Planning my first partial mash.

[Mozart]

I'm in the process of planning for my first partial mash using Revvy's method in the sticky.

(Edit: Apologies to DeathBrewer! Credit where credit is due. I must have gotten the BIAB sticky confused with the bottling sticky.)

I'd like to try something not terribly complicated for this brew, and Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde seems to get rave reviews.

I'll be new to BIAB, and while I think I may have the conversions right, I could use a few pointers. I'm basing this on Beirmuncher's recipe for a 5 gallon AG batch:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)


Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

In Revvy's write-up, he mentioned using 2 gallons of water for 5-6 lbs. of grain. I'd like to stick with this as we have the same sized pots. The grainbill above has 8.75 lbs. of grain in it. My gut is telling me to just cut down the 2-row to 4.25 lbs to get the total down to 6 lbs. Is this the best way to go?

Is it right to substitute 0.6 lbs of DME for each lb. of grain removed? So in this case that'd be 1.65 lbs. of extra light DME?

I also noticed Beirmuncher's recipe listed a 70% brewhouse efficiency. Revvy said he sometimes targets around 65%, and while I know that's within the realm, I don't want this to be too light. Not knowing my efficiency, and suspecting that as my first mini mash attempt if anything I'll run lower, would it make sense to bump the 1.65 lbs. of extra light DME to 2 lbs.?

Thanks for any guidance you can give.

Cheers!

 

[freisste]

I'm in the process of planning for my first partial mash using Revvy's method in the sticky.

I'd like to try something not terribly complicated for this brew, and Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde seems to get rave reviews.

I'll be new to BIAB, and while I think I may have the conversions right, I could use a few pointers. I'm basing this on Beirmuncher's recipe for a 5 gallon AG batch:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)

Mash at 150 degrees for 60 minutes.

In Revvy's write-up, he mentioned using 2 gallons of water for 5-6 lbs. of grain. I'd like to stick with this as we have the same sized pots. The grainbill above has 8.75 lbs. of grain in it. My gut is telling me to just cut down the 2-row to 4.25 lbs to get the total down to 6 lbs. Is this the best way to go?

Is it right to substitute 0.6 lbs of DME for each lb. of grain removed? So in this case that'd be 1.65 lbs. of extra light DME?

I also noticed Beirmuncher's recipe listed a 70% brewhouse efficiency. Revvy said he sometimes targets around 65%, and while I know that's within the realm, I don't want this to be too light. Not knowing my efficiency, and suspecting that as my first mini mash attempt if anything I'll run lower, would it make sense to bump the 1.65 lbs. of extra light DME to 2 lbs.?

Thanks for any guidance you can give.

Cheers!

160 posts and he's reading stickies before asking questions! Great success.

Yes, 0.6lbs DME = 1lb grain.

And yes, even before I read the last part of your post, I planned on letting you know to have a little extra DME on hand to hit whatever gravity you want.

Nice work.

Also, if you don't know it already, use the lightest DME you can find and add it at the end of the boil. You will have plenty of gravity from the mash for hops utilization.

 

[freisste]

You could also just do 2lbs of DME and take whatever you get. Nobody is going to give you a hard time if this isn't identical to someone else's brew.

Good luck. Mashing is a good time. I'd recommend it to anyone. You'll be all grain in no time.

 

[sok454]

I did his technique for my RIS I did 3.5 weeks ago. Totally enjoyed... so much cooler than just pouring in bag after bag of DME/LME....

 

[Mozart]

Thanks for the input and encouragement! I've been doing late extract additions for my last couple of extract brews -- with the hefe fermenting now, I used 2 lbs. of DME at the start of the boil, adding the other 4 at flameout.

I think I'm going to just go with the method of adding 2 lbs. of extra light DME at flameout with this one too. If I don't hit the recipe OG precisely, that's fine with me. I'm guessing that with a known quantity of DME, 2.0 lbs., and a known volume of wort, 5 gallons, I should be able to 'back into' my efficiency by using my OG reading.

Really looking forward to this one! Too bad I won't actually be able to brew it until sometime next week.

 

[freisste]

I'm guessing that with a known quantity of DME, 2.0 lbs., and a known volume of wort, 5 gallons, I should be able to 'back into' my efficiency by using my OG reading.

Absolutely. And the efficiency will be good information to have in the future when you start designing your own recipes or adjusting them for your equipment efficiency.

 

[Mozart]

One final question...

S-04 is a good alternative for the Nottingham, correct?

And, I only know what I've read, but based on that, S-05 would be another viable alternative, yes?

 

[JDGator]

i use US-05 and S-04 for almost all my brews. if the yeast isn't adding flavor to the beer (like a wheat beer) then these 2 yeast are great options and are generally the cheapest.

 

[Mozart]

Thanks!

When I get around to brewing this, I'll try to let everyone know how it went. I may need some help with the efficiency calculations when I get to that point, but one step at a time.

 

[sok454]

Cool man. Love the SS-05 and notty. In fact just used them in my RIS... I also bought 5 packs for like 2.49 a pop shipped! SCORE!!!

 

[Bigelow92]

What kind of grain bag are you using?

Most nylon bags can tolerate a much finer grind than muslin and with BIAB you don't have to worry about stuck sparges or anything, and so I recommend giving your milled grain a few blips (2-3 half-second pulses on lowest power) in your blender.

This will almost certainly increase your efficiency, but its by no means necessary, and can be a little time consuming.

+1 on partial mashing though. Easy, Cheap, and you can brew delicious beer of any style.

Also, another good but not necessary tip is to put an sleeping bag around the pot holding your mash to help hold temp for the hour long infusion. Also, keep a small pot of water boiling next to you mash-pot so you can quickly and easily make little temp adjustments. It's a nerve-wracking pain in the butt to undershoot your strike temp and have to really quickly heat up more water.

 

[Bigelow92]

Also, depending on what your fermentation temp is, Nottingham will produce a pretty darn different tasting beer than S-05.

They are certainly comparable, but S-05 will give you something a lot more attenuated and a lot cleaner (read less fruity/estery than Nottingham (especially at summer temps.)

I would say S-04 is closer to Nottingham, and may be a better choice if you absolutely can't get Nottingham, but if you have a bunch of S-05 already handy then I say go for it.

 

[Mozart]

I have a 24x24 inch nylon mesh bag that I plan on using for this. I will also consider some kind of insulation for the pot during the infusion. Heck, I imagine even an old towel would be better than nothing at all.

Thanks for the info on the yeast. I guess I'll put some thought into whether I want this one a little more estery or not.

 

[unionrdr]

I use my heavy winter hunting coat that's Thinsulate lined with sythentic goose down around that. Kinda quilty/poofy. I set it splayed open on the island,with 2 pot holders on the inside if the coat back. I add & stir the grains on the stove to get rid of doughballs & evenly wet the grains. Place the kettle with my floating thermometer in it covered on the pot holders. I pull the hood up over the top of the BK/MT,wrap the coat sides around tightly,then tie the sleeves once around that.
Over the one hour mash,the temp typically goes up one degree. It's the kind of coat you'll find at Gander Mtn. And I love the nylon bags for BIAB brewing,but mines 18" x 32",& isn't quite wide enough for my shrter,wider 5 Gallon kettle. Your 24" x 24" should def be a better size for it. Mine's more for a taller skinnier kettle from LD Carlson.
So if you have a sleeping bag,a heavy winter coat or the like,use that. I just could not maintain an accurate mash temp on our electeric stove. This way,The mash is going on the island while I'm heating sparge water on the stove in a smaller kettle.

 

[sok454]

I used the paint bags and had good luck with it.

Nottingham works great at a cooler temp 62-65 (our basement is very cool).