all grain theory versus practice

So ive only ever brewed either extract steeping or all grain. With my 5 gallon mash tun im limited to about 14 pound grain bills with a pretty thick mash (about 1 qt per lb). Logic tells me, to get the bigger beers i very seldom want to make, i should just make up the base grain with some extract. In example, instead of 18 lb of base grain i would mash say 9 poumds of grain and use (roughly, i know there are charts for converting grain - liquid - dry extract) 9 pounds of extract in my boil.

Assuming this is all on the right track, is there anything i need to consider when adding extract to get the og i desire? Hop utilization? Or anything that may not seem blatanly obvious?

My gut tells me that it's really this simple, but i wanted to double check before get next years RIS going.

Edit- whoops, this was supposed to be titled partial mash... dang you hbt for not.letting me edit the thread title!!!

 

Jamil and Palmer did a series on high gravity brewing. They address this in the first podcast.

You want fresh light LME, or light DME. You don't want something that was formulated to be brewed with sugar. Sometimes when they make those kits, they basically mash it at a higher temp so that it increases the projected FG of the wort to something like 1.020, expecting that you will mix it with sugar (which attenuates down to 1.000ish) giving you something in the 1.010 range. Obviously, a more dextrinous wort is not something you want in a high gravity beer.

That's one example of the kind of random info those guys have to offer. If you are interested, listen to the podcasts. If not, just add that dme. Post your recipe when you make it. I'd be curious to see how it turns out.

 

chart for converting between grain, DME & LME

 

Awesome, thamks for the insight, ill checlo.ut the podcasts when i have a chance.

 

I think it's basically about as simple as you make it out to be. I would personally mash as much as I could and make up with extract the points I'm missing. You could always do a smaller mash in a separate pot on you stove and combine runnings when you're done.

 

This is exactly what i planned to do. My tun holds temps better when its filled to the brim.

Excellent so for the most part is really is as simple as i thought, just use extract to hit the target og. Beautiful. Thanks for the feedback folks.

 

If you add the extract late in the boil, you should get better hop utilization with a lower gravity wort. I know I've read that a pretty high percentage of NHC beers contained extract in part, so I don't see how it could hurt. I've added DME when I missed gravity significantly, never tasted any difference at all.

 

Why not get a bigger mash tun? I'm not trying to be a smart alec, it just seems like a great excuse to invest in some new equipment!

-ben

 

Definately would be ideal, (and my first instinct was yay, i can buy more brew gear!) i just cant justify the expense to swmbo, my tun handles 95% of what i brew, i really dont neeed the bigger tun, just need to know how to improvise with the extract once or twice a year. I prefer 1.050 - 1.060 beers, but an annual RIS is on my absolutely must brew list.