Mini Partial Mash?

[dotes]

Until now I have only done simple extract brewing. I recently bought a pound of Maris Otter Grains and i would like to try encorporating them into my next brew. Is that amount way too small to make any impact? It seems like most partial grain recipes call for a few pounds minimum. Does anyone know a recipe using simply one pound of grain accompanied by DME and LME?? Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

Marris otter is a base malt that must be mashed. Maybe 2 quarts of water in a small pot at 152-153F for an hour. Sparge with another couple quarts of 168F water & add to boil. I've done "mini mashes" of some 13oz & it came out great in the recipe I used. Just a regular extract recipe with LME,DME & hops with the mini mash added for more color & flavor.

 

[Yooper]

Even a pound of maris otter will bring flavor and "freshness" to the beer, so it's worth doing!

You can use any recipe you want, and just add the maris otter to the specialty grains and mash them. Adding a pound of grain won't change the OG much at all, so you don't have to worry about reducing the extract unless you only happen to have a certain amount and want to avoid buying an extra 1/2 pound of extract if your recipe calls for it.

 

[drainbamage]

I had been considering doing this as well. I'm gradually scaling up my equipment, but don't have a brewpot big enough for full boil yet. I'll give it a shot in the meantime.

 

[BlackGoat]

sure, do it! In my early days I did some partial mashes from 1-2lbs of grains. You tend to get super low efficiency when you are first trying it out, so don't expect much as far as fermentable sugars but its a great way to add character to your beer and become a bit more comfortable with the mashing process.

 

[dotes]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

So once I bring the mash to a boil would i then take out the grain and toss in the DME and LME and continue as normal?

"Marris otter is a base malt that must be mashed. Maybe 2 quarts of water in a small pot at 152-153F for an hour. Sparge with another couple quarts of 168F water & add to boil."

 

[chickypad]

Don't bring the mash to a boil. Hold it at 152-153 for an hour then remove the bag, rinse the grains with the 168 F water (either by dunking in another pot or pouring over it through a colander), then bring all that collected wort to a boil topping off with more water if needed to get your boil volume. Make sure the bag is really loose and stir the grains so they are all fully in contact with the water during the mash.

Deathbrewer has a mini-mash sticky at the top of this forum.

 

[woozy]

Adding a pound of grain won't change the OG much at all, so you don't have to worry about reducing the extract ...

Oh, come on. Let's do the numbers! It's fun!

Marris Otter has max yield of 38 PPG so 1 pound would be 38 gravity units and at 50-85% efficiency that 19-32 gravity units. Spread over 5 gallons (OP never mentioned batch size) that 4 to 6 points. Not much but a nice boost.

LME is 37 PPG so the Marris Otter is the equivalent of 1/2 lb to .85 lb of LME. (Although I'd just take the boost).

DME is 45 PPG so the Marris Otter is the equivalent of .4 to .75 of DME. Again I'd just add it.

Of course, if you are doing 2 gallon or 1 gallon batches the one pound of grain will contribute 9-16 points (for 2 gallons) and 19-32 points (for 1 gallon) and is *very* significant.

 

[Yooper]

Of course, if you are doing 2 gallon or 1 gallon batches the one pound of grain will contribute 9-16 points (for 2 gallons) and 19-32 points (for 1 gallon) and is *very* significant.

Well, yes. But most people wouldn't do a mini-mash with a pound or more of grain for a 1 gallon batch. Then it would be more of an AG batch. It would be silly to try to calculate it for a 1 gallon batch. That's not what this thread is intending to discuss at all, and is off-topic.

A pound of grain in a 5 gallon batch is negligible, but still gives plenty of flavor and color and freshness as well as adds a few points to the OG. A mini-mash with 1 pound of grain may contribute 4-5 gravity points. It's not worth subtracting extract, and worry about 4-5 OG points.

 

[woozy]

A mini-mash with 1 pound of grain may contribute 4-5 gravity points. It's not worth subtracting extract, and worry about 4-5 OG points.

Oh, I agree completely! But it's fun to figure out. Plus it's good practice in case one wants to do a mini-mash with a small but no longer insignificant amount of grain... say three or four pounds-- Still too small to be a typical partial mash but large enough to measure the effects.