Easy Partial Mash Question

Hello and thank you for reading my post. I want to try a partial mash brew, and my question revolves around using a cooler as a mash tun. Once strike water and grains are inside and doing their thing, am I supposed to leave it completely be until finished, or should I open the lid periodically to agitate the grains (like I did when merely steeping specialty grains when extract brewing)?

My guess is to leave it alone until ready to sparge so that I don't risk losing the mash temperature..... Can somebody please confirm or correct me?

Thanks!

 

Well, since your doing a partial the amount of warm water your going to be using is going to be small. The cooler/tun is going to lose heat. I recommend preheating the tun with hot water. Then, when you mash, check it every 15 minutes having some boiling water handy to raise the temp when it drops.
I have found that 4 cups of boiling water usually raises my mash 2 to 3 degrees.

Hope this helps.

 

Yea, I think even a pre-heated cooler is going to be way too big for a partial mash. The headspace is just going to be way too much. I'd just do it in a suitably sized pot wrapped in a towel.

 

Many thanks for the advice. To reduce headspace, my cooler is going to be 3 gallons. I will wrap it with a towel when mashing, which should preserve as much heat as I can.

What is your opinion on my question, though? Should I leave it undisturbed or stir it?

 

If you stirred it well when you mashed in, it doesn't need more stirring. All the grains will be wet and you shouldn't have any hot or cold spots in the cooler. I'd stir the grains in, close the lid, and start the timer.