MrInternet
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2009
- Messages
- 353
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Hello all!
Well, I've been reading all available internet resources (mostly HBT) and have practically memorized my copy of Randy Mosher's "Radical Brewing" over the last year. It was finally time to either poop or get off the pot, so to speak, so after receiving a 3Gal Gatorade cooler from my parents (this thing is seriously old, I am 32 and I remember them hauling this thing to my soccer games when I was 12), I decided, "Eh, I've been doing so much learning and reading, I'm not going to REALLY learn anything by just doing an extract brew".
Yeah, I've decided to start right out partial mashing. The Lauter Tun conversion on the cooler went flawlessly... held 155 for an hour with a 1.8F degree drop in temp. For a 20 year-old FREE cooler, I think that's quite acceptable. It's outfitted with the ball valve, 3/4" stainless steel mesh manifold from the exterior sleeve of a hot water line, and it's ready to go. I've purchased all my ingredients to do the Partial Mash version of the India Red Ale on page 88 of Radical Brewing, and I've just got a couple of questions because it seems there's not a super-detailed outline of this process on HBT. Or at least, if there is, it's difficult to find because of the dozens of pages of results from DeathBrewer's thread (awesome, by the way):
1. The grain bill for this will end up being 6.375 lbs, and I'm going with a standard 1.25qt/lb ratio, for a total partial mash volume of just shy of 8 qts, which means I'll just do 8 qts exactly and call it a day. Using these volumes/weights, is there a standard way to figure the sparge volume? I plan on doing a single batch sparge....
2. I find a lot of conflicting info on the "right" way to add the 6.5 lbs of Light DME that goes into the recipe in lieu of base malt... I think I've deduced that it's added slowly while the wort is heating to boiling, so it's dissolved before the boil is rolling, yes? I've found some people that add it right before their aroma hop addition "to prevent scorching", so I'm just looking to clarify...
3. Is a 3-ish gallon boil pretty standard for a recipe like this? I'm guessing that using round numbers, I'll end up with 3-3.5 gallon boil, and I've got a 16-qt stockpot to pull this off in. I think if I keep an eye on it and don't nucleate by throwing the hops all in like a crazy person, I can probably do it, but I'd like to hear others' experiences.
4. Stupid question... I'm doing 3 2oz Cascade additions in pellet form. You just tossthe pellets in same as leaf, right? I thought I heard a buddy say once that he crushes them first, but I suppose the boil will dissemble them for me as well.
5. Once I boil and cool, I can just toss the remaining 2G spring water into the carboy and rack the wort into it, yes?
Sorry for what must be really n00b questions, but I want to come back here for a long, long time and want my first real brew to not be the reason I pack this hobby in.
Anyone here ever tried this recipe? Thoughts?
Well, I've been reading all available internet resources (mostly HBT) and have practically memorized my copy of Randy Mosher's "Radical Brewing" over the last year. It was finally time to either poop or get off the pot, so to speak, so after receiving a 3Gal Gatorade cooler from my parents (this thing is seriously old, I am 32 and I remember them hauling this thing to my soccer games when I was 12), I decided, "Eh, I've been doing so much learning and reading, I'm not going to REALLY learn anything by just doing an extract brew".
Yeah, I've decided to start right out partial mashing. The Lauter Tun conversion on the cooler went flawlessly... held 155 for an hour with a 1.8F degree drop in temp. For a 20 year-old FREE cooler, I think that's quite acceptable. It's outfitted with the ball valve, 3/4" stainless steel mesh manifold from the exterior sleeve of a hot water line, and it's ready to go. I've purchased all my ingredients to do the Partial Mash version of the India Red Ale on page 88 of Radical Brewing, and I've just got a couple of questions because it seems there's not a super-detailed outline of this process on HBT. Or at least, if there is, it's difficult to find because of the dozens of pages of results from DeathBrewer's thread (awesome, by the way):
1. The grain bill for this will end up being 6.375 lbs, and I'm going with a standard 1.25qt/lb ratio, for a total partial mash volume of just shy of 8 qts, which means I'll just do 8 qts exactly and call it a day. Using these volumes/weights, is there a standard way to figure the sparge volume? I plan on doing a single batch sparge....
2. I find a lot of conflicting info on the "right" way to add the 6.5 lbs of Light DME that goes into the recipe in lieu of base malt... I think I've deduced that it's added slowly while the wort is heating to boiling, so it's dissolved before the boil is rolling, yes? I've found some people that add it right before their aroma hop addition "to prevent scorching", so I'm just looking to clarify...
3. Is a 3-ish gallon boil pretty standard for a recipe like this? I'm guessing that using round numbers, I'll end up with 3-3.5 gallon boil, and I've got a 16-qt stockpot to pull this off in. I think if I keep an eye on it and don't nucleate by throwing the hops all in like a crazy person, I can probably do it, but I'd like to hear others' experiences.
4. Stupid question... I'm doing 3 2oz Cascade additions in pellet form. You just tossthe pellets in same as leaf, right? I thought I heard a buddy say once that he crushes them first, but I suppose the boil will dissemble them for me as well.
5. Once I boil and cool, I can just toss the remaining 2G spring water into the carboy and rack the wort into it, yes?
Sorry for what must be really n00b questions, but I want to come back here for a long, long time and want my first real brew to not be the reason I pack this hobby in.
Anyone here ever tried this recipe? Thoughts?