mwill07
Well-Known Member
I use a 5 gallon igloo cooler for my mash tun. Until I can get this upgraded, I have been limited in the size of beer I can make. I'm fine with it, as I only typically make a big beer once a year - I like to make a RIS or barleywine or something like that every winter, age it all year, and drink it the next winter.
Last year was the first time I tried doing this all-grain. I tried using this recipe, but scaled back to make 3.5 gallons so I could fit all of the grains in my tun.
making 3.5 gallons is no fun. So, thinking about this, another alternative is to scale back on the base malt and replace with DME in the boil, right?
Here's how I think it works:
original grain bill:
2-row: 17 lb (82%)
Roasted Barley: 1.5 lb (7%)
Special B: 1 lb (5%)
Chocolate malt: 0.75 lb (4%)
CaraPils: 0.5 lb (2%)
========
20.75 lb total grain bill
predicted OG - 1.104
Partial mash version:
2-row: 8 lb (68%)
Roasted Barley: 1.5 lb (13%)
Special B: 1 lb (9%)
Chocolate malt: 0.75 lb (6%)
CaraPils: 0.5 lb (4%)
DME-light - 5 lb
===========
11.75 lb total grain bill
predicted OG: 1.099
these recipes should produce a roughly equivalent beer, right (neglecting the 0.005 difference in gravity)? Any concern with a smaller percentage of base malt in the mash? There still should be plenty of diastatic power for conversion.
Just looking to doublecheck my thought process.
of course, the easy answer is to get a bigger mash-tun, but I'm not upgrading my equipment until I'm ready to go big, so you work with what you've got.
Last year was the first time I tried doing this all-grain. I tried using this recipe, but scaled back to make 3.5 gallons so I could fit all of the grains in my tun.
making 3.5 gallons is no fun. So, thinking about this, another alternative is to scale back on the base malt and replace with DME in the boil, right?
Here's how I think it works:
original grain bill:
2-row: 17 lb (82%)
Roasted Barley: 1.5 lb (7%)
Special B: 1 lb (5%)
Chocolate malt: 0.75 lb (4%)
CaraPils: 0.5 lb (2%)
========
20.75 lb total grain bill
predicted OG - 1.104
Partial mash version:
2-row: 8 lb (68%)
Roasted Barley: 1.5 lb (13%)
Special B: 1 lb (9%)
Chocolate malt: 0.75 lb (6%)
CaraPils: 0.5 lb (4%)
DME-light - 5 lb
===========
11.75 lb total grain bill
predicted OG: 1.099
these recipes should produce a roughly equivalent beer, right (neglecting the 0.005 difference in gravity)? Any concern with a smaller percentage of base malt in the mash? There still should be plenty of diastatic power for conversion.
Just looking to doublecheck my thought process.
of course, the easy answer is to get a bigger mash-tun, but I'm not upgrading my equipment until I'm ready to go big, so you work with what you've got.