Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

DeathBrewer · Apr 21, 2010

Well, if it sat at 160 for too long, it's possible you got some heavy dextrins in there, but I think you'll be fine. You won't get any real tannins at that temperature, that's more of a concern with the sparge reaching too high (over 168°F generally, depending on pH.) Nah, it'll be fine...let me know!

agenthucky · Apr 21, 2010

Ato said:
Hey DB what do you think now that I provided a bit more info about brew day in my last few above posts, think my brew should be ok w/o too many tannins?

Your beer won't be good. You can send it to me and I'll dispose of it properly ;-)

Korben · Apr 27, 2010

Just curious how coarse or fine is the mesh on your grain/hop bag?

DeathBrewer · Apr 27, 2010

It varies and I've used many different bags. For how they will work: The finer bags will let less grain through, but they will flow slower and allow less water through, which could hurt efficiency and make the sparge difficult. The more coarse bags will work much easier, but allow more grain and husk particles through to the boil.

knappster · Apr 27, 2010

DeathBrewer said:
It varies and I've used many different bags. For how they will work: The finer bags will let less grain through, but they will flow slower and allow less water through, which could hurt efficiency and make the sparge difficult. The more coarse bags will work much easier, but allow more grain and husk particles through to the boil.

Is there any detriment to having grain and husk particles in the boil? I'm using the paint strainer nylon bag from Lowe's and I would say it's not as fine as some of the nylon bags I have seen, but it's not nearly as course as a muslin bag either. I don't notice much grain getting through and I haven't noticed drainage problems, but I have also been dunking in the sparge water and not pouring any over it if that makes any difference.

DeathBrewer · Apr 27, 2010

Nah...even when I have a little grain, the beer turns out fine. If you had too much, you could get tannins from boiling the grain, I suppose, if it was a significant amount. You could also get protein haze.

Sardoman · May 1, 2010

Howdy All,

This thread is awesome! Thanks Deathbrewer! I tried this method today for the first time after several extract + steeping grains batches. Things got a little hairy so I want to ask advice on what I should do next. Here's what I did:

My modification of "Centennial Blonde" from https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/

4.5lbs Kalages 2-row pale
0.5lbs Vienna
0.5lbs Cara-pils
0.5lbs Caramel 10L
Strike 9qts 179F, went down to 155F and stayed.
Purple iodophor at first, very little at 30min, none at 45min. Moved to sparge.
Sparge 8qts 175F, went down to 170F after 12min. (Temp too low?)
Combined volumes + 0.5quart to rinse.
Pre-boil SG = 1.024 (48% Efficiency?)
60min 0.25oz Centennial (9.1%aa) plugs
45min 0.25oz Centennial (9.1%aa) plugs
30min 0.25oz Cascade (7.8%aa) pellets
15min 0.25oz Cascade (7.8%aa) pellets, plus 1tsp Irish Moss, plus 1.5lbs Munton's Ex-Pale DME
Cool, top up to 5.5gal.
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II
OG = 1.030

So I'm thinking about taking the left-over 1.5lb of DME, boil in 0.5gal for 15min, cool, throw it into fermenter. What do you think?
I took both gravity readings from samples that I had let come to room temp. I am new to this, so maybe I made some calculation errors. Does 48% efficiency look right to you?

Thanks for any insights you may be able to provide,
Sardo

Sardoman · May 3, 2010

I think I figured it out. I had only read through the first 70 pages of the thread when I posted. A couple of pages after that I spotted the link to the recipator, which will help in the future when adapting recipies, and crucial information about doughing in. I poured all of my grain into the bag in the strike water and then tried to stir it well before covering. Next time I'll add the grain a little bit at a time and stir. Hopefully I'll get better efficiency that way. I went ahead and added the leftover DME as I suggested I might. That probably would have done the trick.
Unfortunately, a heat wave hit the afternoon after brewing, and the fermenter's been in the mid-80s for a couple of days now. Can't imagine that good things will come of this....

DeathBrewer · May 3, 2010

Adding all the grain at once will definitely create some doughballs and lower efficiency.

Look into cooling your fermentation. This is one of the most important methods for making good beer. I keep almost all my beers in the low 60s.

A water bath works great. Just use one of those tubs for kegs:

Fill it with water with the carboy or bucket inside. Keep a floating thermometer in the water, check it a couple of times a day and add ice packs as necessary. Your fermentation temperature is generally a few degrees higher than the water.

If you're concerned about the standing water (mosquitoes, mold, etc.), you can add some potassium metabisulfite to the water and nothing will live in there.

DmentD · May 3, 2010

DeathBrewer said:
A water bath works great. Just use one of those tubs for kegs:

Home Depot has 18 gallon blue tubs just like that for ~$5.99. Super-duper cheap.

nspaldi0 · May 4, 2010

I apologize if this has already been asked, but what is the best way to tell if the grains are resting on the bottom of the pan? I am assuming you don't want the grains to be on the bottom of the pan or am I completely wrong? I didn't know if this would scorch them. Thanks for any help, and this is a great thread. Thanks DB...going to try a partial-mash Oberon clone from AHS!

DeathBrewer · May 4, 2010

They can rest at the bottom of the pan, because you should never apply heat once your grains are in the pot. You only heat the water and eventually the wort.

nspaldi0 · May 4, 2010

Thanks for the quick response. I was thinking after I posted about a full size mash/lauter tun and the grains resting in the bottom or on the false bottom...sorry I should have thought about it more before asking the question. One more question, when using the strike water calculator, I am assuming the temp of grain setting is room temp of the grain? Or do you just leave it at 60 regardless? Thanks again!

DeathBrewer · May 4, 2010

I actually throw a floating thermometer (dry) into the grain. It really varies with my storage areas (car, basement, room, etc.) and can be anywhere from 60-80°F, which can really make a difference in the calculations.

If you throw it in wet, it will grab grain around itself and make a little insulator, so make sure it's good and dry before you throw it in the dusty grain, or you'll get an incorrect reading. Let it sit for 5 minutes, check and let it sit again.

knappster · May 4, 2010

nspaldi0 said:
Thanks for the quick response. I was thinking after I posted about a full size mash/lauter tun and the grains resting in the bottom or on the false bottom...sorry I should have thought about it more before asking the question. One more question, when using the strike water calculator, I am assuming the temp of grain setting is room temp of the grain? Or do you just leave it at 60 regardless? Thanks again!

It's room temperature of the grain as long as your grains are at room temperature. It's just calculating what temperature the water should be in order for the mixture of grain and water to match your strike temperature. So the colder the grain is the warmer the water will have to be and vice versa.

DeathBrewer · May 4, 2010

Oh, and grains resting on the false bottom is inevitable for a mash tun. In fact, that's how you get a nice filter bed...from recirculating and getting the little particles out while creating a tight bed against the false bottom.

nspaldi0 · May 4, 2010

Thanks guys. I appreciate your answers! I'll have to send some brew your way! If it turns out haha

dunnright00 · May 9, 2010

DeathBrewer said:
They can rest at the bottom of the pan, because you should never apply heat once your grains are in the pot. You only heat the water and eventually the wort.

What should I do if, during the mash my temp drops too much. Add some heated water? I shouldn't add heat to the pot?

electronjunkie · May 9, 2010

Thanks Deathrbrewer for this pictorial and explanation. I just brewed my beer using this method, a Belgian Blonde, and kegged it yesterday. It was my second batch ever.

OG: 1.067
FG: 1.009

Had a question though. What happens if I added heat during the Mash? It didn't really need it but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. Grains weren't touching the bottom as far as I could tell.

RC4U12 · May 10, 2010

electronjunkie said:
Thanks Deathrbrewer for this pictorial and explanation. I just brewed my beer using this method, a Belgian Blonde, and kegged it yesterday. It was my second batch ever.

OG: 1.067
FG: 1.009

Had a question though. What happens if I added heat during the Mash? It didn't really need it but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. Grains weren't touching the bottom as far as I could tell.

I 'm very sure you havent hurt your mash at all..its not like you turned the burner on high and left it..the heat is dissapated very fast withthe water in there..I have put the burner on many time to get a few more degrees..with the good pots that have the encapsulated bottoms you just have to watch your timing so you dont over heat..I do aggree with Deatbrewer that you really shouldnt heat the mash and get more practice so you dont have to ..which means more beer!!

DeathBrewer · May 10, 2010

dunnright00 said:
What should I do if, during the mash my temp drops too much. Add some heated water? I shouldn't add heat to the pot?

Define: "too much"

My mash used to drop to 140°F every time I let it sit more than 30 minutes or so. By that time, enzymatic activity is pretty much finished anyway. I didn't worry about it and the beer always turned out great.

If you want to maintain heat, wrap the pot in some towels, pillows and/or blankets.

beerman1957 · May 11, 2010

electronjunkie said:
Thanks Deathrbrewer for this pictorial and explanation. I just brewed my beer using this method, a Belgian Blonde, and kegged it yesterday. It was my second batch ever.

OG: 1.067
FG: 1.009

Had a question though. What happens if I added heat during the Mash? It didn't really need it but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. Grains weren't touching the bottom as far as I could tell.

If you drop a few degrees below, I would not worry. It would be optimal to have it stay as close to your desired temp. Going from 153 to 150 would probably not be too much. So, "too much" is maybe vague.

I have added hot water to raise the temp instead of adding direct heat. This method will insure that if the grain is sitting on the kettle, I get NO burning of the grain.

I usually have to cool the wort because I find that MUCH easier to do. My strike water is at about 170F if the grain is at room temperature. Also, you have to factor how much grain you have. If you only have a few pounds of grain, then I would add a cooler strike temp.

If the grain goes to hot at the initial strike, I have a two liters of cold water ready and I add it gently to try to reach the 150-159...whatever range I need. Remember that you will also have to factor ambient cooling of the wort if you are not using an insulated vessel. All my mashing is done in a Gott Cooler with a SS false bottom. That makes it very easy to maintain the correct temp.
The conversion to sugar takes some time and it is easier for me to do it this way. Seems to have worked every time.

Beer is very forgiving of most mistakes.

Brew Strong!

RC4U12 · May 11, 2010

Beer is very forgiving of most mistakes. Brew Strong![/QUOTE said:
thats very true but dang when you made the ultimate batch and the temp was off just make sure you write it down so you can duplicate.it wll still be good if hotter just maybe maltier and maybe to your liking....i have tried a few recipes hotter and colder and i like them better that way..maltier on some and drier on others..Jeff

BrokenDog · May 11, 2010

Just bottled the Dunkel today, OG was 1.052, FG was 1.018. Not quite as low as I would have liked it, but after three weeks I was running out of time for this event I planned it for so I called it close enough.

dunnright00 · May 11, 2010

DeathBrewer said:
Define: "too much"

My mash used to drop to 140°F every time I let it sit more than 30 minutes or so. By that time, enzymatic activity is pretty much finished anyway. I didn't worry about it and the beer always turned out great.

If you want to maintain heat, wrap the pot in some towels, pillows and/or blankets.

Yeah, I was trying to mash at 150, and it dropped to 148 so, I guess it was ok.

This was my first time using a big grain bag, like the one you have in the pictorial. Before that I had a regular steeping bag, and I think it came out much better this time. It was really hard to gage my temps with the seeping bags.

DeathBrewer · May 12, 2010

It also doesn't let water flow through as easily if you are stuffing a smaller bag full of grain. Could really lower your efficiency.

Highbeam · May 12, 2010

I'm a beginner, having only brewed an Obsidian stout once using a similar partial mash method but sticking to the recipe exactly, it turned out great! I now have a mac & jacks recipe that claims to be a true partial mash. Anyway, it specifies the mash water quantity at 3 quarts and then specifies the sparge water at 6 quarts. I am boiling in a 6 gallon turkey fryer and I would think that more sparge water would only improve the conversion efficiency which would be good, right? Thing is, I would then be boiling and adding hops to a larger volume of water. Is there a downside to this? I would like to use 2 or three gallons of sparge water and then add water to the fermeneter to hit 5 gallons near the end.

Thanks!

DeathBrewer · May 12, 2010

Depends entirely on how much grain there is. If there is a small amount, you can risk over-sparging and extracting tannins (tea-like bitterness that you don't want.)

You want your initial mash to be about 1.25-2 quarts of water per pound of grain. I usually shoot for around 1.5qt/lb.

Highbeam · May 12, 2010

3 and 1/8# of grain total. Initial mash is prescribed to be in 3 quarts of water. On one hand I want to stick to the recipe exactly but on the other hand I want the beer to be the best that it can be.

DeathBrewer · May 12, 2010

3 quarts is VERY low. You could use up to 6 quarts of water for the mash and about the same (wouldn't go any higher) for your sparge.

Be sure to calculate the temp of your grains and use this strike temp calculator:

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Easy Partial Mash Brewing (with pics)

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Maniacally Malty

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Maniacally Malty

Member

Maniacally Malty

Member

Maniacally Malty

Similar threads