Cost question--Partial vs. AG

[Indy418]

I just started partial mash brewing and love the freedom it gives. I've already got my eye on AG, but I live in an apartment with only a stove so it's harder to get any volume greater than 5 gallons to boil.

I was just wondering--what's the price point difference between Partial and AG? I just spent a fair amount on my last batch b/c it had 6 lbs. of LDME. I see that most of the partials have about that. I spend $15 per/3lbs for DME at my LHBS. I did some checking around, and that's about as cheap as I could get, once shipping and handling added in. Add my grains and hops on top and I spent about $40-$45.

So is AG cheaper? Are there good Partial recipes that don't call for $30 worth of DME?

 

[BioBeing]

Base malts are about $1.15 - $1.60 per pound. Much cheaper than extract!

Check out the stove top partial mash thread and just mash as much as you can. That way, you'll only need a fraction of the extract. You'll save on cost and add a level of control. I did one PM, and am now buying stuff for all grain...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

 

[zanemoseley]

I use 5-6lb of grain and 3lb DME in my PM's. The 3lb of DME takes the place of 5lb of base grain. MW has 5lb sacks of 2 row for $4.50 where I pay $12 for the DME, so you could save $7.50 doing the same batch AG. Also if you do partial boils and have to use a bit more hops to account for poor hop utilization then AG could save you a bit on your hop schedule.

 

[Indy418]

Ok--the only thing is, the vast majority of partial recipes I've seen on the Recipe's board require 5-6 lbs of DME, plus another 3lbs or so of grains. Are you saying you use another 3lbs of base grains and only 3lbs of DME? Can you just do that substitution wholesale and it comes out the same?

 

[BioBeing]

Basically. The more grain you mash, the more control you are going to have over the final beer, so it wont be identical. But similar (maybe better?).

Mash as much (or as little) of it as you want or physically can. The amount of extract you use will depend on your expected efficiency. If you expect 75% for your grain, use ~ 0.6 lb DME or 0.73 lb LME per pound of grain. (I'd recommend using BeerSmith or other software to calculate more accurately).

 

[Indy418]

Thanks for all the help. I've trying to figure out BeerSmith and it's slowly coming along.

One more question--if, when converted, the recipe calls for an 8 lbs. grain bill, do I just use 1.25 qts/lb. grain for a total for a 2.5 gal. mash, with 3 lbs. of LME to go in during boil.

But how much water should I sparge with? How much to boil with? It seems like I should sparge with as much as I can that will take me up to a full boil of five gallons?


THanks again for all the help.. Just thinking about brewing better beer makes me

 

[BioBeing]

Yes on the mash.

Sparge with as much as possible to get as large a boil volume as you can handle. Don't forget, the grain will soak up a bunch of liquid in the initial mash. If you put 2.5 gals in, you'll only get ~1.5 out (? if I got the numbers correct). So then sparge with 2 gallons to get 3.5 to boil. Then top up in the fermentor. If you can boil more, sparge again.