooler. Is that the best solution, and if so, what should I do about a filter? Put a wire mesh over the inside of the spout? Create some sort of filter bag to hold the grains? Something else?
I ordered the ingredients for an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Brown Ale, inspired by the book Radical Brewing and Northern Brewer's small-batch beer of the same name. The thing is, I've only brewed two beers before, and they were both extract/specialty, and I didn't really realize that partial-mashing was different from extract/specialty.
At what point is a recipe considered partial-mash? I'm assuming it's based on the quantity of non-extract grains. The recipe I created has 4 lbs. of DME and 4 lbs. of grain--and the stuff is on its way (darn Northern Brewer for their efficiency!).
Assuming that this recipe would be best handled through a partial mash, what's the best way of handling it? I was thinking of running to Home Depot and grabbing a 2-gallon round cooler. Is that the best solution, and if so, what should I do about a filter? Put a wire mesh over the inside of the spout? Create some sort of filter bag to hold the grains? Something else?