Partial mash equipment

[ianac1]

Hi guys

Just started brewing and have had mixed succes, getting a bit better, but so far have only used the cans or wort with the yeast in the lid.

I'd like to go on now and try a partial mash and i'm just wondering what size pot i could get away with for making the wort?

I have a 5 gallon fermenting bin, keg the same size and also bottles.

Do i really need a 6-7 gallon boiling pot or surely something smaller to just make the wort before transferring to the fermenter and adding more water?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Darkstashcrashes]

i just got a 7 1/2 and i could never think how i did it without one. Full boils are the way to go! :cross:

 

[ianac1]

They cost cash though, which i don't have a mountain of right now being a poor student!

Any alternatives to what's been suggested?

Cheers

Ian

 

[ifishsum]

I still make all my brews in a 3.5 gallon aluminum pot, and I use a 2 gallon drink cooler for my partial mash (up to 4.5-5 lbs grain). I think technique is important to get the most out of the smaller size boil. Here's what I do:

Mash my 4-5 lbs of grain in the cooler at 150-152 for 60 min. (using large grain bag and 5-6 quarts of water)

Sparge the grain bag in the boil kettle with another 6-7 quarts of water for 5 min.

Remove bag, add the wort from the cooler and start the boil/hop process. The pot is pretty full so I gotta be careful of a boilover until the hot break occurs (usually the first 2 mins of the boil). I don't add any of the extract until the last 10 minutes of the boil so I get the best hops utilization and lightest color possible from the smaller boil. Chill the pot for 15 mins or so (water bath in the sink) once the boil is done, add my 3 gallons of near-freezing top-off water to the fermenter and then dump the wort in on top of it. Usually it's below 70 and ready to pitch about 20 minutes after the boil is done.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'm about to do my first PM with a beverage cooler to mash in, but until now I've always just used a pasta pot (minus the strainer part) to mash in. I could do close to 4 lbs of grain in it before I started having problems with space. My boil kettle is bigger, but when you're boiling indoors you're limited by how much volume you can get to a boil on a stove more than the size of your kettle.

 

[Donner]

I still make all my brews in a 3.5 gallon aluminum pot, and I use a 2 gallon drink cooler for my partial mash (up to 4.5-5 lbs grain). I think technique is important to get the most out of the smaller size boil. Here's what I do:

Mash my 4-5 lbs of grain in the cooler at 150-152 for 60 min. (using large grain bag and 5-6 quarts of water)

Sparge the grain bag in the boil kettle with another 6-7 quarts of water for 5 min.

Remove bag, add the wort from the cooler and start the boil/hop process. The pot is pretty full so I gotta be careful of a boilover until the hot break occurs (usually the first 2 mins of the boil). I don't add any of the extract until the last 10 minutes of the boil so I get the best hops utilization and lightest color possible from the smaller boil. Chill the pot for 15 mins or so (water bath in the sink) once the boil is done, add my 3 gallons of near-freezing top-off water to the fermenter and then dump the wort in on top of it. Usually it's below 70 and ready to pitch about 20 minutes after the boil is done.

This was the setup i was using, as well.

To the OP, make sure you know the difference between a Partial Mash and extract plus steeping grains. I am not saying you don't, mind you, i just want to make sure you have a clear idea of what each requires so that you don't get confused later.

Extract plus steeping grains requires you to 'steep' grains in a bag in water for a certain length of time, but the temp of the water isn't too important as long as you aren't boiling the grains. You are attempting to get color and flavor from the grains, but no sugars.

Partial Mash is just that, part of your wort comes from mashing the grains. This requires holding the grains at a specific temp for a length of time so that you extract the sugars from grains.

If you were going to do a true partial mash right away then good for you. It isn't hard.

Both can be done as partial boils, as others have said. You just need a pot big enough to boil ~3 gallons of wort. You'll top up to 5 gallons once you're done boiling.