Partial Mash Help Please

[SenorHops]

I'd like to try to start doing some partial mash brews with little to no investment until I see if I want to invest further in the process. Outside of a large grain bag, which I know I'll need, is there a method of doing a partial mash successfully without buying a cooler type mash tun?

I know I can carefully maintain a temp between 148-158 in a pot with a large grain bag. I guess what I'm most unsure of is how to go about sparging once I'm done mashing. Can someone give me some tips on how to do this without any extra equipment or with a very minimal amount of equipment. Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I'd like to try to start doing some partial mash brews with little to no investment until I see if I want to invest further in the process. Outside of a large grain bag, which I know I'll need, is there a method of doing a partial mash successfully without buying a cooler type mash tun?

I know I can carefully maintain a temp between 148-158 in a pot with a large grain bag. I guess what I'm most unsure of is how to go about sparging once I'm done mashing. Can someone give me some tips on how to do this without any extra equipment or with a very minimal amount of equipment. Thanks!

I used to use a great big mesh bag and my bottling bucket for partial mashes, and it worked great! So, sure, you can use your pot- that is even better than my bottling bucket, I'm sure!

When you want to sparge, you can either simply lift the grainbag out of where you're mashing and stick it in the sparge water, then combine the runnings, or lift the grainbag out and put it in a big strainer and pour 170 degree water over it up to your boil volume.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Listen to Yooper!! Also, in the beginners section DeathBrewer has a stovetop partial mash brewing tutorial that is a MUST READ for anyone even considering the process.

 

[bobbrews]

Go to Home Depot and buy a couple packs of 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bags. They come in sets of 2; I would buy 2 packs. They are reusable and can be rinsed. You can use them for mashing, steeping boil hops, and dryhopping with pellets.

For my minimashes, I use a 2 gallon cheap Cuisinart pot with a tight-fitting lid. The ratio I go with usually is 1.25 quarts water per 1 pound of grain. So for 3 lbs. of grain, that's 3.75 quarts of water.

Mash temps do not matter as much for partial mash beers since you'll be using approx. 45-65% DME. So getting that body is not usually much of an issue.

For the sparge, I agree with the dipping method. Heat some water to about 175-180 F in your main kettle. Shut off the heat and dip the grain bag several times in the slightly hotter water after the minimash. Do not squeeze. I proceed to hang the wet grain bag from my cabinet and let the runnings drip into a bowl, which I later add to the wort along with the DME.

 

[braceful]

If you don't have a large enough 2nd pot you can do what I do. Mash in kettle using grain bag. Drain (I squeeze) bag of all first runnings. Transfer your first runnings to a food-grade bucket. Heat sparge water in kettle, once you hit your temps put your grain back in.

 

[SenorHops]

How do you figure out how much base malt you need? Let's say I wanted to use a pound of Munich, how much 2-row would I mash it with? Is there a general rule?

 

[braceful]

Technically Munich has enough diastatic power to convert itself, although adding a pound or two of base will help you get full conversion. Other grains vary.

*My* rule is as much base malt as I can fit, which for my 4 gallon kettle is around 8lbs total grain weight. This helps with cost, holding heat during the mash, and makes it feel closer to brewing all-grain.

But I think a lot of partial mash recipes call for anywhere between 1 and 4 pounds of base malt.