Excited, 2nd batch, 1st Partial Mash

[h4ck54w]

Well I did my first ever Extract plus grains on Saturday (2/6)
I wanted to have some fun and make an attempt at making my own recipe. So I decided to go with a Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale/Imperial Dark Ale/India Black Ale thing.

Shared ideas from this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/cascadian-dark-ale-black-ipa-no-carafa-126215/
and this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/black-ipa-oxymoron-152474/index4.html
So the props should really go to dunnright00 and alexdagrate
So here goes and please keep in mind that this is my second batch ever.


7lbs Light LME
1lb Light DME
(this was going to be 8lbs LME but only 7 fit into the jug they had at the LHBS)
1/2lb Black Patent Malt
1/2lb Cara-Pils (Recommended by LHBS Owner for head retention)
1/4lb Crystal 40L

White Labs English Ale Yeast

1 oz. Centennial hops (60 min boil)
1/2 oz. Cascade (30 min boil)
1/2 oz. Centennial hops (30 min boil)
1/2 oz. Centennial (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 Min Boil)
1 oz. Chinook hops (5 min late boil)
1/2 oz. Cascade hops (end of boil)
1 oz each Chinook and Cascade hops (dryhopped)

Did the grains in 1.75 quarts water for 40mins @ 150F ish
I was a little worried about steeping water volume to use but came to 1 qt/lb plus a little more because the water was a little shallow and didn’t quite cover the grain bag.

Beer Calculus gave me a 1.067 OG, Actual OG was 1.068
Estimated FG 1.022

Bottle condition for 6 weeks???

Well what do you think? I’m still new, don’t know much but learning lots.
Mistakes? Wins? Opportunities?

 

[h4ck54w]

After reading this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/proposed-style-guidelines-cascadian-dark-ale-161579/

I'm not really sure mine fits.
IBUs too low, Mine=39.9 IBU
Color too low, Mine=23 SRM

Then again I don't know much about guidelines and stuff like that.
As long as it tastes good, I can deal with it not fitting into a style.

 

[JiveTurkey]

This isn't technically a partial mash; it is an extract plus steeping grains recipe.

The Black patent, Crystal-40, and Carapils don't need to be mashed since you're not trying to convert starches to fermentable sugars, rather you're just extracting the colors, flavors, and potential for greater head retention.

The water volume and temperature during the steeping is not as critical as if it were a real mash, so don't stress out about your steeping technique. 150-170 deg-F for at least 30 minutes is recommended (don't go above 170 or astringent tannins will be extracted).

What I've begun doing is getting the steeping water to about 165, removing pot from heat, sticking the grains in grain bag in the water, and covering the pot for 30 minutes (dunking the bag every once in a while).

 

[brewagentjay]

Sounds good to me but I'm also newbie. I only have two batches of beer and one cider under belt. None ready for consumption yet.

I'm working on my first custom batch now. Let me know how it turns out.

 

[h4ck54w]

This isn't technically a partial mash; it is an extract plus steeping grains recipe.

The Black patent, Crystal-40, and Carapils don't need to be mashed since you're not trying to convert starches to fermentable sugars, rather you're just extracting the colors, flavors, and potential for greater head retention.

The water volume and temperature during the steeping is not as critical as if it were a real mash, so don't stress out about your steeping technique. 150-170 deg-F for at least 30 minutes is recommended (don't go above 170 or astringent tannins will be extracted).

What I've begun doing is getting the steeping water to about 165, removing pot from heat, sticking the grains in grain bag in the water, and covering the pot for 30 minutes (dunking the bag every once in a while).

Thanks.
Title fixed to be more accurate.

How do I know if a grain needs to be steeped or mashed?
Is it just something you learn along the way?

[edit] tried to fix the title, couldn't

 

[JiveTurkey]

How do I know if a grain needs to be steeped or mashed?
Is it just something you learn along the way?

Check out: http://howtobrew.com/section2/index.html
Click "Next Page" a couple times to get to a description, including whether mashing is necessary, for many of the malts.

All of the Caramel/Crystal malts and Roasted malts (and roasted unmalted barley) can just be steeped. They only contribute to color/flavor/head retention (and though they increase the original gravity, they are not fermentable). When mashing, they're thrown in with the mashing grqains, but they produce the same characteristics either way.

The base malts must be mashed (when using extract, this has already been done for you). They are the base of the fermentables and they give the basic beer flavor.

My understanding of the kilned malts is that though they've been processed more than the base malts, they haven't to the point where they no longer contribute fermentable sugars. They add flavors/colors as well as fermentables.

The main thing to keep in mind is that steeping grains have undergone a process in which they will no longer contribute any fermentable sugars--the sugars can't be consumed by the yeast. In that case, only a simple steeping is needed.

 

[dcp27]

After reading this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/proposed-style-guidelines-cascadian-dark-ale-161579/

I'm not really sure mine fits.
IBUs too low, Mine=39.9 IBU
Color too low, Mine=23 SRM

Then again I don't know much about guidelines and stuff like that.
As long as it tastes good, I can deal with it not fitting into a style.

Looks like it fits an american brown ale to me.

You can also use this chart to see what needs to be mashed: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart