Partial Mash - Any other errors?

[Catnip_X07]

Read the sticky on partial mash and thought it would be an easy way to step up from extract instead of going to all grain. Happy medium. This would be my 8th batch.

Got the instructions from an AHS kit and matched up the steps from the sticky. Not much difference aside from the sparging method, so I went with the number of gallons (2.5) of water as instructed and boiled until 160F. Dumped in the base malts (3.5lbs).
Issue#1 – I was worried about maintaining temp, so I turned the burner to low and realized about 20 minutes in that I was at 175F. Should have just moved the pot off the burner and let it sit immediately. Result may be stringent beer?

After 45 minutes, tea bagged the grains and let the water drip back into brew pot. Put the grain bag into 1 gallon of heated water to steep for about 10 minutes. Tea bagged and let water drip. Poured the steeped water into the brew pot.

Added 4 lbs of DME and boiled for 60 minutes.

Did everything else like I would have if it was an extract recipe. Added hops, cooled down with wort chiller.

Transferred to my fermenting bucket and added water to get up to 5 gallons (verified the fermenting bucket is 5 gallons at 5 gallon mark). Obtained a sample. Hydro reading was 1.022 = WAY OFF. My guess is that I didn't get a good sample. I didn't shake or stir the bucket before hand, so I presume this is my issue. I've taken readings before, without shaking/stirring and have usually hit the intended mark within +/- .002 points. I would think with the 4 lbs of DME that this would have at least gotten me above the 1.022 mark regardless of mashed grain.

Checked the fermenter this morning. Nine hours after transferring to bucket, I have decent activity. It's fermenting at a stable 64F. I suppose the worse thing that can come from this is stringent, low alcohol beer?

The partial mash was a little longer on brew time as I'm using my stove, but really enjoyed the process. Future kits will be partial mash.

Note: No measurements or readings were taken until the wort hit fermenting bucket. Should I have taken readings preboil/post boil on the grains? What am I looking for when I do this and how can I correct mistakes? Efficiency, etc?

 

[Yooper]

Read the sticky on partial mash and thought it would be an easy way to step up from extract instead of going to all grain. Happy medium. This would be my 8th batch.

Got the instructions from an AHS kit and matched up the steps from the sticky. Not much difference aside from the sparging method, so I went with the number of gallons (2.5) of water as instructed and boiled until 160F. Dumped in the base malts (3.5lbs).
Issue#1 – I was worried about maintaining temp, so I turned the burner to low and realized about 20 minutes in that I was at 175F. Should have just moved the pot off the burner and let it sit immediately. Result may be stringent beer?

After 45 minutes, tea bagged the grains and let the water drip back into brew pot. Put the grain bag into 1 gallon of heated water to steep for about 10 minutes. Tea bagged and let water drip. Poured the steeped water into the brew pot.

Added 4 lbs of DME and boiled for 60 minutes.

Did everything else like I would have if it was an extract recipe. Added hops, cooled down with wort chiller.

Transferred to my fermenting bucket and added water to get up to 5 gallons (verified the fermenting bucket is 5 gallons at 5 gallon mark). Obtained a sample. Hydro reading was 1.022 = WAY OFF. My guess is that I didn't get a good sample. I didn't shake or stir the bucket before hand, so I presume this is my issue. I've taken readings before, without shaking/stirring and have usually hit the intended mark within +/- .002 points. I would think with the 4 lbs of DME that this would have at least gotten me above the 1.022 mark regardless of mashed grain.

Checked the fermenter this morning. Nine hours after transferring to bucket, I have decent activity. It's fermenting at a stable 64F. I suppose the worse thing that can come from this is stringent, low alcohol beer?

The partial mash was a little longer on brew time as I'm using my stove, but really enjoyed the process. Future kits will be partial mash.

Note: No measurements or readings were taken until the wort hit fermenting bucket. Should I have taken readings preboil/post boil on the grains? What am I looking for when I do this and how can I correct mistakes? Efficiency, etc?

Well, at 175, you may have denatured the enzymes and not got a ton of fermentables from the grain. Still you'll get color and flavor from them, as well as some fermentables. Your efficiency will not be great, though. Next time make sure to stay under 160 during the mash, with a target of 153-154.

With 4 pounds of extract in a 5 gallon batch, you would have an OG of 1.035 just with the extract, and you'll probably have a few more points from the mash even with the temperature issues. So, your OG reading is faulty for sure.

 

[Grizzlybrew]

I didn't shake or stir the bucket before hand, so I presume this is my issue. I've taken readings before, without shaking/stirring and have usually hit the intended mark within +/- .002 points.

It sounds like you've been lucky up until now... either that or horribly incorrect. There sooooo many posts on here about how improperly mixed wort can yield inaccurate gravity readings. You should always thoroughly mix wort and top up before taking a reading as well as verifying the temperature at time of reading. Or... (see below)

Note: No measurements or readings were taken until the wort hit fermenting bucket. Should I have taken readings preboil/post boil on the grains? What am I looking for when I do this and how can I correct mistakes? Efficiency, etc?

Yes, you should take gravity readings before adding any water post-boil. Become familiar with GU's (gravity units) and you should always hit your OG dead on.

GU's = gravity (last two digits of gravity reading) x volume (number of gallons)

Example: If at the end of a boil you have 3 gallons of wort and the gravity reading is 1.076, you have 228 GU's (76*3). Reverse that equation (by dividing 228 GU's by 3 gallons of wort) and you will find that your gravity of those 3 gallons is 1.076. Simple, right?

So, if you were to create 5 gallons of wort (by topping off with 2 more gallons of water), you would now take the 228 GU's and divide by 5 gallons of wort. This will give you 45.6, meaning your 5 gallons are now at ~1.046 OG.

To take it one step further and actually help you hit your target gravity (let's say 1.054) spot on, take those same 228 GU's and divide by 54 and you will get your target volume - In this case, 4.22. Now, subtract your volume of wort (3 gallons) and you get 1.22 gallons of water that you need to add.

Becoming familiar with this formula lets you decide what beer you ultimately want to create based on the results of your mash/grain bill. In this case, do you want 4.22 gallons of beer at 1.054 like you may have originally designed? Or do you want more volume and are comfortable with a more sessionable beer, getting 5 gallons at 1.046? It's up to you!

 

[Catnip_X07]

Even with the errors, I brewed one great beer! Racked to keg on Monday and tried it today. Still has room to age, but is delicious. Tastes so much better and has a different consistency than all extract recipe. Probably won't be going back to extracts for a while.
I would have checked my final gravity....but missing my hydrometer. When those things hit a wood floor, they don't just break, they shatter.