Looking for some opinions on a very bungled partial mash

[mrorange38]

Hey all,

I'm sure I'll take some insults on this one, but that's OK. I'm fairly new to partial mash brewing, and got mixed up on a recipe and ingredients I got from a local brew shop. Left with a batch that may be no good, and some major burn residue inside my previously clean stainless brew kettle.

This was the recipe:

6.6 lbs pilsen light
2 lbs flaked corn
1/2 pound carapils grain
1/2 pound munich grain
2 oz of tetnanger hops

To make a long story short, this batch would've probably turned out very well, and without trouble ... but I made a BIG mistake. I didn't know the flaked corn was supposed to go in the brew bag, and put it right in the water.

I made sort of a panic call to the other brew shop in town, and a trusted source said I may be able to recover if I could somehow get most of the corn out. Well, none of that went well, and I did wind up using several bags for the grains and hops. To make it worse, those bags and the grain somehow got burned badly to the bottom and sides of my kettle. Socks and all. It was like a corn soup , with pieces of burned stuff floating about Thought we could use my faucet on the kettle to just get the watery wort out, but even after full dilution, that didn't work. It took me about an hour with my new immersion chiller to get things down to about 85deg. However, sanitation then became difficult as I had to get my hand and arm in there trying to get the wort to flow through all the mess. FInally gave up on that , and made a makeshift funnel out of an empty water jug. Got the 6 gallon carboy filled up a bit over 3/4 with wort, corn , and some burned sediment. I don't want to say what it looked and felt like

For some reason over the 60 minute boil, I also had a lot of steam, and lost a lot of water. All total I wound up using 7 gallons of water for this 5 gallon batch. Had to mix in an extra gallon of spring water I had here to get the carboy up about an inch from the top. At that point, I just took a hydro measure, pitched yeast at 87deg, and capped it off. Had to leave a good deal of wet corn meal in the bottom of the kettle (now on yard), as it just seemed too gooey to save or use. That corn really turns into some rough stuff over a boil.

I know this all probably sounds laughable to you guys, but do you think there is a chance in !@#$ this could turn out? I'm wondering about the burned grain, and how much fermentables I left behind with that corn muck. Also looking for any tips on getting the black burn off my stainless kettle. Thanks!

 

[chickypad]

The problem really started with the recipe. The only base grain you have there is that small amount of munich which can convert itself but not a whole lot else, certainly not 2 lbs of corn. The burnt stuff sounds pretty nasty, I suppose it might all settle out. Then you didn't do yourself any favors pitching the yeast at 87 degrees (I'm assuming this is not a Belgian), what temp is it at now? Also, how big is your carboy? You talk about it being an inch from the top, are you fermenting in a 5 gal? Hope you have a blowoff attached. Might as well let it ride at this point and taste it when it's done fermenting.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Taste the wort, if it tastes like an ashtray, cut your losses and dump it now.

If it tastes ok, sweet and bitter than your fine.

 

[mrorange38]

Taste the wort, if it tastes like an ashtray, cut your losses and dump it now.

If it tastes ok, sweet and bitter than your fine.

Tried tasting via wooden spoon. Fermentation kicked in really fast , and it has been bubbling and foaming away for the past several hours. I wouldn't say the wort tasted good, but I don't know that it tasted like an ashtray either. Light in flavor, maybe sort of beer'y, and a light background of a chemical/cleaner type taste. A bit acidic. I'm wary of the chemical/cleaner type taste, because I had that happen with a brew I did last fall, and it never got better. Again, I'm only able to taste the run off from the foam on top, as there is so much of it right now.

I'm planning on going to the brew shop, because as chicky said, this recipe seems to be way off. No mention of what to do with the corn, but more importantly, I've been reading that boiling those grains for any time, much less 60 minutes, is a no no. It's supposed to be a "san miguel" clone. They had made it all grain, and gave me a "converted" recipe, because I asked for it as theirs tasted really good.

I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I feel the brew shop should give me back some of these ingredients for the misdirect on the recipe. Thanks for any thoughts on this! Also, if there is any way to fix up this recipe so I could make it right the second time as a partial mash. I could probably get the original all grain recipe from them.

 

[mrorange38]

The problem really started with the recipe. The only base grain you have there is that small amount of munich which can convert itself but not a whole lot else, certainly not 2 lbs of corn. The burnt stuff sounds pretty nasty, I suppose it might all settle out. Then you didn't do yourself any favors pitching the yeast at 87 degrees (I'm assuming this is not a Belgian), what temp is it at now? Also, how big is your carboy? You talk about it being an inch from the top, are you fermenting in a 5 gal? Hope you have a blowoff attached. Might as well let it ride at this point and taste it when it's done fermenting.

After a bad sunburn, and with the little energy I had, I managed to start cleaning out the pot. The entire bottom was glued with about 1/4 inch+ of the black burned stuff. I manage to scrape most off with a plastic scraper and screwdriver. I now have it soaking with PBW.

I'm still sort of tasting the beer in my mouth. I want to say I can taste a hint of the burn, but as I said , it's hard for me to get a feel for it with just the foam.

I have to wonder how this burn out of grain works. Is it inevitable that it will throw the off flavor into the beer? I really don't have much visible black stuff in the carboy now, but like I said, I ultimately tossed out a good amount of grain/corn/water sludge from the bottom.

With that amount that I tossed, will that reduce the fermentables so much that there won't be enough anyway? What I do have in the carboy, or did , was a lot of floating grain and corn. up to over have the carboy at last check. I can't really see it now, but it was slowly falling. I don't even know if it will settle all the way down or not?

 

[chickypad]

If you lost a bunch of wort then topped off with water then yes you will have diluted the batch. Your OG reading might not be accurate with toppping off, but what was it? Your description of the gunk now sounds even more disgusting, is there burnt nylon bag mixed in there too? I think I would have said don't waste the yeast, but too late now.

Next time swap out some of the extract for a couple lbs of 6 row or 2 row malt. Heat the water up first using a mash calculator to get your strike temp, line the pot with a big bag, then add the grains and stir really well. You can put the pot in a preheated oven (lowest setting then turned off) during the mash to hold temp, then you won't have to worry about scorching the bags/grains from direct heat.

 

[mrorange38]

The OG appeared to be at the 30 mark on the hydro. I managed to get a kit from the local brew shop. True Brew Dark German. it was about 36, and they gave me a 30% discount due to the circumstances.

It really seems like I should just dump this wort in the yard , and use the carboy for the new batch i'm planning on doing today or in the next few days. The bubbling has tapered off, but the sediment is still nearly half up on the carboy! Looks pretty nasty in there.