First Partial Mash

[kuenro02]

So I'm in the process of my first partial mash right now actually. The first issue I ran into was when I was steeping my grains. So I have a 5 gallon brew kettle that I have the 152 degree water in then I add the grain bag. The pot is so wide that the water (because they only called for 1 1/2 gallons) is only a few inches deep and when I put the bag just sits on the bottom. So when the water gets a little to cool I turn the burner on and all the heat is right on the grain and not the water. Do I take the bag out to just heat the water? I lifted the bag out once and it made a sizzle sound cause the bag was sucking to the bottom and no water was touching the bottom. All the heat from the burner was right on the grain! Anyone have any insight on this matter?

Thanks!

 

[brewchick3]

Not sure how much grain you have in one bag, but you may wanna try splitting it up into several grain bags. I just made my first partial grain batch, used a 5 gallon stock pot with a gallon and a half of water also. I bought a kit put together by the home brew store I go to and their directions were to split the milled grains into 5 bags, no more than half a pound in each bag. Perhaps having all the grains in one bag was an issue? I had no trouble with mine and it was like making tea with giant tea bags. Hope everything went ok for you.

 

[beergolf]

If you are doing a partial mash and not just steeping the grains then you need to control the temp and keep it there for the full time.

here is a good way to figure out how hot to get the water before adding the grains.

Green Bay Rackers--Mash Calculators.

You can also use a paint strainer bag to mash in. Look up the brew in a bag partial mash sticky. It will help a lot.

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