Partial Mash Advice Needed

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KavDaven

KavDaven

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Moving from extract kits to partial mash kits on a budget. One day I'll be able to buy or DIY better equipment. But for now...

I have a single 24 quart kettle. I'm thinking on using a nylon bag for the grains. Bring the water up to 152F. Place the bag in the pot. Put the pot in the oven at 152?

Ok, eventually I will turn my 52 quart cooler into a mash tun. Will the pot in the oven work?

Meanwhile, I'll have another 12 quart pot heating for the mash out. I'll use a 1 quart pyrex measuring cup to mash out the grains.

So, I'll pull the pot out of the oven. Hold the bag over the pot and place my colander at the top of the pot. The handles of the colander rest on the lip of pot well above the wort. Then lay the bag in the colander for the mash out.

Currently, I have a floating thermometer. I'd rather have a thermometer on a clip allowing the probe to stay in the water and dial outside for easy reading. I don't want to dip into the hot water every time I want to see the temp. What is the best clipped thermometer with 12" probe for the money?

1. Will this work? or should I wait till I can make/buy a cooler mash tun?

2. What is the best clipped thermometer with a 12" probe and large dial?
 
Well, first if you are doing a partial mash (usually is only crystal malts) you don't need to do a mashout.

Second, just keep the pot on the stove and manage the heat the best you can. If it gets too hot, take it off the burner, too cool, turn it up. It will take a while to get used to your stove.

As far as therm goes, I used to use a digital pen thermometer, but now use the laser surface area kind, which I like a lot better. If you search for "thermometers" you'll find plenty of links to buy them based on your budget.

Hope this helps!
 
Go download BeerSmith (free for 30 days). Set up your equipment profile, and it will help you get your eact water volumes and temperatures.

152 degrees will be too cool - the grain is going to cool your water by a good 15 degrees. You'll probably want to have that water at 168-170, I'm betting. Again, BeerSmith can help you nail this.

The pot in the over will work great if you can get your oven set to this.

I personally just did a 24 quart pot, just under 5 gallons of total volume (pre boil). Mash temp was 154, I set the pot on a doubled towel on the floor, then wrapped it with blankets and tons of towels. An hour later, I had only lost a little over 4 degrees in heat.
 
aseg said:
Well, first if you are doing a partial mash (usually is only crystal malts) you don't need to do a mashout.
Click to expand...

This sounds like steeping speciality grains, not partial mash. Partial mash DOES have a mash out - hence the name, PARTIAL mash.

The grain bill should be all of your speciality grains plus at least some base grain - I shoot for half or a bit more of my base grain to go in the mash, with the rest made up for with extract. Example: 1.5 pounds of speciality grains, 4 pound of 2 row, 3 pounds of DME.
 
KavDaven said:
Moving from extract kits to partial mash kits on a budget. One day I'll be able to buy or DIY better equipment. But for now...

I have a single 24 quart kettle. I'm thinking on using a nylon bag for the grains. Bring the water up to 152F. Place the bag in the pot. Put the pot in the oven at 152?

Ok, eventually I will turn my 52 quart cooler into a mash tun. Will the pot in the oven work?

Meanwhile, I'll have another 12 quart pot heating for the mash out. I'll use a 1 quart pyrex measuring cup to mash out the grains.

So, I'll pull the pot out of the oven. Hold the bag over the pot and place my colander at the top of the pot. The handles of the colander rest on the lip of pot well above the wort. Then lay the bag in the colander for the mash out.

Currently, I have a floating thermometer. I'd rather have a thermometer on a clip allowing the probe to stay in the water and dial outside for easy reading. I don't want to dip into the hot water every time I want to see the temp. What is the best clipped thermometer with 12" probe for the money?

1. Will this work? or should I wait till I can make/buy a cooler mash tun?

2. What is the best clipped thermometer with a 12" probe and large dial?
Click to expand...

1. You can mash in whatever you have! I used to line my bottling bucket with a huge mesh grainbed and mash in there, and then wrap the whole works with a sleeping bag. A pot is good, a bucket is good, whatever! Using the oven is a great idea, just make sure you can fit your pot in there. I couldn't but didn't try it in advance (duh!) so that's how I ended up with the bottling bucket for my mash tun! :eek:

2. Never found a good one. I did use this: http://www.target.com/p/Taylor-Digital-Thermometer-with-Probe/-/A-533891#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton
but it's only like a six inch probe. That's adequate, though. Once your thoroughly stir the mash to wet all the grain (stir more than you think you need to!), the temperature should equalize throughout.

You don't have to do a mash out! Just lift out the grains and pour the 170 degree water over it to sparge. Or lift out the grains and stick them in the other pot, if you have room. It doesn't matter but a mash out isn't needed either way.

You can probably mash in your 12 quart pot, depending on how much grain you have, and then sparge in the brewpot. You can mash up to 7 pounds of grain in a 12 quart pot!
 
So, if I had 10 lbs of dry grain to start with, how much would that weigh wet?

I want to do a weight test on my colander to see if can hold the weight.

This is beginning to look like BIAB. I don't have a wench and I'm stuck inside my apartment for now. I did make sure my kettle fits in the oven, good there.
 
I don't know if it's just me but 10 lbs of grain is an all grain batch or a rather large partial mash for a big beer I suppose, if you plan on adding additional extract?
 
KavDaven said:
So, if I had 10 lbs of dry grain to start with, how much would that weigh wet?

I want to do a weight test on my colander to see if can hold the weight.

This is beginning to look like BIAB. I don't have a wench and I'm stuck inside my apartment for now. I did make sure my kettle fits in the oven, good there.
Click to expand...

Well, ten pounds of grain should absorb about a gallon of water, give or take a quart. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. So, 18 pounds total to lift, more or less.
 
When I do partial mashes of grains I heat the water to 170, put the grains it, get them stirred then wrap my pot in an old comforter. Usually I can keep the temp around 150 even for about an hour doing this.
 
@mr bell - I've been thinking about getting into brewing for some time. I started with extracts just to get the basics down. Now I'm moving into the partial mash/extract kits. However, BIAB seems to use the same concepts as a partial mash except more grain and no extract. So, I'm kinda looking ahead past the partial mash to an easy low budget small batch all grain brew. Once I can do reasonably well with BIAB I'll move on to 3V tier systems. Whew, one step at a time.
 
@yooper - Haha, I sound desperate. "I don't have a wench and I'm stuck inside my apartment for now." Oh the desperate loneliness of a man without a wench.

Actually, I don't have a winch. My wife will just have to do.

Finished my test. My colander will just barely hold 20 lbs. So, I'll get a stainless steel 7 quart colander that can hold the weight.
 

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