moving from extract to large partial mash...need advise

[Brew]

Im going to do a large partial mash (6 lbs grains)
Recipe is to mash at 155 f for 45 min....then sparge with 3 qts at 170f.....i have 1 5 gallon brew pot and 1 22 qt pot (much smaller) going to use deathbrews method for stovetop partial mash but I have some questions

do i make the strike water and the sparge water several degrees hotter since i am going to loose some temperature when i add the grains?

3 qts does not sound like a lot of water...........do i tea bag the grains and let them sit for 10 min or do i pour the water over the grains in my large pot and bring the temp up to 170 to do the sparging.......also, how important is it to test for convertions since it is a partial mash

last question......the recipe talks about a 4 gallon boil.......when i take the 2.5 gallons from the mash and add it to the 3 qts from the sparge i am well short of the 4 gallons.............so do i add more water to the sparging process or do mash and sparge and then add more water to get myself up to the 4 gallons before i add my dme?

any advise would be helpful

 

[boostsr20]

Plan on losing quite a bit efficiency. At the very least, you need to get a bigger second pot.

 

[devilishprune]

On the one partial mash that I did, I sparged in a bucket. Just put your sparge water in a bucket and leave it there for 10 minutes, teabagging every once in a while, if your issue is not having enough pots.

Also, are you sure you aren't supposed to sparge in 3 gallons, and not 3 qts?

 

[boostsr20]

On the one partial mash that I did, I sparged in a bucket. Just put your sparge water in a bucket and leave it there for 10 minutes, teabagging every once in a while, if your issue is not having enough pots.

Also, are you sure you aren't supposed to sparge in 3 gallons, and not 3 qts?

Best solution right there. Never thought of that. Just use your Bottling bucket.

 

[dotnetdotcom]

i have 1 5 gallon brew pot and 1 22 qt pot (much smaller)

I'm confused, a 22 quart pot is 5.5 gallons.

Anyway, according to deathbrew's partial mash guide you need 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain for mashing. So for 6 lbs thats 7.5 qts (1.9 gal). For sparging he said to use half the amount used to mash, that would be 3.75 quarts (0.9 gal). Depending on the volume of the mashed grain, you may be able to squeak by using a 2 gallon pot for sparging.

For your other questions, re-read deathbrew's guide and his guide to stovetop full mash. Strike water temp and teabag/stirring mash procedures are covered there.

Adding water - Add enough water to get to your boil volume, but leave enough room for extract if you are going to do a late addition.

 

[Brew]

your input

i worked thru it.......not sure if perfect but will see in a couple weeks