Dr smurtos golden ale help

[Alimacoz]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at making Dr smurtos golden ale for my first partial mash attempt.

Looking at the recipe it calls for a can of coopers sparkling ale, running the figures for the recipe through Brewmate I end up with a total grain bill of 4.25kg and a recommended strike water volume of 12.75l does this sound correct.

When boiling the wort after mashing it, would I then add the can of coopers to the boil or would it be best to put it straight in the fermenter, add the wort after the boil and then top up to 20l

Sorry if these are silly questions but I'm still trying to get my head around the partial mash method.

 

[peas_and_corn]

That's a water:grain ratio of 3:1, which is common.

It's best to add the can right at the end of the boil, it is easier to dissolve that way

 

[Alimacoz]

Thanks for that I'll add the can at the end, also when looking at timings, the hop additions are written like Amarillo 15g @15 minutes, does that mean put them in 15 minutes from the start or with 15 minutes left to go of the boil?

 

[manticle]

15 left. @60 is the beginning of a 60 minute boil although it's considered good practice to let the break form and begin to fall apart so when I hit the boil, I boil for 15-30 minutes before adding the first hop addition.

 

[drsmurto]

A total grain bill of 4.25kg sounds like the recipe for 20L of AG.

What batch size are you doing that requires 4.25kg of grain and the can of hopped extract? If you can mash that much grain you can ditch the can and go all grain.

 

[Alimacoz]

Hi DrSmurto, I was going to make the 20l of golden ale, I was going to mash the 4.25kg of grain then sparge up to 20l, do I need the can of extract?

 

[manticle]

Doesn't sound like it.

I'm not familiar with the exact recipe (have drunk versions of it but never made it) but 4.25 kg of grain is enough for average gravity, 20 L batch of AG beer with average efficiency.

 

[Alimacoz]

Thanks manticle, so if I start out with 12l of strike water, do the mash am I ok to sparge and then top up to 20l, it won't water the beer down too much?

 

[manticle]

You make up the required amount with the sparge so no need to top up.

Mash with 12 L and you will get an amount minus your grain absorption and system losses. Calculate roughly 1 L per kilo loss for grain absorption plus whatever is below the tap in your mashing vessel. Let's say you get 6 L first runnings. Mash out with another 8-10 L water (calculate to get grain bed to 78 degrees), which should give you close to all that (absorprion already accounted for, wort below tap accounted for) then sparge to get the rest.

If you are BIAB, you should be starting with the full pre-boil amount. If you are not BIAB, look at what I wrote above.

What type of system are you using to mash and sparge?

 

[Alimacoz]

Thanks manticle I've only got a 19l pot and a separate 8l pot so I was going to try BIAB

 

[manticle]

I don't BIAB so someone will have better advice but you will probably be looking at a bit of a hybrid. Mash in the 19 L with as much liquor as you can fit without spillage, then dunk sparge in the other pot to rinse off the sugars.

A second dunk sparge should hopefully see you get the volume you need. You will need more than 20 L pre-boil to get 20 L post boil as wort evaporates when it boils (which is a good thing). Sounds like your strike water is calculated according to 3V brewing - you need to work it out for BIAB + dunk sparge.

Still shouldn't need the can for 4+kg of grain though.