Looking for help with my partial mash Arrogant Bastard

[Jonnio]

I started formulating a partial mash AB tonight and I have a couple questions/issues

Here is Option 1)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal      
Boil Size: 4.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.073 SG
Estimated Color: 21.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 117.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
7.00 lb       Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min]     Extract      53.85 %       
4.50 lb       Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        34.62 %       
1.00 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)    Grain        7.69 %        
0.50 lb       Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)                Grain        3.85 %        
2.50 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (60 min)               Hops         65.0 IBU      
0.75 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (15 min)               Hops         9.7 IBU       
0.75 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (0 min)             


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 6.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp     
60 min        Mash In            Add 7.50 qt of water at 165.9 F     154.0 F

Option 2)
Replace the LME with 6lb of Extra Light DME



Now the bulk of my questions.
1) I was planning on doing as much base grain as I could and keep the boil to 4 gal so I can do it on my stove top and a 5 gal pot. From what I am reading the 6lb of grain is going to be the about the limit here....does that sound right?

2) Do I gain anything by doing the DME over the LME (it adds a fair amount to the cost)

3) The AHS kit has nearly the same hopping schedule, but says that it comes out at 114 IBU - Does anyone know if they are doing a late extract on this kit?

4) Here is the biggie -- I was going to use this more expensive beer to justify my cost on building my MLT, but after adding up all my ingredients I might as well just order the AHS AB clone. Am I going to gain anything in the way of quality by doing 4.5 lb of 2 row vs. just all the way extract? If I can get better quality for the same money or same quality for less money, that is what I am looking for to justify the added cost/time.

 

[brewt00l]

2) some folks say yes, some say no...plenty of other threads on that topic
3) none of the extract or pm kits from AHS that I did in the past ever specified late extract that I can recall
4) you will easily justify your MLT with your future brewing efforts....I would just roll the AHS mini mash of the kit if that's the direction you're looking. IMHO you will notice a difference between the minimash kit over the extract w/ grains.

 

[EvilTOJ]

1) with 6 lbs of grain, you may as well make the MLT. Most partial mash recipes use about two to four lbs of grain.

2) you really won't gain anything by using DME vs LME, so I'd go with the LME if it's cheaper.

3) Because of all the adjunts, you very well could get away with using strictly all LME instead of some of the two-row.

Also, you may want to move some of the bittering Chinook to flavor and aroma. Chinook is a very harsh hop, and too much bittering will make the beer taste like the suffering of orphaned children. I have a PM recipe for Arrogant Bastard in my dropdown menu.

Also, if you do stick with the recipe you have, you'd want to mash the grain at 154 with 1.875 gallons (I'd round up to two gallons) of water. For sparge water you'll need at least 3 gallons of water, but if you're doing a partial boil you could run 4 gallons through the grains easily, just to get more of the sugars out of the grain.

 

[Jonnio]

Thanks for the comments guys - I think I might as well go ahead and give this a shot as a partial mash. I may not save much in the way of money, but it will be a good experiment.

It also seems to me like the AB clones very widely. I basically took a hybrid of the AHS kit and RLinNH's recipe. Every time I see one posted its a little different though. I will move some of the Chinook around as well to maybe hit the 105 IBU range, but add some more flavor/aroma. I may also add in some aromatic or biscuit malt.

 

[Jonnio]

OK, here is the newest go at it

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal      
Boil Size: 4.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.073 SG
Estimated Color: 19.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 105.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
7.00 lb       Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min]     Extract      53.85 %       
4.50 lb       Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        34.62 %       
0.50 lb       Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)                  Grain        3.85 %        
0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)    Grain        3.85 %        
0.50 lb       Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)                Grain        3.85 %        
2.00 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (60 min)               Hops         51.9 IBU      
1.00 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (15 min)               Hops         12.9 IBU      
0.50 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (5 min)                Hops         2.6 IBU       
0.50 oz       Chinook [13.00 %]  (0 min) (First Wort HopHops          -            
1 Pkgs        California Ale V (White Labs #WLP051)     Yeast-Ale

 

[EvilTOJ]

Sounds good!