Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

[Weezknight]

Leeching tannins happens from your temperature being too hot, not from time.

That's a lot of grain, and means you will have to mash with a higher volume than 2 gallons of water. Plus sparge amount depends on whether or not you can do a full boil. Check out the all-grain thread in my sig for more details. I would start with less grains your first time.

Yeah, I'll cut back on the grain a bit, and add some more extract since this is my first time.

As I said, I usually can't get a full 5-gallon boil on my stovetop, but I can get 3 gallons up to a perfect boil pretty quickly. So should I base my sparge amount on that?

What would happen if you use less sparge water than necessary? Higher OG?

 

[DeathBrewer]

If you use this method with 5-6 lbs of grain, 2 gallons of mash water, 2 gallons of sparge water, and about 3 lbs of extract, you will end up with about 4 gallons to boil.

With this method, you top off at the end, so you will always end up with 5 gallons (or wherever you want to end up), so if you top off more, whether it be sparge or post-boil, it will give you a smaller OG.

 

[Treybie]

DeathBrewer - your instructions and pics are much appreciated! Thanks for taking the time and effort to put them up. I'm going to do a partial mash Dunkelweitzen and your instructions are very helpful. Cool icon.

 

[Lep]

Going to try this hopefully tomorrow. My LHBS didn't really have a whole lot of selection in terms of grains and hops, they seem to focus a lot more on wine.

So this is what I've ended up with.

3kg pale 2 row
500g dark crystal
500g black patent

2oz sterling 6% aa (pellets)
2oz cluster 7.5% aa (pellets)
And I've got light, amber or dark DME to add during the boil to get my gravity up as well.


So what should I be looking at for quantities if I were shooting for a general brown ale? I was thinking more or less 2.5 gallon mash and a 2.5 gallon sparge, leaving me with around 4.5 gallon boil, and maybe a half an ounce of each of the hops at 60 mins?

Also, they don't crush the grains at all so I've got to do that myself. I've heard a rolling pin can work well? Is that good, or are there any other suggestions?

 

[DeathBrewer]

Sure, that will work:

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

10-C American Ale, American Brown Ale

Min OG: 1.045 Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 20 Max IBU: 48
Min Clr: 18 Max Clr: 35 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.30
Anticipated OG: 1.056 Plato: 13.91
Anticipated SRM: 44.3
Anticipated IBU: 32.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 5.88 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.048 SG 11.91 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
64.1 6.60 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
10.7 1.10 lbs. Crystal 90L America 1.033 90
10.7 1.10 lbs. Black Patent Malt America 1.028 525
14.6 1.50 lbs. Briess DME- Light America 1.046 8

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 oz. Spalter Select Pellet 6.00 14.3 60 min.
0.50 oz. Cluster Pellet 7.50 17.9 60 min.


Yeast
-----

Danstar Nottingham


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 8.80
Water Qts: 12.00 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 3.00 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.36 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 152 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 0 Time: 0
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 10


Total Mash Volume Gal: 3.70 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

I'd throw an ounce of Sterling in at the end of the boil, too.

Rolling pin will work for grains, although it will take a while. Do small amounts, like a pound at a time, and crush the **** out of it.

 

[Lep]

I had to start before I saw your reply but it is very helpful, I need to run to work right away actually (I didn't plan on crushing the grains for an hour and a half lol. I thought maybe I had too much black patent so I didn't use very much, I may just add a bit of dark DME to add flavour, but maybe it will work out alright anyway. My mash stayed above 145 the whole time I think and I'm just starting to boil now. It looked and smelled pretty good, but I'm unsure about my crush. I did crush them pretty well, but probably not the sheet out of them. It's my first try though, so I'll know for next time now. Noted about the hops at flameout, errr, electric..out. I will do that. I'm pretty excited about this.

 

[Lep]

Ok, back from work. I'm not sure how I can measure the final volume but it looks like it might be a touch under four gallons. My sg after the boil is 1.070, so I think things have worked out. It tastes sweet anyway! I'm setting it to ferment now.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Less black patent is a good thing for a brown, i think. What yeast did you use?

EDIT: That's 70% efficiency, nice. You could dilute it down with 1 gal of distilled water, if you'd like. Would put you at the exact recipe for 5 gal.

 

[Lep]

Less black patent is a good thing for a brown, i think. What yeast did you use?

EDIT: That's 70% efficiency, nice. You could dilute it down with 1 gal of distilled water, if you'd like. Would put you at the exact recipe for 5 gal.

All I could get for yeast at the moment was a dry packet or morgan's ale yeast.

A few hours in and I haven't seen any activity, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to really see what's going on. I'm wondering if my ice bath might have cooled things off too much. I was in a rush to get everything done and forgot to take the temperature. The basement where it's sitting is roughly 65 I think, so so long as it takes off, it should keep itself fermenting at around 68.

 

[agenthucky]

DB, do you throw your specialty grains like chocolate or crystal (if you even still use crystal) into the mash with your base malts? Or do you just steep them before raising it to a boil still?

Will be buying a 7.5 gallon pot to do AG with.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Everything goes into the mash. I've tried other things, such as sprinkling ground carafa II on top of the mash so as to impart more color and less flavor. Seemed to work pretty well. Some people do cold steeping on the side and use other methods, but all in the mash works fine and I like to be consistent...sometimes

 

[bgough]

DB, do you throw your specialty grains like chocolate or crystal (if you even still use crystal) into the mash with your base malts? Or do you just steep them before raising it to a boil still?

Will be buying a 7.5 gallon pot to do AG with.

why do you say "if you even still use crystal malts"? Crystal malts are essential in brewing many different styles.

 

[agenthucky]

why do you say "if you even still use crystal malts"? Crystal malts are essential in brewing many different styles.

I was just referring to the amount of grain he has to choose from with this method, and I didn't notice any in his recipes, but I might be mistaken.

 

[agenthucky]

Everything goes into the mash. I've tried other things, such as sprinkling ground carafa II on top of the mash so as to impart more color and less flavor. Seemed to work pretty well. Some people do cold steeping on the side and use other methods, but all in the mash works fine and I like to be consistent...sometimes

Oh, I ask because when I started using specialty grains, I saw that John Palmer said too much time can result in off flavors. Here he is talking about steeping specialty grains at 160F:

"grain is left in for too long (hours), astringent tannin compounds (a.k.a. phenols) can be extracted from the grain husks. The compounds give the wort a dry puckering taste, much like a black tea that has been left to steep too long. The extraction of tannins is especially prevalent if the water is too hot - above 170°F"

It's possible that the warmer mash temp and the startches and sugars in the mash that the extraction takes longer and doesn't result in tannin extraction, letting you mash for a longer period of time. I didn't want to assume this though.

Thanks.

 

[DeathBrewer]

That's just for steeping, which is NOT mashing. Mashing means you are actually getting conversion, steeping means you are doing a tea, basically leeching off flavor and color from the grains with hot water. When I steep, I either do it just like a mash, or I remove it from the wort before my boil reaches 170°F.

 

[agenthucky]

That's just for steeping, which is NOT mashing. Mashing means you are actually getting conversion, steeping means you are doing a tea, basically leeching off flavor and color from the grains with hot water. When I steep, I either do it just like a mash, or I remove it from the wort before my boil reaches 170°F.

Ahh, mashing works out the problem. I didn't want to assume.

Also, I gata say, many people find this thread helpful, but you've kept it updated since summber 2008. Thanks for answering questions this late in the thread, it provides almost as much help as the thread itself.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Thanks, I'm glad so many have found it helpful. I may go through the thread sometime and compile the info...try to make a more thorough introduction to partial mashing.

 

[agenthucky]

Thanks, I'm glad so many have found it helpful. I may go through the thread sometime and compile the info...try to make a more thorough introduction to partial mashing.

Hah, I'm only on page 23. I plan to read all of it, there are a few good pieces of advice scattered throughout.

 

[mallob9]

Nice tutorial, looking forward to putting it into practice shortly

 

[Lep]

Hah, I'm only on page 23. I plan to read all of it, there are a few good pieces of advice scattered throughout.

Yeah, some of the most helpful posts were late in the thread for me, and helped clear up questions I had about things mentioned earlier I wasn't yet sure about.

My brew has been fermenting for a week and a bit or so now. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, but it sure has gone slow compared to an LME extract batch (it was on sale...) I set going at the same time. The LME exploded, and the partial mash bucket has been....gentle. I'm now thinking I probably didn't aerate too well. But there is a bit of krausen so I think it's going to be alright. It still smells REALLY good, which is the most exciting part. The anticipation of a good brew is half the fun.

 

[DMace]

Geesh! Page 74! Well, I'm replying to page 1. Thanks for the great tips. My recipe calls for steeping my grains, removing the grain bags, and then adding the malt extract into the same pot. I'll read through, I'm sure this has already been addressed. Just wanted to say thanks for the step by step.

 

[wadner]

Geesh! Page 74! Well, I'm replying to page 1. Thanks for the great tips. My recipe calls for steeping my grains, removing the grain bags, and then adding the malt extract into the same pot. I'll read through, I'm sure this has already been addressed. Just wanted to say thanks for the step by step.

If that is the case you are doing an extract brew session with specialty grains. Steeping and mashing are NOT the same process.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Steeping simply extracts color and flavor from the grains. Mashing extracts color, flavor and sugars.

Mashing is doing it "from scratch"...instead of using all extract, some of the grains contribute fermentable sugars, which is why you don't need to use as much extract.

And yeah...just read through here...lots of good info and I'm sure that's been mentioned before.

 

[DMace]

Thanks for clarifying. I'm brewing the Palilalia IPA from the Papazian book. I'm adding 1 lb of crystal with 1/2 lb of toasted malted barley. I'm cracking these, and, as it says, "steep at 150-160 degree F for 30 minutes, then remove the grains with a strainer."

Where as these directions:

As long as my mash is within 150-155°F, i cover it and leave it be. 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.

Sounds like the same directions up to that point. I'm having a difficult time (obviously). I've only followed the directions from kits before and never dealt w/ crushed grains. Any help is apperciated. I'll keep reading though......

 

[agenthucky]

Thanks for clarifying. I'm brewing the Palilalia IPA from the Papazian book. I'm adding 1 lb of crystal with 1/2 lb of toasted malted barley. I'm cracking these, and, as it says, "steep at 150-160 degree F for 30 minutes, then remove the grains with a strainer."
[\QUOTE]


What you are doing is steeping specialty grains. You have no need to mash, which is what this forum is about.

You want to do just what it says, steep the grains at 150-160F. It is just like making tea. It helps if you use a grain bag, which the kits usually come with. Just keep in mind, you are not doing a mini-mash, you are just steeping grains.

 

[DeathBrewer]

The water-grain ratio is also very important when mashing...not as much with steeping.

 

[Lep]

Still waiting on the brown ale in secondary (testing a primary only batch with extract, will continue only in primary if that goes well) and am likely going to do another batch with this method tomorrow or sunday. Going to try an IPA with a bit of muscle but I still don't have a whole lot of ingredients to work with. We'll see.

 

[mikeysab]

I've tried DB's method twice and they were the 2 best beers I've made. Although the second one, a newcastle clone from midwest, was supposed to be an all grain batch, it became a partial mash when my OG was a pathetic 1.030. Good thing I keep some DME on hand. I think the problem was using my aluminum boil kettle as a mash tun. The temp went down 10 degrees in an hour and my kids were going nuts so I freaked out and said screw it and added some DME and dextrose to boost the gravity and called it a day. Turns out after only a week in the bottle, it's the best batch I've ever brewed. I do have a question. I came into a 5 gallon rubbermaid cooler, but money is tight, so I can't buy a weldless bulkhead at this time, so I'm wondering if I could use DB's strainer bag method in the cooler. I'm guessing I could just put my water in the cooler, then throw the bag of grain in, mix it up as usual and use the spigot to drain the cooler. Then I'd just sparge as usual, and get 95 percent efficiency and start my own brewery. How does this sound to all my fellow homebrewers? is it even worth a shot?

 

[DeathBrewer]

lol, I don't know about 95% efficiency and you're going to have to charge about $30/beer to make any money off of 5 gallon batches, but i think it will work just fine!

I've seen some cooler mods where they used the standard parts and found a way to keep the valve open. Then it would just be about sticking a hose up or around the spigot.

Worse case scenario: The spigot gets some grain in it and you have to pour it out of the cooler instead of throught the spigot.

 

[mikeysab]

are you knocking my dreams of becoming a brewer, DB??? Ha ha, so far I've gotten 63 percent and 55 percent efficiencies, so I'm looking to hone my skills for now. I figured if I could put this cooler to use now, I'd make some decent beers. You did remind me that ya gotta press the damn button on the spigot though. I guess I could stick a piece of high temp tubing in there with an inline valve, which I already have, or like you said, pour the wort out. Well, you saying that it should work is good enough for me, unless it's the Hoegarden speaking. Either way, I'm gonna give it a shot, and if it's a total bust, I'll just sell my blood, or sperm to get enough money to buy the right parts. Better yet, there's a tranny that works at Lowe's on Staten Island, so maybe I'll charm her/him and let her swipe one for me. I'll call my first brew Tranny tripel . Ha ha, thanks again Death.

 

[agenthucky]

You did remind me that ya gotta press the damn button on the spigot though. I guess I could stick a piece of high temp tubing in there with an inline valve, which I already have, or like you said, pour the wort out. Well, you saying that it should work is good enough for me, unless it's the Hoegarden speaking.

I have one of the coolers and I took off the valve and replaced it with one Mr. Beer sells that you can leave open. $5 maybe. I use it for bottling, not mashing, but it does the trick. I leave the spigot open and use the wand to dispense [It also came with a bottle wand].

And for what it's worth, it's Hoegaarden, and you're making me thirsty!

 

[mikeysab]

damn, that's a good idea. I have a water bottle in my fridge with one of those spigots you could leave open.....maybe I'll try that. Thanks for the tip, and the spell check. i guess it just proves that when you see 9 labels of something, it doesn't mean you know how it's spelled. Maybe when all 12 are gone, I'll actually read something on the label.

 

[agenthucky]

damn, that's a good idea. I have a water bottle in my fridge with one of those spigots you could leave open.....maybe I'll try that. Thanks for the tip, and the spell check. i guess it just proves that when you see 9 labels of something, it doesn't mean you know how it's spelled. Maybe when all 12 are gone, I'll actually read something on the label.

I loooove my Hoegaarden! Sometimes when I'm feeling daring, I'll throw a slice of lemon in with it (who keeps oranges around for slicing?).

 

[jigidyjim]

Ok, please forgive me if these questions have been asked, but at 74 pages, it's hard to read this entire thread:

1) Does the amount of sparge water you use matter, or should I just use whatever amount will bring me to my final boil volume?

1a) is any water re-absorbed by the grains when sitting in the sparge water pot?

2) My thought was that in "traditional" sparging that you rinse the grains, not soak them again. Does soaking them change anything that's happening? Would it be "more correct" if I were to hold the grains in a colander and pour the sparge water over them, or does soaking them just accomplish the same thing in an easier manner?

3) How long do you usually hold the bag above the kettle to let it drain?

Thanks!

 

[DeathBrewer]

1) If you use TOO MUCH sparge water, you can extract tannins from the grains. This method uses 2 gallons for mash and 2 gallons for sparge...you could probably go up to three and be fine. It also uses a partial boil. If you want to do a full boil, add water after the sparge is complete and the grains are out (and, obviously, you'll need to use a bigger pot)

1a) Yes, you will lose some water...how much comes out depends on how much you let it drain. Sometimes, I would set it aside in a plastic container while I prepare some more and then dump that little extra wort in before the boil.

2) A "traditional" sparge is a "fly-sparge" in which the grains are never removed from the water and it actually keeps a level of water above the grains while you are draining the bottom (by sprinkling from above.)

You can use a colander with that method. I've actually found it increases efficiency to do a pour-over with some of the sparge AND THEN dunk them in the sparge water after that. It's the only way to get really good efficiency when I use this method for all-grain. Partial mash, doesn't make as much a difference.

3) As long as I can hold it! I usually use my big-ass colander and just let it drain until it's pretty much just sprinkling.

No problemo.

 

[robertvrabel]

This is so helpful, thank you! I plan to try this next.

Quick question on measuring efficiency. When exactly do you measure it to know your % efficiency from the grains? After you mix your wort + sparge water (step 5.5)? Or do you measure it when your completely done?

 

[DeathBrewer]

I sometimes take a sample at many different stages.

I take a sample at the first run-off to ensure efficiency is good.

I take a sample after run-off is complete to guage where my efficiency is at and how much extract to add.

I take a sample at the end to make sure I hit my numbers.

Remember that extract can skew readings a bit, as it doesn't work its way into solution and distribute itself like the regular wort.

 

[robertvrabel]

I sometimes take a sample at many different stages.

I take a sample at the first run-off to ensure efficiency is good.

I take a sample after run-off is complete to guage where my efficiency is at and how much extract to add.

I take a sample at the end to make sure I hit my numbers.

Remember that extract can skew readings a bit, as it doesn't work its way into solution and distribute itself like the regular wort.

This makes sense, I was just curious about that because normally I only take a hydro sample when I'm completely done and before pitching the yeast. But I could see it would be helpful doing so before adding the extract, so you can see how efficient your mash was... and ultimately adjust your extract based on that if you wanted to. Very cool, I'm psyched to try this out!

 

[msujay]

I am preparing to brew two 5-gallon recipes this weekend and wanted some help in converting the AHS mini mash instructions to this partial mash method. I'm also trying to figure out how to set up Beersmith to help calculate temperatures, volumes and hop additions. I can either use a 5-gallon pot for a partial boil or a 10-gallon pot to do a full boil. Here goes...

AHS 1492 Pale Ale
3 lbs. 2-Row Malt
8 oz. Crystal 40L Malt
4 lbs. Extra Light DME
4 oz. Malto Dextrin
1 oz. Columbus 60 mins
1 oz. Columbus 15 mins
1 oz. Columus dry hop
OG -1.052
FG - 1.012

AHS mash instructions: 2.5 gallons to 160 degrees, mash for 45 minutes at 155 degrees. Pour 170 degree water over grain bag using 1 qt/2 lbs grain. Allow bag to drip until nearly all water has dripped out, then return to heat for boil.

Questions:
1) How do I convert to partial mash method?
2) Should I change the amount of water used?
3) I prefer to do a full boil, do I just add enough water after the mash to reach my pre-boil wort amount?

Stella Artois Clone
2 lbs. Belgian Pilsner Malt
0.5 lbs. Vienna Malt
0.5 lbs. Cara Pils Malt
5 lbs. Extra Pale LME
2 oz. Saaz 60 minutes
1 oz. Saaz 15 minutes
1 oz. Saaz Flame out
OG - 1.047
FG - 1.008

Same AHS mash instructions as the Pale Ale. The instructions also suggest a cold fermentation for 10 days at 50-55 degrees, which I can accomplish using my kegerator. It then states to raise the temp to 60-70 degrees for 2 days before racking to the secondary for 3-4 weeks at 40 degrees.

Questions:
Same as the Pale Ale, except I also want to get some feedback on the fermentation process recommended by AHS.

Thanks for your help!

 

[jigidyjim]

I sometimes take a sample at many different stages.

I take a sample at the first run-off to ensure efficiency is good.

How do you go about taking efficiency ratings with hot wort? So for example, after the mash, do i just scoop out some, put it in a tube and drop my hydrometer in right away? Will my hydrometer reading be at all accurate at those temps?