Did I f my b up???

[Aloha_Brew]

Ok, I tried a transition of sorts to all-grain brewing as noted in my other post of "My mad scientist experiment" and I have a quandary. So, I made my first potential mistake of mashing 2lb of Roasted Barley with 1lb Munich Malt. I've been directed to learn more of diastatic processes as a result and have learned a bit...more on what grains can be referenced for good mash potential. But I have questions now and I hope that many can answer them for I'm in need of some schooling if I'm ever to amount to any good beer making from all-grain.

First of all, I did a partial mash with my latest brew. I mashed the aforementioned grains at 152-162 degrees for an hour and then sparged them to make 1.5 gallons of wort total. However, I didn't boil it. What does boiling do besides sanitize all from any bacteria after mashing? Can't the yeast use the sugars present immediately after mashing to ferment?

Secondly, I boiled a yield of 3 gallons of a usual extract brewing with specialty grains and hops. This brings to question how all-grain brewing works with total when using non-mashable grains. Do I just throw these in with the rest of the grains while mashing or should I use them as with extract brewing and steep them during the boil?

Thirdly, the starter I made was a little high on gravity and it started to produce alcohol prematurely rather than produce more yeast for the high gravity of the fermenter which ended up being 1.076. So, I got another vial of liquid yeast and pitched it today. Has anyone gone through with a batch of their own and a starter that had already started producing alcohol?

Well, if nothing else I definitely learned alot and hope to fix my deficiencies in the near future. Cheers!

 

[Frodo]

First of all, I did a partial mash with my latest brew. I mashed the aforementioned grains at 152-162 degrees for an hour and then sparged them to make 1.5 gallons of wort total. However, I didn't boil it. What does boiling do besides sanitize all from any bacteria after mashing? Can't the yeast use the sugars present immediately after mashing to ferment?

I'll direct you to http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html for that one... many things happen with proteins during the boil. I imagine that yes you have fermentable sugars, but to make the best beer you boil the wort, sometimes for 2 hours to enhance the melanoidins. You can read about that in Palmer's book too.

Secondly, I boiled a yield of 3 gallons of a usual extract brewing with specialty grains and hops. This brings to question how all-grain brewing works with total when using non-mashable grains. Do I just throw these in with the rest of the grains while mashing or should I use them as with extract brewing and steep them during the boil?

All the grains go together in the mash. During the mash all the sugars dissolve that could potentially just be dissolved by steeping, so no need for a separate process.

Thirdly, the starter I made was a little high on gravity and it started to produce alcohol prematurely rather than produce more yeast for the high gravity of the fermenter which ended up being 1.076. So, I got another vial of liquid yeast and pitched it today. Has anyone gone through with a batch of their own and a starter that had already started producing alcohol?

Yeast go through a few phases. In simplest terms, they reproduce first, then they ferment the sugars. Also, a starter actually ferments - you don't stop it before fermentation starts, if that's what you were implying. And you can pitch the starter into your wort at high krausen, or let it flocculate out and decant the spent liquid before pitching the yeast.

 

[GillandCo]

"What does boiling do besides sanitize all from any bacteria after mashing?"

If you want Hops to have an affect on your beer, and do not want to have an incredibly sweet malty anti hop brew...You need to boil the wort in order for the hops to "bitter" that liquid gold.

And if you didn't boil off a gallon or so it would probably taste like watered crap. Wouldn't know first hand though

 

[MBasile]

What on earth kind of beer were you making that was 66% Roasted Barley and 33% Munich?

 

[Aloha_Brew]

My own special creation. More a test project with very little knowledge.
The Munich and Roasted Barley were only like 25% of the whole brew though. My full recipe is in the other thread for fermentation. I was going for a bitter stout with about 7.5% alcohol. It seems I may end up throwing this one out but I'll give it a few weeks to be sure it's done all that it will do.

Plus, the aforementioned starter had a distinct alcohol smell before pitching. I talked to White Labs about it and they mentioned it was probably a high gravity that caused a "Crabtree" effect. The starter was 4 cups water and 1 cup liquid malt extract.

 

[Aloha_Brew]

And if you didn't boil off a gallon or so it would probably taste like watered crap. Wouldn't know first hand though

Well, I used beer calculator to combine ingredients for my target gravity. Even though it was a partial mash it was pretty spot on, and actually was more than calculated. So, I don't think it would taste watered down. But I can understand the concept of breaking down the protiens by boiling. Just wish I knew what the yeast was thinking right now since we both want the same thing.

 

[OLDBREW]

I didn't read the other thread, but roasted barley doesn't need mashing. DP is not required, and Munich malt has enough DP to convert itself. I don't see a problem with you using those two malts the way you used them. Depending on the kilned level of the roasted barley, 2 pounds of roasted barley may be a little over kill with the flavor profile, but as far as mashing technique in the brewing process was concerned, you were fine.

As far as boiling the wort, give this a read. it will give you some information of what occurs during the boiling process

http://www.beer-brewing.com/beer-brewing/wort_boiling/wort_boiling_biochemical_changes.htm