Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

[TANSTAAFB]

Thanks Deathbrewer! Really awesome thread. I just used this to make my first PM, after doing two extracts with steeping grains. I had to make some adjustments for different equipment. I have a 9 gallon kettle and the 5 gallon paint strainer was too small (duh), so I just let it sit at the bottom of the kettle and lifted it up a bit when I needed to stir the grain. Worked ok, I guess, but I don't think I had very good efficiency, so I'll be looking to put together a mash tun soon. Temps were down to 140 by the time I was done with the mash. I was hoping this method would allow me to do a few more PMs before investing in more equipment, but oh well, all grain here I come!

Check out BIAB. Much cheaper to pick up a bigger bag than build/ buy a cooler MLT! Don't get me wrong, I have a 5 & 10gal igloo and love em, but if you're looking to buy a little time...

 

[TxBigHops]

Check out BIAB. Much cheaper to pick up a bigger bag than build/ buy a cooler MLT! Don't get me wrong, I have a 5 & 10gal igloo and love em, but if you're looking to buy a little time...

Not sure what you mean by check out BIAB. I thought that's what this thread was about. Anyway, my main problem was heat loss, not the size of the bag which was just an inconvenience. There's a guy in my brew club who wrapped some kind of insulation and metallic duck tape around his kettle. Maybe that would help, then I could look for a bigger bag.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Well, there's a difference between PM and BIAB. If you go all grain and drop the extract you will have more thermal mass holding those temps. Most of the time what's holding people back is the size of their kettle which isn't an issue for you. You can also monitor the temp and add heat as necessary so you don't lose so much. Or you can insulate better. I was just saying that their are bigger bags out there for less money than a cooler MLT that might keep you using this technique for a while if you can overcome the heat loss and PITA of using a bag that's too small. Betcha a bigger grain bill's the key. Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

Not sure what you mean by check out BIAB. I thought that's what this thread was about. Anyway, my main problem was heat loss, not the size of the bag which was just an inconvenience. There's a guy in my brew club who wrapped some kind of insulation and metallic duck tape around his kettle. Maybe that would help, then I could look for a bigger bag.

Things I have done to keep the heat in for the mash period is to use a bag that fits the pot I have (Wilserbrewer makes custom bags, good reputation), use a large volume of water for thermal mass, wrap some insulation around the pot and on the lid(I use a bath towel but a sleeping bag might be even better), and mill the grains finer so i don't need a 60 minute or longer mash. With the grains milled fine, I'm finding that I don't even need a 30 minute mash.

Here's a thread about Wilserbrewer's custom bags. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/wilserbrewer-biab-bags-441854/

 

[dobe12]

I BIAB in a 10 gallon pot using a 24"x24" grain sack and reflective insulation from home depot. Over a 60 min mash I lose no more than 2-3 degrees even in below freezing temps. On a warm day, I won't lose more than 1 degree. It's cheap and easy. You can pick up a roll for $25-$30.

 

[unionrdr]

I do pb/pm biab. I've found that it's the amount of head space that governs thermal efficiency. Too much head space,& you loose more temp then the other way around. If I mash 5-6 pounds of grain in 2 gallons of water I get about the right amount of head space in my 5 gallon kettle. I wrap it up in my quilted winter hunting coat tightly to hold the heat in. In warm weather,I actualy gain 1 degree.

 

[TxBigHops]

Thanks guys! Really, REALLY appreciate all the suggestions. Much as I love this new hobby (lifestyle?) it would be a disaster without this forum. Hardest part is pulling myself away from here to do life. Ha! Wish I had a buck for every time my wife has said "you're on that forum again?"

Every time I brew, I learn from the mistakes I made, or just from experiencing a new situation. This time, being my first PM, I now know that I need to fine tune the heat loss issue, work on efficiency (related?) and do a better job dialing in my volumes. Both OG and volume after boil were lower than I expected. I sat down after the brew and wrote out a bunch of detailed notes, so next brew I will make some adjustments and hopefully continue to improve.

 

[Norwaybrewer]

Are those pots really five gallons? i have 3 pots, four, three and three gallons, and they look just as big.

Anyway, will i be able to use this as in your recipe?

At least on a 3/4 scale comparwd to five gallons maybe?


Sent from my HUAWEI P6-U06 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[beergolf]

In warm weather,I actualy gain 1 degree

Obviously flunked science class. It is impossible to gain temp without some sort of heat source. If your temps rise then you should contact the goverment because you have found a new source of energy.

 

[702marine]

Its called carry over heat...

 

[beergolf]

Its called carry over heat...

It is just a mash that was not fully mixed and the temp was taken at an area that was not equalized.

 

[freisste]

Obviously flunked science class. It is impossible to gain temp without some sort of heat source. If your temps rise then you should contact the goverment because you have found a new source of energy.

Adiabatic heating - temp change without heat flow. It is how diesel engines ignite fuel without spark plugs.

Obviously not at work here...

 

[BrewerE]

where'd the pictures go???

 

[connolcj]

where'd the pictures go???

I second that....where are the pictures?

 

[Frilock]

where'd the pictures go???

I too am wondering.

 

[dstranger99]

This post is what got me into all grain, I always wondered whatever happened to deathbrewer ? Anyone know ??

 

[radiogorillaz]

Maybe a PM might raise him?

 

[steviebNY444]

I didn't really have time to read all 150 pages of this thread but does anyone know or has seen someone do this all grain instead of partial? Is it as simple as just more grain or is the brew bag constrained to not hold that much grain for say, an imperial stout.

 

[BrettV]

I didn't really have time to read all 150 pages of this thread but does anyone know or has seen someone do this all grain instead of partial? Is it as simple as just more grain or is the brew bag constrained to not hold that much grain for say, an imperial stout.

I've done 2 all-grain BIAB recipes. It is as simple as increasing the grain bill, but be forewarned that the more grain you use, the heavier and heavier that bag gets when saturated. My last batch used about 12 pounds of grain, and I'll bet it weighed 45-50 pounds soaking wet. An imperial stout will have even more, so keep that in mind, and make sure you have a friend around to help lift.

 

[BrewerE]

I didn't really have time to read all 150 pages of this thread but does anyone know or has seen someone do this all grain instead of partial? Is it as simple as just more grain or is the brew bag constrained to not hold that much grain for say, an imperial stout.

Isn't that called BAIB???

there's a thread for that...

 

[DeathBrewer]

Sorry folks. Forgot I had those on a cancelled host. I'll upload them here and get them permanent

 

[DeathBrewer]

Uploaded photos but linking isn't working. I'll figure this out ASAP...

 

[DeathBrewer]

Pictures are back! And I'm probably a ghost again...

 

[702marine]

You should stick around bro. I have been looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'm definitely going to at least update the Recipe Formulations thread

 

[DonBrewer]

Can you melt the brew bag onto a SS brew pot?

 

[unionrdr]

In my experience no, as long as you have water in there too.

 

[cheddarhed3]

Great post. I have yet to venture past extract with specialty grains but plan on heading in the BIAB direction soon. Might hit this technique up first on my way up the ladder. Cheers.

 

[MrSpaz]

This was my go to for partial mashing. I highly suggest it. After a few of these you then want to get into all grain which I finally did. Good luck

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, it worked out real well for me doing pb/pm biab in the same 5 gallon SS kettle I started with. Same basic idea with sparge made my E/SG beers better as well.

 

[lazarwolf]

Great write up and nearly identical to what I spend my weekends doing. In fact I often make two batches with my grains. (What? You say " you can't do that? " you might extract the dreaded tannins...") to which I say in the words of our fine forefather, relax have a home brew.

Btw. Keeping the mash temp at around 149 should increase sugar extraction but also reduce mouth feel. There isn't one holy mash temperature. Steven Deeds "brewing engineering" and John Palmer "how to brew" cover this well, and new brewers should probably know this"

 

[unionrdr]

The 2nd batch you're doing would traditionally be called a small beer that in colonial times was the all day, every day beer you drank with meals. Even the kids, since the ABV% was low.
And different mash temps can be used to get more or less mouthfeel, more or less fermentables basically. Lighter beers lower mash temp, darker beers, higher mash temps in the simple sense. This covers a lot of ground though.

 

[wordswithtim]

This is awesome. I've completed four extract brews (I'm definitely a noob brewer) and wanted to know what the next step in learning to brew was. Partial seemed to be it, but the learning curve ramped way the hell up as, unlike the extract kits, there didn't seem to be a basic set of instructions. So this is a great place to start. About it, I did have two quick questions.

1. In the boil, you said you added hops, but didn;t specifically state how. Do you just pitch in the desired about? Do you have to use a bag? And if you end up hopping at different points in the boil, which you seem to need to, do you pull the first bag back out or leave them all in? As you can see, not sure about the correct way to add hops to a boil. Could you clear that up.

2. I've done see reading on the interwebs about partial boil and some processes talk about a two-stage fermentation. As I've been doing basic extract I've only got the one fermenter. Is that okay to use with this process, is that what you do too? Or should I think about two-stage and if so, why?

Thanks again for this write up. It'll be the base plate of my first attempt at a partial for sure.

 

[lazarwolf]

hello wordswithtim. This is a really wonderful, but old thread that deathbrewer posted. So Ill jump in and help out. How you add hops is not really a big concern. But most of us use bags now, or some other container to contain the hops (like large tea infusers). You can put all of the hops in one bag at various points in the brew, you can throw them all into the pot, or you can package them separately. Bags and tea balls make clean up easier and help reduce the amount of trub loss in your fermenter.

As for your question regarding two stage fermentation. For many many years it was recommended that you transfer your beer to a secondary fermenter after the really active period of fermentation was complete. We would wait for the bubbles on the air lock to slow to maybe one bubble per 2 minutes, and then we would transfer the beer to a different sanitized carboy. Some guys would take OG readings and wait for the beer to read about the same gravity for a couple of days in a row. Others didnt want to take any risks of contamination and would use the bubble method I mentioned above. The logic of a secondary fermentation was this, remove the beer from the dying yeast cells (they are pretty exhausted at this point) let the yeast in suspension continue to clean up the flavors of the beer in a different fermenter. When yeast is dying it can put off some
funky flavors. In recent years we have learned that most beers dont need to be transferred to secondary fermentation. There are many many posts about this topic on this site. So unless a recipe specifically says to transfer, there is no reason to do so.

Hope I helped. There are many many videos on youtube that can help you learn as well. Best advice is brew with an experienced friend your first time mashing. (it isnt hard and if you can make oatmeal by yourself you can mash) And or start with a partial mash kit. Northern Brewer, More Beer, Bull City, Midwest, Austin... they all offer kits with very detailed instructions. Once you start mashing you wont ever stop. I only make Partial Mash 5 gallon, and 2.5 gallon all grain now. I dont own any fancy brewing equipment, no elecrtic herms system or three tier all grain gravity system with pumps for my hlt. You can do all of this on your stove top, or you can take it as far as you want. Have fun. Feel free to keep asking questions.

 

[unionrdr]

This is awesome. I've completed four extract brews (I'm definitely a noob brewer) and wanted to know what the next step in learning to brew was. Partial seemed to be it, but the learning curve ramped way the hell up as, unlike the extract kits, there didn't seem to be a basic set of instructions. So this is a great place to start. About it, I did have two quick questions.

1. In the boil, you said you added hops, but didn;t specifically state how. Do you just pitch in the desired about? Do you have to use a bag? And if you end up hopping at different points in the boil, which you seem to need to, do you pull the first bag back out or leave them all in? As you can see, not sure about the correct way to add hops to a boil. Could you clear that up.

2. I've done see reading on the interwebs about partial boil and some processes talk about a two-stage fermentation. As I've been doing basic extract I've only got the one fermenter. Is that okay to use with this process, is that what you do too? Or should I think about two-stage and if so, why?

Thanks again for this write up. It'll be the base plate of my first attempt at a partial for sure.

I used to add my hops to the boil in hop sacks, but found the hop flavors/aromas have more edge to them added loosely to the boil. I use a 10 1/4" fine mesh strainer from either NB or Midwest to pour the chilled wort through to get out hop gunk, etc. This also helps aerate the wort. You'll get the foamy hot break right before it boils. I do pb/pm biab on my electric stove. Add the bittering hops, then start the timer for 60 minutes. Flavor hop additions are from about 20 minutes down to maybe 8 minutes. Aroma additions are about 3-5 minutes left. Dry hopping gives more aroma.
I mash up to 7 1/2lbs of grains in 2 1/3 gallons of water. 6lbs or so in 2G. This is usually at 153F to mash wrapped up in my quilted hunting coat for the 1 hour mash. Drain the bag & dunk sparge 10 minutes so I can stir the grains. Drain again & add sparge to main wort in boil kettle. I heat it on "high" to get past the foamy hot break. Then down to about "8.8" on the dial for an even rolling boil that's not blooping like molten lava. I've been using spring water with great success.

 

[wordswithtim]

Thanks both. Very helpful. Wish me luck.

 

[lazarwolf]

You can do this, and it will dramatically improve v your beer.

I call it partial grain rather than mini mash or partial mash.

 

[jblack138]

Just some clarification, please.

When you start the sparging process, you are dunking the grains in the sparge water? The "tea bag" is an up & down, or swirling, motion to get the water flowing through the grains? You then let said grain rest in the sparge water for a period of time before disposing of them & then mixing the 2 worts together?

 

[unionrdr]

Since I use a nylon grain bag, I dunk the mashed/drained grain bag in the sparge water & wrap the top of the bag around the lip of the kettle. Then stir the grains after setting the timer for ten minutes. Then cover & let it sit. I tried doing this for 2 minutes once & my OG wasn't as high as with ten minutes. Then drain the bag well & add the sparge wort to the main wort from the mash to get to my boil volume.

 

[DPveritasGold]

This is a long thread so I apologize if someone already addressed this, but I'm wondering why you would add all of the extract at the beginning of the boil if you're only doing a "partial boil"? Thanks!