AG Brewers- Do you still do a partial now and then?

[Lodovico]

I moved to All Grain a couple of years ago but I was thinking of doing a few quick partial mashes because I have a couple of recipes that I used to do that I really liked.

I'm just curious if anyone else ever "goes backwards" and does a partial mash once in awhile for time sake or just for fun??

 

[Bobby_M]

I've only used malt extract for starters since I started all grain. It just doesn't make sense to pay $3 a pound for extract when I can get the same maltose for $1.25

 

[weirdboy]

I still do the occasional partial mash when I'm cleaning out the pantry of odd amounts of specialty malts, and don't have enough base malt. I just did a partial mash porter about a week ago.

 

[hal2814]

Is partial really quicker for you? My PM time and my AG time are nearly identical. I've only been doing AG again for a short while but I can't see going through the trouble of mashing only to add extract, too. I have like 3lbs of LME I'll have to get rid of so I'm doing a PM this weekend, but I imagine it will be the last I do for a while.

I'll likely keep doing a few of my recipes extract plus steeping grains though.

 

[FlyGuy]

I don't do partial mashes anymore, but quite often I will buy one of those Brewhouse no-boil wort kits and do a steep/hop boil. I pounded out two kits with steeped grains on Sunday in about 2 hours start to finish. The quality of those kits is so high, sometimes it makes it hard for me to lug out the mash tun, grain mill, boil kettle, chiller,.... :cross:

 

[weirdboy]

When I do a partial mash, it's a BIAB on the stovetop in the kitchen, rather than having to get out my MLT, hoses, etc. and have to get all that setup. Since the volume is smaller, things heat up more quickly.

So in that sense, it goes faster, but it's really the same as when I do a 2.5 gallon AG batch.

 

[Revvy]

I do partial mashes on occasion, as well as some extract with grain recipes. I have three recipes that all attempts to convert purely to AG leave me wanting so I brew them as extract with grain.

See, as I say in here in this old blog of mine, Why can't we all get along? I don't consider myself an AG'er or an Extracter...I'm a homebrewer, I make the best damn beer I can! The way I choose to do it differs from batch to batch, recipe to recipe, time commitment or mood...But, I put the same effort and skill in an Extract recipe, as I do to an allgrain.

 

[david_42]

I make as many partials as AG. A partial takes about 90 minutes less for me and realistically the cost of grain vs extract is a minor part of the total.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

If I brewed indoors in the winter it might make sense for me.....But i don't. I'm outside in the garage with the burner and the mash tun, so space or comfort is not an issue. If I'm milling grain anyways and all that i may as well just keep it all grain.

If I wanted to move some operations indoors, then I would probably do it differently.

 

[JKoravos]

I haven't done any PM batches in, well, ever. I've considered doing some all-extract batches to fill up the fermenters when I'm short on time, but I've never got around to it. Up until very recently all my equipment was stored out in my shed. It was a PITA to just get the equipment out and get the brew started. The ease of brewing an extract batch was kind of lost on that. Now that I've gone all electric and moved my rig inside, whipping out an extract batch will probably be super easy. I might have to throw together an all-extract Mild recipe. $28 for a 12lb pail of LME from MoreBeer isn't too bad (of course, the equivalent amount of Maris Otter costs me less than $10). Even so, $18 for a few hours of my time sounds pretty good to me.

 

[HotbreakHotel]

My mash tun is a 5 gallon cooler, so if I want to do 5 gallons of a higher gravity beer I have to "cheat" with extract. The other time I use extract is when I miss my gravity!

 

[petep1980]

I do AG, PM and extract depending on my mood, recipe or the time I have. Extract may cost about an extra $10/batch to make, but the 3 hours less brewing and mashing are worth $10 for me.

I don't know brew styles too much, so I'll make a couple extract versions, and if I like it I'll try an all grain thinking I may enter it into a contest someday. Once I determine the AG isn't very good I move onto the next technique, style, etc.

EDIT: With the little troube maker in my avatar I really need to pick and chose my AG recipes. I do AG (or partial) about 25% of my batches. I find partial saves no time at all, but I like a previous poster can't do high gravity in my 5 gallon mash tun.

 

[carl spakler]

Do any AGers ever come down of their high horse and accept that brewing is brewing rather than try to show how superior you are to the rest of the world with foolish questions like this?

 

[Lodovico]

Do any AGers ever come down of their high horse and accept that brewing is brewing rather than try to show how superior you are to the rest of the world with foolish questions like this?

Sorry, but I don't think this was a foolish question at all. I certainly don't think you could read my original question and draw from it that I was acting superior.

It was more to gauge how others felt about the time/money factor involved in brewing different ways. It's much cheaper for me to brew all grain and I was just curious how many people still choose to do a partial mash once in awhile.

No one is on a high horse here.

 

[dantodd]

Do any AGers ever come down of their high horse and accept that brewing is brewing rather than try to show how superior you are to the rest of the world with foolish questions like this?

Probably not. They're all arrogant bastards. Look at these comments. They'll never learn.....

I do AG, PM and extract depending on my mood, recipe or the time I have.

I make as many partials as AG.

I do partial mashes on occasion, as well as some extract with grain recipes.

When I do a partial mash, it's a BIAB on the stovetop in the kitchen, rather than having to get out my MLT, hoses, etc.

I still do the occasional partial mash ... I just did a partial mash porter about a week ago.

 

[Lodovico]

Thank you dantodd. You helped me make my point. I'm not sure where the hostility came from.

 

[dontman]

I don't any issue with the concept of doing a PM, or even extract/steep, but I never do it. Best I can figure this is for two main reasons. I am an old fart who is fixed in his ways. I am a cheap bastid and I have a lot of AG equipment purchase to amortize across many many AG batches. Plus I never have the ingredients on hand for a PM. At most I have a lb of DME used for starters.