Noob first partial extract (mostly mash) brew

[ballegre]

Hi,

After 2 brews I decided to not use a kit and convert an AG recipe to PM. The objective is to maximize grain utilization within the confines of a 5 gal and 3 gal pot. I'm starting with DeathBrewers stove-top method and this is what I ended up with. I also built my own spreadsheet to do gravity calculations and such. I double checked using online calculators and it looks good. Please review my recipe and process.

Any and all help/comments greatly appreciated.

Jamil's (Modified) Kolsch Recipe

Grain/Extract	Amt		p/p/g	Graivity pts
Pilsner LME	3.50	lb	36	24.0
German Pilsner	4.00	lb	38	20.3
German Munich	0.50	lb	37	2.5
Flaked Barley	0.25	lb	39	1.3
Grain size	4.75	lb		48.0

Brew  Effeciency	70%
Mash Strike	6	qts
15% Grain Abs Loss	0.71	gals
Mash Wort Size	0.9	gals
Sparge Strike 	10.5	qts
Boil Size	3.5	gals
10% Evaporation Loss	0.35	gals
After Evaporation Loss	3.2	gals
Top off	 2.1	gals
Batch size	5.25	gals

Procedure:

1. Insert Grain Bag into 12 qt (mash) pot
2. Add 6 qt (1.5 gal) strike water
3. Heat strike water to 165* F
4. Add crushed grain to pot
5. Stir throughly (without spilling), cover
6. Place mash pot in pre-heated oven at 155* F for 60 minutes
7. Add 10 qts (2.5 gal) to 20 qt sparge pot
8. Heat 10 qts sparge water to 170* F
9. Carefully remove grain bag from mash pot and steep in sparge pot for 10 minutes
10. Remove grain bag from sparge pot and discard grain
11. Dump wort from 12 qt mash pot into 20 qt sparge pot (3.5 gals)
12. Boil for 60 minutes
13. Add hops…
14. Add LME (late addition after 40 minutes of boil)
15. Cool to pitching temp
16. Dump in fermentation bucket
17. Top off & take gravity reading
18. Aerate
19. Pitch yeast starter

Questions:
1) So according to the calculators I should be able to squeeze 4.75 lb of grain and 1.5 gals of strike water in a 3 gal pot. Doable?

2) Should I take a gravity reading before the boil, after combining first and second run-offs (so to speak), to adjust LME (SG should be around 36)?

3) Is my brew efficiency reasonable? Should I lower it given the system and noob-ness?

4) Is a late addition extract appropriate for LME or just DME?

5) Did I miss anything?

 

[hotstack]

Wow, I was thinking about posting almost exactly the same thread (and may still as my recipe is different)... if there is someone out there that can help, I too am interested.

 

[Yooper]

Questions:
1) So according to the calculators I should be able to squeeze 4.75 lb of grain and 1.5 gals of strike water in a 3 gal pot. Doable?

2) Should I take a gravity reading before the boil, after combining first and second run-offs (so to speak), to adjust LME (SG should be around 36)?

3) Is my brew efficiency reasonable? Should I lower it given the system and noob-ness?

4) Is a late addition extract appropriate for LME or just DME?

5) Did I miss anything?

1. Well, it should fit! You want to make sure your grain has enough "room" to move around though. See the mash calculator here (about 1/2 down the page): Mash Calculators

2. Yes, that's a good idea. Make sure you cool the sample before taking the SG, because the corrections are notably inaccurate at high temperatures. I just stick the sample in a pitcher of ice water to allow it to get down below 80 degrees. Then you can add more LME if you miss your gravity. 70% is pretty ambitious for a PM, so you may not get that.

3. See above- I think it's pretty high, so you may get quite a bit lower. But maybe not!

4. Late addition is actually better for LME- it tends to darken more than DME.

5. I think you're pretty well set! Good luck!

 

[dogbar]

I partial mash with a very similar method and end up around 55 percent efficiency. If you want to stick with this receipe, just grab a bag of DME on your way out the LHBS door so you can adjust upwards if need be.

 

[ballegre]

And here's the final results of the brew. Came out excellent - color, clarity and taste. My head is so big it can hardly fit though the door.

 

[MikeG]

Nice job. I've got the kit for one more extract then want to start using DB's method as well. What was your mash conversion? How about ABV?

I'm guessing like the first time I brewed, the second I'll know what I'm doing and go quicker. I plan on keeping some DME around as well to boost the SG as needed.

 

[Hophazard]

I'm guessing like the first time I brewed, the second I'll know what I'm doing and go quicker. I plan on keeping some DME around as well to boost the SG as needed.

That's what I've figured out. My first PM efficiency wasn't quite up to snuff, but still produced a decent beer. As with most things, actually doing it teaches more than you can ever read...

 

[ballegre]

That's what I've figured out. My first PM efficiency wasn't quite up to snuff, but still produced a decent beer. As with most things, actually doing it teaches more than you can ever read...

Efficiency is an interesting topic doing stove top brewing...I calculated that this brew was 70%...but...I think it was so high because I screwed up. When I ordered the grain (from Midwest) I forgot to request that they crush the grain for me. So I had a new problem to resolve. I ended up using a food processor to crush by pulsing a cup at a time for 20 seconds (took about 15-20 minutes to crush 4 lbs). However, I can see that the grain was highly pulverized. I think that this would normally result in a stuck mash using AG methods but stove top doesn't matter - tea bags don't get stuck.

Last weekend I FINALLY got around to my second stove top PM brew (remembered to request crushed grain this time) but only got 65% efficiency. However, I made a another mistake and used 5 lbs of base malt instead of 4 so my strike water was less than my calculated 1.33 qts / lb.

Anyway, my point is I'm thinking that when using stove top methods efficiency can be improved by a finer crush because we don't have to worry about suck mashes. However, I don't see anyway to request crush granularity when ordering. Sooo, I am considering trying the food processor again but the last thing I want to do is add another step to the process.

 

[ballegre]

Nice job. I've got the kit for one more extract then want to start using DB's method as well. What was your mash conversion? How about ABV?

I'm guessing like the first time I brewed, the second I'll know what I'm doing and go quicker. I plan on keeping some DME around as well to boost the SG as needed.

Efficiency was at least 70% but I think it was due to pulverizing grain with a food processor. ABV was 4.7% using the formula ((OG-FG)/1000)*131.

 

[boxerbrew]

I ask MW to run it through a second time for a better crush. (I use the bag method as well), and they do it no problem!!

They put "2x crush" on the box , so it must be a not too out of the ordinary request.

 

[SumnerH]

Efficiency is an interesting topic doing stove top brewing...I calculated that this brew was 70%...but...I think it was so high because I screwed up. When I ordered the grain (from Midwest) I forgot to request that they crush the grain for me. So I had a new problem to resolve. I ended up using a food processor to crush by pulsing a cup at a time for 20 seconds (took about 15-20 minutes to crush 4 lbs). However, I can see that the grain was highly pulverized. I think that this would normally result in a stuck mash using AG methods but stove top doesn't matter - tea bags don't get stuck.

Not unique to stove-top, either. The brew in a baggers are grinding finer because they're not worried about stuck sparges; that's part of what's helping them get over 80% efficiencies with what's basically a no-sparge method.

 

[Hophazard]

The brew in a baggers are grinding finer because they're not worried about stuck sparges; that's part of what's helping them get over 80% efficiencies with what's basically a no-sparge method.

I'm glad you brought this up. I've used Death Brewer's PM technique a few times. I happen to live in the same area and remember him complaining about getting grain milled at a LHBS where they shredded the husks. I got to admit, the finer the grain was ground, the better efficiency I had. I guess it's all about finding what works for each person.