tell me about partial Mash

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

It seems to me that my less hoppy beers, i.e. the ones that depend on the malt for their flavor taste kind of bland and always the same. I'm interested in try to do a partial mash, but had a few questions.

What extra steps and equipment are required? I currently do a 2 and half gallon extract boil on the stove top.

Do you think that will help solve my problem?

What are the other pros and cons of doing it?

Thanks, in advance.

 

[boo boo]

Even steeping speciality grains will help improve the flavor of your beer, but by all means try a partial mash. You'll be sparging before the year is out.

 

[RichBrewer]

Take a look at this.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8805

I'm actually an all grain brewer but I thought I'd try this project to see if it can help folks who might want to try mashing without all the equipment and hassles of AG.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Could be the hops you use. Are you partial to one kind?

Change them up with a substitute instead of what's recommended in the recipe. Just a thought...

 

[cweston]

I think the one thing required for AG brewing that is just somewhat expensive and there's no way around it is the brewpot.

Everything else can be done on the cheap. Taking the spigot out of a cooler (or drilling a hole in one that doesn't have a spigot) and using a drilled stopper & external line valve works very well: that's the design I have on my mast/lauter tun (with a CPVC manifold: cheap and easy).

I had actually started working on exactly such a design with a 2 gallon cooler we have berfore I decided to buy a keggle and just go AG.

 

[david_42]

Going to mini-mashes adds a freshness to your ale that can't be matched with all extract. Steeping is somewhat restricted to specialty grains that do not need conversion.

All you need to start doing mini-mashes is a grain bag as big as your kettle. With a 2.5 gallon kettle, you would be able to handle 4-5 pounds of grain. Half of the grain should be 2-row malt to provide the enzymes for starch conversion. So, if you were doing a mocha porter you could use 1.75 lbs of 2-row, 1.5 lbs of C120L plus some chocolate, etc. Heat 2 gal. of water to 168F, shut off the heat. Add the grains in the bag and let it sit for 45 minutes. Gently stir the grain, then raise the bag and let it drip. Add extract and finish as usual.

When the grain is in the kettle, the water level may be very close to the rim, but since you aren't heating it there isn't any chance of overflow. Removing the grain bag will take some of the water with it.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

that is some good information. I'm going to have to do it. I've got some recipes in my Beers Captured book. What an addictive hobby. Now it's going to start taking more of my time.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

Could be the hops you use. Are you partial to one kind?

Change them up with a substitute instead of what's recommended in the recipe. Just a thought...

I'm pretty much an other peoples recipe guy at this point. Which makes it even weirder that I'm not getting that flavor. Most of my recipes are from trusted sources.