Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

Just read and viewed the pics of your initial post, then jumped to the end of the line to say "Good Job" on the production. I have 4 kits complete and 1 more to go, then I may attempt the partial mash process. Although, the kits are in a sense partial mashing are they not? I get grains and bags with them, so am I not in essence partial mashing already?

Your information and pictures will aid in that attempt.

3 -4 times a week is awesome. I realize beer don't last long when you make your own! I love it!

Salute!

In case this hasn't been said enough, why isn't this a sticky yet? Awesome write up.

bmckee56 said:

Just read and viewed the pics of your initial post, then jumped to the end of the line to say "Good Job" on the production. I have 4 kits complete and 1 more to go, then I may attempt the partial mash process. Although, the kits are in a sense partial mashing are they not? I get grains and bags with them, so am I not in essence partial mashing already?

Your information and pictures will aid in that attempt.

3 -4 times a week is awesome. I realize beer don't last long when you make your own! I love it!

Salute!

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it is not a partial mash without the presence of base malt:

mashing: for sugars, flavor and color...presence of base malt, correct temperature, correct volume

steeping: for flavor and color only...only certain malts can be used, temperature is not as important, volume even less important

a lot of these things have already been addressed. If you find the time, i'd read through the thread. some great questions were asked and in turn, it has become full of good information.

Kungpaodog said:

In case this hasn't been said enough, why isn't this a sticky yet? Awesome write up.

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i have never asked the mods to get this thread all gooey (i mean, sticky)

i don't really mind one way or the other, as people keep finding it. as long as people have questions, it'll keep popping up as #1! Yay, #1! :cross:

i also have it in my sig and direct people here often.

anywayz, that's up to the mods. perhaps because it's in the beginner's thread too, and it should be in the all-grain/PM thread? i think if we put it there, however, most people that need it will not see it.

in the end it's not important that it's gooey, just that the questions keep coming!

what is your recipe for the Dunkelweizen?

here's one:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/index12.html#post874406

The recipe is calling for weizen DME, is that wheat DME?

yeppers. this is a pretty generic recipe, ANY brand munich, wheat, chocolate, or DME will work. you could even use 4 lbs Wheat LME in place of the DME.

i generally prefer WLP380 for my dunkelweizens....less banana, more of an "apricot" taste that goes well.

if you want to try the "banana bread ale", use what british grains you can get and ferment in the mid 70s using WLP300. banana bread nose and wonderful flavor

Well, what timing....I just carbed up your dunkel recipe this week and took my first pulll on my way into the house. This is the best beer I have made...used the WLP 300 and it is all banana'd out and fantastic. I was wondering how this beer may condition in the keg at serving temp? It still tastes maybe just a tad green, but totally drinkable...which is a first for my beers. I'm kind of a beer snob so I haven't been too proud of anything I've made yet, but oh no more. Thanks again Deathbrewer.

it will condition just fine in the keg under pressure. let it sit for a week.

This is an awsome thread it should be stickied.

If i where to use all grain instead of the the DME what would i use?

for all-grain: go with 6 lbs of Wheat Malt and 4 lbs of Munich, plus the 1/4 lb of chocolate (off the top of my head). That will fill a 5 gallon pot pretty full, which is excellent for maintaining temperature, but may be messy the first few times you try it

Thanks! i have been pretty happy with my partial mashes so far, but this thread has inspired the jump to all grain. if i can get a few of these mini-mashes out of the way i think i will be purchasing a turkey fryer after christmas! ;-)

I have read a bit about all grain brewing, but the thing that I worry about is the PH of the water. I have the equiptment to do a partial mash, however when I tried to use the PH strips that I bought, I found them impossible to use/read. I figure that I'll by a digital PH meter once I go AG. Do you have to worry much about PH if you use bottled water?

what ratio do you sparge with this technique?:rockin:

partial mash i almost always use 2 gallons of water. i generally do 5-6 lbs of grain, so that comes to: 1.3-1.5 quarts per pound of grain.

for all grain, i shoot between 1.25-1.5 quarts/lb, and it may depend on the style or how much i can fit into the particular pot i'm using.

some of my recipes are more specific. if i am shooting for a specific quantity (which i do with some of my other equipment and methods) i generally shoot lower, around 1.25 quarts per pound of grain.

Throckmorton said:

I have read a bit about all grain brewing, but the thing that I worry about is the PH of the water. I have the equiptment to do a partial mash, however when I tried to use the PH strips that I bought, I found them impossible to use/read. I figure that I'll by a digital PH meter once I go AG. Do you have to worry much about PH if you use bottled water?

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i don't worry about PH. i always use the same local tap water. it's good stuff, although it's not going to be perfect for all styles.

i would not concern yourself with PH when using bottled water. Perhaps later, when you're perfecting a style, but i have NEVER adjusted my PH, besides possibly adding acidulated malt to the mash.

For a first timer this was the best illustration I have seen yet! I have been asking around for a point blank break down of the process an you nailed it. I have to say I was only going to use extract until this, now I thing I'm going try it well done!

db,
thank you.


wow, how simple, when it once seemed so difficult, and required retarded amount of $$$ equipment.



i have an easy question.



why do can you not use the method for AG, with no LME/DME ?

how much extra grain would be required? 60+% conversion vs what??? 75% for AG????
with the cost of 2 row in bulk, i see no way that is not more cost effective than using any extracts. so i have to use 2 or 3 pots to get the volume of water....

today i bought 8lbs of extract, one lb of 2 row, and .5lbs each of cara-pils, and munich, and 4 oz total of centenial, and cascade today @ the LHBS.... my expense was nearly 45 bucks! this is with cheap assed muntuns yeast btw.... i should be able to make a cheap, easy pale for under 25 ,bucks no???
anyway, enough rambling.....

you can absolutely use this method for all-grain. i do it all the time with a 5 gal and a 7.5 gallon pot.

consider this: my best beer uses 10 lbs of malt (only vienna malt)

mash @ 1.2 quarts per pound of grain = 3 gallons of water

that brings the total volume to just under 4 gallons. in a 5 gallon pot, that still leaves room for the bag and a little to stir. plus, it reduces head space so you maintain temp much easier.

it's just a little more difficult to get good efficiency unless you do a nice volume in the sparge and have almost a full boil. that's why i use a 7.5 gallon pot, i can do 4 gallons sparge and my total volume comes to about 6 gallons. i do this on my burner. i have to use less water (and get lesser efficiency) when i use my stove at home.

i'm going to create a new thread for all-grain using this method when i return from camping in a couple of weeks

Can't wait to check it out! Have a great time camping and take it easy on the back!

thanks for the answer..... i await the other thread

i need to pick up a burner myself... i can only fully boil 2 gallons... three just does not get going as my pot diameter is too large...

i think ill try that in another week, this weekend is here, and no time to get a burner....


however, i do have that side burner on my bbq grille......

Make sure that side is supported! i had a buddy who tried that and tipped the whole thing over...

good point jimba!
i used it to deep fry a chicken once, but that was only 1.5 gals of peanut earl, and a 5 lb bird.... im gettin skeered.

yeah, that's not so much an all-grain burner...more of a baked beans burner

I want to try my first PM with DB's approach and his Dunkelweizen recipe. However, I will have to be traveling for a bit, so I'm wondering whether I can leave the beer in the primary for 2.5 weeks.. If this is not recommended, is there another partial-mash recipe I can use that would be more amenable to my circumstances?

andreiz said:

I want to try my first PM with DB's approach and his Dunkelweizen recipe. However, I will have to be traveling for a bit, so I'm wondering whether I can leave the beer in the primary for 2.5 weeks.. If this is not recommended, is there another partial-mash recipe I can use that would be more amenable to my circumstances?

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I've had beers in primary for much longer than that. Just make sure your temps are OK as per the yeast you are using and you should be fine.

3 weeks in primary is fine. i'd go 3 weeks in primary, then straight to bottle.

DeathBrewer said:

3 weeks in primary is fine. i'd go 3 weeks in primary, then straight to bottle.

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Sounds good. One question: in your original post it says you use ~2gl of water for mashing 5-6lbs of grain and then another 2gl for sparging. Do you then add more water to get to the full boil volume of ~6gl?

no. if i want to do a full boil, i use more sparge water so when i pour the first wort in, i'm at full volume and it's already hot. i'll do this when i'm on my burner.

on my stovetop, i usually do a partial boil (with a partial mash, all-grain obviously needs more.) 3-4 gallons, depending, and then top off at cooling with bottled water.

DeathBrewer said:

munich has diastatic power, but really only enough to convert itself. so yes, you would be doing a mash, but you may wish to throw a tiny amount of 2-row in there to help out, depending on your quantities.

read this: Diastatic power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it helped me

so according to wiki, you need a DP of 35° Litner or more.

Here is a comparison of different base malts and their diastatic power, in order from highest to lowest:

Red Wheat: 165
White Wheat: 160
6-row: 160
2-row: 140
Pilsen: 130
Vienna: 130
Rye: 105
Pale Ale: 85
Munich: 40

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What's a tiny amount? For instance how much 2-row per pound of Munich?

munich is a base malt, so you don't need 2-row with munich. if you have other grains that need conversion, you will possibly need a base malt with a higher diastatic power. if you have a small amount of specialty grains...munich could probably take care of it.

as shown in my previous post, you need a DP of 35° Litner for self-conversion, so anything above that will convert starches in additional specialty grains. the amounts are entirely up to your recipe.

I misread your post thinking you needed some 2-row to help out the Munich. I think I got it now though anything under the 35 litner needs something with DP to help it convert.

I was thinking of brewing the following using your method cuz I don't think I can handle that much grain.

Alaskan Smoked Porter
------------------------

recipe for 5 gallons
OG = 1.065
FG = 1.015
IBU = 45
SRM = 58
ABV = 6.5%

8.25 lbs 2 Row
4.0 lbs Munich
12 oz. Crystal 45
11 oz. Chocolate Malt
7 oz. Black Patent

10.75 AAU Chinook (60 min)
3.75 AAU Willamette (15 min)

wyeast 1968 or WLP002

Smoke 1 lb of the Munich malt with alder wood. Mash at 154F. Boil for 90 minutes. Ferment at 68F.


I was thinking of using a liquid extract for the 2-row and mashing the rest using your method. Think I'll be alright?

that sounds like a great PM recipe! i think the munich will do fine, those other grains don't need to be converted anyway.

i'm a complete noob to partial mash and allgrain. my first homebrew is still in the fermenter, but i'm already addicted! i just ordered ahs' imperial winter ale partial mash/mini mash kit. i love your write up, it's what gave me the cohona's to try partial mash so early in my brewing career. i just have one question about the sparge water. you heat it to approx 175* you said while the mash is still going on. about what tempature is your sparge when you actually add the grains/mash to it? sorry if this is confusing as i'm not 100% on all the terms just yet. it just seems as if there is a lag from when you heat up the sparge water to 175 and still have 30-60 mins of sparging?

DeathBrewer said:

Step 4:
After 30-60 minutes (or once you have conversion), pull up the bag of grains and let as much drain back into the pot as you can stand. This is a good workout with enough grain.

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How do I tell if the conversion has occurred completely? 30-60 minutes is quite a range..

DeathBrewer said:

Step 7:

I use a partial boil, and adjust my hops accordingly, shooting for the middle or top of the style.

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Wow this is an incredibly awesome and incredibly long thread!! I like this idea of yours, I wanted to try PM but didn't want to have to make the cooler contraptions. I was a little confused by this statement though. Partial boil means you don't boil the full volume of water with your wort right? and the reason you don't get as good of hop utilization is because you use less water, and the hop oils don't solute in water very well, therefor you need larger volumes of water to get good hop utilization?

Did my first partial mash of DB's Dunkelweizen, based on advice from this thread. Pitched a starter made from WLP380 and now it's bubbling merrily. Thanks!

andreiz said:

How do I tell if the conversion has occurred completely? 30-60 minutes is quite a range..

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you can do an iodine test. i usually go at least 60 minutes unless i'm in a hurry, but most conversion is complete rather quickly, depending on a number of factors.