There's also the CaCl addition (and a couple of other things that are behind the redactions) to consider.
Not to give too much away, but was this book perhaps written at a time prior to all Chilton, WI water being softened through ion-exchange? The book (at least the copy I have) seems to imply that Muntons has about 10x the sodium content of Briess, which IIRC goes very counter to what most folks here suggest.
I did too. I can say that I like the author's general advice regarding what styles Briess and Monton's might be best suited for respectively. Albiet, I've only used Briess, but his take on Munton's flavor profile with respect to Briess seems to match what I hear about it.
, ...) will likely provide a slightly different flavor.Have you noticed any difference in fermentability between the two brands? I know Briess claims 75% but I can’t seem to find the same info for Muntons.
I'm changing over to mainly DME, but when I was using all LME, I bought extract for three brews on each order. I brewed the lightest beer first and the darkest last. It was normally all used after about two months. It seemed to work pretty well.
In retrospect, I feel that 2022 was a good year for this topic.
Speaking of rice extract, I'd be curious to know if anyone has thoughts on using rice extract as opposed to sugar when it comes to lightening the body of higher ABV extract recipes. Particularly styles where sugars typically aren't employed in a standard all-grain recipe (ie, not Belgians or West Coast DIPAs). As far as I understand, rice extract (at least the dried kind) still contains about 40% maltose. In terms of fermentation I've heard it speculated that the sugar composition of a wort can effect the yeast's preferences. For example, that too high a ratio of glucose could deter the yeast from fully utilizing the maltose and/or maltotriose present. I'm not sure if this is even really a concern on the homebrew scale, or if the ratio of sugar would have to be higher than anyone would ever use in a beer anyway. I'm just curious as to whether there'd be any reason to use it over plain sugar (either dextrose, or sucrose) to both raise the OG and boost potential attenuation.
I've looked for product information on rice extract (from manufacturers) a couple of times over the years. I never found enough information to 'move forward' using it. Information on the labels off 1# / 3# packages suggested it is around 50% fermentable (vs 75% for DME/LME). At the moment, unless I have a specific need, the lower fermentability and higher cost cause me to pause on any trial recipes.
Did you have a specific recipe (or maybe a specific style) in mind? Also, having the all-grain recipe and the "equivalent" extract-based recipe would be helpful (as not all algorithmic recipe conversions result in an equivalent beer).
Could it be that this is yeast strain specific? Also, could the techniques for making high gravity (12%-ish ABV) IPAs be useful?
Hopefully, we can avoid awakening the "ghost" of early "Kit and Kilo" brewers that seem to still haunt HomeBrewTalk.
Last spring, when I was brewing test batches of higher ABV IPAs, I (re)confirmed that
So what are your thoughts on how to implement an effective partial mash?
I am not positive that doing a simple partial mash with a generic Pale Malt would have enough impact to make it worth the effort, but I have not tried. It does open you up to base malts that are not available in extract form, such as Vienna Malt, Simpsons Golden Promise. A partial mash is also the best way to pull in starch containing specialty malts like Aromatic, Victory, Biscuit, Honey Malt, Melanoidin, Brown Malt, Special Roast, etc. Also unmalted grains like raw, torrefied or flaked oats, wheat, rye, etc.
For the mechanics of how to do it, get out your spaghetti pot or the largest pot from your cookware set that is not a giant homebrew pot. Put in your crushed grains and hopefully you can fit enough water 1.5 qts per pound. Put on the lid.
The idea of a using a pre-heated oven for temperature control of mini-mashes was well convered in 1-gal brewers unite a couple of years ago.
I have some other ideas. Blow your monthly brewing budget on a Corona style mill and set it as tight as it gets. Blow your next months brewing budget on a pair of paint strainer bags (they come 2 in a package in most places, some will have a 5 pack or even more). Mill your grains and heat water to about 160F, enough water to make a thin mix. Put the bag into the water and stir the grains into the bag to eliminate any dough balls. Wait 30 minutes. Pull the bag out and let it drain into the pot. It will take less than 30 minutes for conversion of the starch to sugars but extracting flavor takes longer. The temperature is only important during the conversion of starch to sugar so you don't need to keep the temperature stable. Extracting flavors happens over a large range of water temperatures.
For a BIAB type mash, I'd aim at using around 2 quarts of (hot) water per pound of grist, I wouldn't go thinner than that.
The mash needs minerals in the water. Extract does not.
Is that what you do (if not, what do you do)? is there a better way?
The only time I use DME any more is for making imperials. With my 3 gallon batches, one 3 lb bag of DME replaces about 4 to 5 lbs of base malt, allowing me to mash full volume and still get 80+% lauter efficiency on my grain bill, and by adding the DME at the end of the boil, I don't need as much bittering hops.
I did a side-by-side on 10%-ish barleywine a couple of years ago: all-grain v partial mash (50%). For me, it was easy to tell the difference. So at the moment, I'd rather do a "half batch" of a big beer than partial mash.
I haven't done a side-by-side, but I have added 3 or 4 lbs of DME late to turn a mid-gravity wort into a high gravity wort. But it's usually more like a 2/3 to 3/4 mash. I guess maybe I should try some smaller batches to see if they turn out better.
Most oven thermostats are not that accurate or reliable to reach a set or holding temperature. Don't just rely on that for keeping your mash at the right temps.
Brilliant minds...
This oven corresponds well to the thermopen baking unit so I'm reasonably confident in the accuracy.
When your oven keeps the right temps, that's perfect, mash away!
If there's no way to disable that fan, try wrapping some of this around your kettle, and forget about the oven. Not only will it keep your mash temp stable (my 4 gallon mash only loses about 3 degrees over 60 minutes), but it'll help you heat up your water significantly faster.
