Calculating grain %'s in partial mash recipe

[mrphillips]

If I have an all grain recipe with 10 lbs. 2-row and 1 lb. of crystal 40, the percent of crystal in the recipe is ~9.1%...BUT if I make a comparable partial mash recipe and replace 10 lbs. 2-row with 6 lbs. dme (not perfect, but more or less equivalent), my 1 lb. of crystal is all of a sudden ~14% of my recipe.

Am I crazy?!?!?!

 

[Subdivisions]

6 lbs DME has the equivalent malt sugars of ~10 lbs 2-row. If you're entering into brewing software then it's giving you the percentage by weight which would be 14%. You'll still get the same ratio of sugars from the crystal and base malt.

 

[mrphillips]

So how would all of this work out if I was trying to clone a stout that didn't have grain amounts, but rather the % amounts? I am trying to create a nice roasted beer with ~10 dark grains, but I'm having trouble getting the roasted grain amounts right when converting the base malt to extract.

 

[frazier]

Just create the recipe as all-grain, using the percentages given. Then, convert the base grain to DME or LME. Pay no attention to the fact that the percentages change.

The only wrinkle is when you are making a wheat beer, since wheat extract is only 40 to 45% wheat. That's a problem for another day.

Cheers!