First PM, need lots of help

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Pharmguy

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I am taking the plunge with my first PM and reading about it just confuses me more so I will try this route. This beer will be an Octoberfest (Ale) and my extract recipe was 3 pounds light DME, 3 pounds amber, and 1 pound caramunich steeped. I have two 5 gal pots to work with. 1st question- in beersmith, it gives me a ton of options under mash profile. So...would this be a single infusion, medium body, batch sparge?
 
I'd use the single temp, medium body option. That will work for most beers.

If you make your mash settings for 1.5 quarts per pound of grain, that should also be a nice way to start.
 
Question 3- it looks like there is loss of volume to evaporation and grain absorption. Is there a rule of thumb to follow for these so I can get close to my 3 gal boil?
 
Question 3- it looks like there is loss of volume to evaporation and grain absorption. Is there a rule of thumb to follow for these so I can get close to my 3 gal boil?
It varies from system to system, especially with evaporation rates. Absorption loss depends, too, mostly on how patient you are in drawing wort from the mash.

I generally guessed about .1 to .2 gallons per pound of grain in absorption loss. Figure a gallon of evaporation loss for a 60 min. boil, but it's going to depend on your equipment. Go with a general number until you figure out your system.
 
+1. I used DB's method for my first PM and it was easy. It will negate the paralysis by analysis you might be feeling.

PM is really just like steeping grain w/in a narrower temperature range to accomplish conversion, then rinsing the grain to get the remaining sugars.

Pre-boil volume is just batch size plus anticipated boil off plus losses to trub etc. If you are doing a partial boil, then your top-off water can vary. If you are running short during the boil, top off to maintain volume.

Sometimes quantifying everything is much harder than it is in practice.
 
OK, so roughly speeking. These are beersmith #'s, I have 2 gal in the mash, 1.5 gal of sparge water. Mix them when finsished gives me a 3.5 gal preboil volume (roughly, as I lost some to absorption). I then boil it and will lose roughly a gal to evaporation. This gives me a finished volume of 2.5 gals. So, when is the best time add the 0.5 gal I will be short at the end. Just add more to the sparge water?
 
OK, so roughly speeking. These are beersmith #'s, I have 2 gal in the mash, 1.5 gal of sparge water. Mix them when finsished gives me a 3.5 gal preboil volume (roughly, as I lost some to absorption). I then boil it and will lose roughly a gal to evaporation. This gives me a finished volume of 2.5 gals. So, when is the best time add the 0.5 gal I will be short at the end. Just add more to the sparge water?
Just upping your sparge water will be fine. I assume you're topping off, so don't worry about loss too much in a PM. I never was too concerned with such things in my PMs and they turned out well.

Good luck. :)
 
It sounds like you have three questions:

1. How do you convert an extract recipe to PM from an extract recipe?
2. How do you use Beer Smith?
3. How do you make sure to end up with the correct post-boil volume?

1. The easiest way to convert your recipe into partial mash is to sustitube a base grain for the light DME. The converion factor is about .65 pounds of DME = 1 pound of grain. For the sake of convenience I would round up and use about 5 pounds of base grain.

2. I have no idea how to use Beer Smith

3. You will be mashing 6 pounds of grain. For the sake of simplicity, mash with 2 qts per pound of grain = 12 qts = 3 gallons in the mash. Your grain will absorb about .15 gallons * 6 lbs = .9 gallons. Call it a gallon. This leaves you with about 2 gallons.

To achieve your 3 gallon boil, simply sparge with 1 gallon of water. Combine your mash wort and your sparge wort and boil. You'll probably end up with about 2.5 gallons after your boil.

I had a math error in there. Fixed it.
 
Yeah, of course I can just top it off later but I am concerned about hop utilization. My volume could be off by a 1/2 gal or more...thanks for the input though. Like I said, I have lots of questions but I guess i will just wing it.
 
Six pounds of grain is right, I figure 4 lbs of 2 row, 1 pound caramunich, and 1 pound crystal 60.
 
Yeah, it does seem complicated. Lots of little issues that are hard to find answers to.
 
Very cool.
1) Repeat from earlier- Is the mash out the the amount of water you sparge with?
2) Is there a minimum amount of water you should sparge the grains in and why?
3) When you are figuring the amount of grains to use, do you first add up the specialty grains and then get your base grain amount. Ex. 6 pounds of grain. 1 from munich, 1 from crystal, then 4 of 2-row? Or just 6 of 2-row and the specialty grains dont count?
4)Is 1 hour usually enough for conversion or should I be testing?
5) Gas stove = difficult to keep steady temp. Suggestions?
 
1. A "mash out" is when you add boiling water, add direct heat or do a decoction so that you can raise the temperature of your mash to about 168°F. It is not necessary and I would not recommend it for your first time.
2. More water during your sparge will generally result in more extraction of the sugars in the grains and better efficiency. There is no "minimum" and every beer is different
3. You'll have to rephrase this question. Give me the ingredients you are converting and I will show you how to convert them and explain why to do it that way.
4. 1 hour should be fine, as a general rule. It's never a bad idea to test...search for "iodine test"
5. You shouldn't have to maintain a steady temp. Once you mash in, just let it sit at temp for an hour. if it drops a little, no big deal. Don't use your heat except on the water you use for your mash, the water for your sparge and for boiling. Trying to change the temp of your mash with a burner is going to make you very frustrated.
 
1) In beersmith it said mash in- 155 for an hour, mash out 170 for 10 min. I took that as the sparge temp/time. Guess not.
3)My extract recipe was 3 pounds light DME, 3 pounds amber and 1 pound caramunich. I just played with numbers in beersmith until it fit all the criteria for an Octoberfest and came up with 4 pounds 2 row, 1 pound caramunich, and 1 pound crystal 60.
5)That helps alot, I was dreading that hour!
 
(1.) The sparge temp should bring your mash to 170°F, so if you are using my bag method, you want the water to be above that, probably closer to 180°F.

So, if you did mash out, you would add more water to bring your temp to 168°F (beersmith says 170°F, I like 168, whatever), rest for 10 minutes and THEN you would do your sparge.

Again, not necessary.

(3.) 2 lbs of crystal malts seems like a lot.

General conversion is 0.6 lbs DME = 0.75 lbs LME = 1.00 lbs grain (depending on efficiency, of course)

3 lbs light DME = 5 lbs of 2-row (light dme is just pale malt)

3 lbs amber extract...this is a little more tricky...this is a mixture of different malts and it could be entirely different from brand to brand. I would suggest some munich, 2-row and crystal malt. Perhaps 1.5 lbs of 2-row, 3 lbs of munich and 0.5 lbs of crystal malt. This will give you the color and maltiness you need for an octoberfest.

1 lbs caramunich = 1 lbs caramunich (i'm assuming this is a malt and not an extract.)

However, since you are mashing, you will get some sugars and better extraction from the grains. As I said before, 2 lbs of crystal malts seems like a lot, so I would cut down on the caramunich.

This is in no way my area of expertise, as I have always built my own recipes and rarely use any extract except light or wheat, but I would suggest the following for a partial mash:

3.0 lbs - Light DME

1.5 lbs - 2-row
3.0 lbs - Munich Malt
0.5 lbs - Crystal 60L
0.5 lbs - Caramunich

(5.) If you really want to maintain your temp, I would just wrap your mash tun in some blankets to insulate. It certainly helps. Last time I did this, I mashed for well over 2 hours without a single degree in temp loss.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
I didnt know caramunich and crystal were both crystal malts. I was just trying to break down the amber extract. That being said, would it be better to use just one...or none since there will be 3 pounds of munich?

Other than that, thanks for all the great input.
 
You could go with one or the other, or with both. I would stick with both, personally...the caramunich might not give you enough color but has a better flavor profile, IMO.

Munich will give you "maltiness" more than sweetness. I know they are similar flavors, but the sharp sweetness from crystal malts can be overpowering, whereas the maltiness and melanoidens from munich is more "filling" than sweet...ahh, semantics...it's difficult to describe this stuff.

Checking out the BJCP Guidelines might help as well:

BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 03
 
Sorry I didn't catch your questions before I left work. The sunshine was too nice, I couldn't take sitting at my desk anymore.

Good luck with your brew!
 
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