First Partial Mash

[DiscoStu]

After reading here for a while I've decided to post something myself. I have recently made the move from kits to extract and specialty grains and have been very happy with the results, now I ready to do my 1st partial mash brew as per the recipe below.

My concern is that I don't have a dedicated mash tun yet. I was planning on using a 10L stock pot an doing the mash in my oven set a 66 Degrees then pouring the wort into my boil pot but I'm worried about Hot Side Aeration, will this be a problem for me. I was thinking of sparging by adding the sparge water to the mash pot after pouring of the first wort and then giving it a good mix and straining into the boil pot.

Hopefully I can get esky mash tun sorted in the next few weeks but don't want to hold up putting doing my 1st partial till I do.

Cheers

Stu

Recipe: Scottish Export
Style: Scottish Export 80/-
TYPE: Partial Mash

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 12.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 33.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.00 kg Coopers Light Liquid Extract (10.0 EBC) Extract 26.32 %
1.00 kg Coopers Light Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 Extract 26.32 %
1.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 26.32 %
0.20 kg Carafoam (3.9 EBC) Grain 5.26 %
0.10 kg Chocolate Malt (750.0 EBC) Grain 2.63 %
0.10 kg Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 2.63 %
0.10 kg Smoked Malt (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 2.63 %
30.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.92 %] (60 min) Hops 14.8 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.92 %] (30 min) Hops 5.7 IBU
0.30 kg Brown Sugar, Light (15.8 EBC) Sugar 7.89 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 1.50 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 3.91 L of water at 71.9 C 65.6 C

 

[Steve]

Welcome aboard Disco....First couple of mashes I did I used a couple of 10 litre pots. No need to put it in the oven. Once the mash water is in your pot with the grains put the lid on and wrap a towel or blanket around the pot and leave on the kitchen bench, check temp at 30 mins and adjust if necessary. Sieve the wort into the second pot, put sparge water in first pot, stir well, put lid back on and leave for 10 mins then sieve wort into second pot. Dont worry about HSA.....then boil er up! Easy peasy. Its a peice o pish
Cheers
Steve

 

[DiscoStu]

Thanks Steve, just finished reading Palmer's How To Brew and he talks a fair bit about HSA causing off flavours so I was starting to think I needed to build a mash tun first.

Excellent - Brew day tomorrow

Stu

 

[Steve]

Thanks Steve, just finished reading Palmer's How To Brew and he talks a fair bit about HSA causing off flavours so I was starting to think I needed to build a mash tun first.

Excellent - Brew day tomorrow

Stu

Guaranteed it wont be long until you build a mash tun. After a couple of partials with the pots you will have the bug and want to do full ag batches asap. Have fun tomorrow. Have you seen these links?

http://www.elogicmedia.com.au/homebrew/

http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/
(Follow the pics at the bottom of the first page)

Cheers
Steve

 

[rich_lamb]

Argh - another brewer worrying about HSA. You're not supposed to worry when you do this brewing stuff!

(also if you keep reading, you'll notice that a lot of people talk about it but few actually measure/taste any direct results)

Stu, I'd keep an eye on the oven if you use it - the thermostats have a VERY wide range and the temps change slowly and overshoot a lot. It's a real bitch. I second the idea to just control it on the stovetop. Hey, it's only an hour of your life!

 

[DiscoStu]

Thanks for the advise guys, put it down yesterday and everything went well. To stockpot with a towel around it worked fine for the mash, check the temp every 20 mins and adjusted back up to 66C when needed.

Used EK Goldings plugs, was shocked at how much material you end up with in the wort from plugs versue pellets, had to strain the wort into the fermenter.

Achieved a measured OG in the fermenter of 1.054 (check it twice to confirm) which is inline with the estimate from brewsmith so I'm very pleased with that.

Checked it this morning and it was bubbling thru the airlock slowly, was hoping to see a bit more activity but it was pretty cold overnight. I might need to think about some heating as the airtemp in the garage was down to 14C this morning. Also its the first time I've used the Nottingham dried yeast so I'm not sure how much activity to expect in the 1st 12 hours.

Also manage to pick up a suitable esky at a garage sale on the weekend for $5 so I'll have a proper mash tun ready for my next brew. One step closer to AG

Cheers

Stu

 

[Steve]

Thanks for the advise guys, put it down yesterday and everything went well. To stockpot with a towel around it worked fine for the mash, check the temp every 20 mins and adjusted back up to 66C when needed.

Used EK Goldings plugs, was shocked at how much material you end up with in the wort from plugs versue pellets, had to strain the wort into the fermenter.

Achieved a measured OG in the fermenter of 1.054 (check it twice to confirm) which is inline with the estimate from brewsmith so I'm very pleased with that.

Checked it this morning and it was bubbling thru the airlock slowly, was hoping to see a bit more activity but it was pretty cold overnight. I might need to think about some heating as the airtemp in the garage was down to 14C this morning. Also its the first time I've used the Nottingham dried yeast so I'm not sure how much activity to expect in the 1st 12 hours.

Also manage to pick up a suitable esky at a garage sale on the weekend for $5 so I'll have a proper mash tun ready for my next brew. One step closer to AG

Cheers

Stu

:beerbang: great stuff Stu. If its in the garage just chuck an old blanket around it for insulation. She'll be fine, Nottinghams a very forgiving yeast and a very fast yeast. Congrats!
Steve

 

[sponge]

I'm just waiting for my grains to arrive and ill be making my first mini mash wheat beer.

Ive kept it really simple, as this one is just mainly trying to get it all right

17L, 13.9IBU

1.5kg LME
1.2kg Wheat malt
0.2kg Pilsner malt
40g saaz @ 60min

WB-06

(tossing up whether to add corriender and orange or to just let the flavour of the yeast do its thing)

But Ive also only got a 10L stockpot, and was just going to put it in the oven on at 65-70'C and leave for it for an hour and then sparge, because it gets quite cool in the kitchen (fairly open area) and im not sure if it would keep to a constant temp if i didnt put it in the oven.

I'll also be using a grain bag for this

Just wondering if the wort from the grain has a high enough gravity for hop utilization without adding any of the LME?


Cheers, Sponge

 

[braufrau]

I have a bucket in bucket mash tun.
TWo layers of plastic with an airgap will be a better insulator than metal I suppose, but still not wonderful.
Anyway, I put the mash tun on a foam mat and then wrap it in a doona.

 

[DiscoStu]

But Ive also only got a 10L stockpot, and was just going to put it in the oven on at 65-70'C and leave for it for an hour and then sparge, because it gets quite cool in the kitchen (fairly open area) and im not sure if it would keep to a constant temp if i didnt put it in the oven.

I had the same concern but yesterday was a pretty cool day at home and the kitchen was open but I had no problems with mash temp, just wrapped an old towel around the pot as Steve suggested and it kept it pretty stable. I checked it every 20 mins and it had usually only lost 1-2 degrees and I'd stick it on the stove for 30seconds give it a stir and wrap it up again. Worked a treat

Stu

 

[sponge]

Did you add any of your malt extract to the boil or did you just use the runnings from the grain?

 

[Steve]

Did you add any of your malt extract to the boil or did you just use the runnings from the grain?

You will need to use the malt sponge. Add it at the last 10 mins of the boil. Regarding the oven I cant say if its better than just wrapping blankets round the pot. I did consider it but decided it would be too risky (and a pain in the arse) with possible temp variations. Like I said just wrap a blanket around and ONLY check the temp a couple of times. If you are opening it up every 5 - 10 mins the temp will drop quicker.
Cheers
Steve

 

[sponge]

You will need to use the malt sponge. Add it at the last 10 mins of the boil. Regarding the oven I cant say if its better than just wrapping blankets round the pot. I did consider it but decided it would be too risky (and a pain in the arse) with possible temp variations. Like I said just wrap a blanket around and ONLY check the temp a couple of times. If you are opening it up every 5 - 10 mins the temp will drop quicker.
Cheers
Steve

Yup, yup, I was just wondering if you need to add it to the wort so that there are enough sugars in the wort for hop utilization, but by the sounds of what you are saying, you should extract enough sugars from the grain for the hops to release their goodies.

 

[Steve]

Yup, yup, I was just wondering if you need to add it to the wort so that there are enough sugars in the wort for hop utilization, but by the sounds of what you are saying, you should extract enough sugars from the grain for the hops to release their goodies.

not really sure what you are on about but you will need to use the 1.5kg of malt in the boil as well as the wort you have extracted from the wort. Boil the wort for 60 mins, add the hops at the intervals you have chosen and then with 15 mins to go add the malt to get the SG.
Cheers
Steve

 

[sponge]

Don't you need a wort with a gravity around 1045 to be able to effectively use hops? When you have too higher/lower gravity, dont the hops AA's not convert properly (im not actually sure of the chemical processes which go on with hop bittering and whatnot)?? I thought i've read this somewhere, so i was wondering if the gravity of the wort with JUST the grain sugars (ie, no malt extract) is enough to effectively extract the full bitterness from the hops, or if MORE extract is needed to increase the gravity of the wort

I always add around half the malt to the start of the boil and the rest with 10min left in the extract beers which ive made so far, but seeing as though the recipe is around 50-50 grain to malt extract, i was just seeing whether or not you still needed to add the extract at the start of the boil?