How Much In A 15l Pot?

[ploto]

Yesterday I did my first real partial, I used 2kg of base malt plus 250g of spec grains and mashed it in a 15l pot then added this plus some extract to make 25l in the fermenter. It all went well and the numbers all added up in the end, many thanks to Goomba for patiently helping via pm

I want to do another batch in the next few days and, as I have 3kg of base grain left plus plenty of spec malts, I am wondering how much I can sensibly get away with. Would a total of 2.75 kg of grain be too much to manage in a 15l pot? What about 3kg?

I figured I could get away with a bit more for a higher gravity boil, and then be able to use less extract to make up the full batch. Would this be a good idea or would I be wiser to stick to 2kg of base malt until I sort out a bigger pot?

 

[Pennywise]

You should be fine, if you're using 2.5L/kg mash water then that's only 7.5L, and you can still sparge a little. Or, you could go the other route, and mash in more water and no sparge, bit like BIAB. I wouldn't want to go any more than 12-13L total water in a 15L pot though.

 

[tiprya]

Use the 'Can I mash it?' calculator on this page:

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Input your grain kg and you mash thickness (2.5L/kg as suggested above is good).

 

[Muggus]

Did a fair few of my first partials with a 15L pot.
12L is about the limit you can take the boil before the hot break starts to leak out the sides. What I did was scoop the break material off the top before it went overboard, and keep that for a starter or whatever, and top the pot up with mash runnings so it became concerntrated and encouraged more evaporation.
Very time consuming, extends your boil time too, not mention caramelised your wort a fair bit, but it means you can get the more out of your grain bills, especially if you want to hit higher gravities.

 

[ploto]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I managed to get 12.7l into the pot after sparging the bag through a collander. No worries with boiling over as the biggest burner on the gas stove barely gets it to a gentle roll, I'm not sure if it would even handle a 20l pot so I might have to look into other ideas. Maybe Santa will bring me an urn for xmas...

Anyway I'll play around with the numbers in brewmate and aim to use 2.5kg of grain for the next one. fwiw here's the print out for the one I did yestereday, final reading in the fermenter was 1.046 so I'm pretty happy.

Nelson Citra


Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 25.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.350
Total Hops (g): 100.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.047 (P): 11.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.67 %
Colour (SRM): 6.7 (EBC): 13.2
Bitterness (IBU): 38.2 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.000 kg Pale Ale Malt (45.98%)
1.500 kg Liquid Malt Extract - Wheat (34.48%)
0.500 kg Dry Malt Extract - Light (11.49%)
0.250 kg Caramunich I (5.75%)
0.100 kg Dextrose (2.3%)

Hop Bill
----------------
12.0 g Citra Pellet (11.4% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
12.0 g Nelson Sauvin Leaf (12% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
25.0 g Citra Pellet (11.4% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
25.0 g Nelson Sauvin Leaf (12% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
13.0 g Citra Pellet (11.4% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.5 g/L)
13.0 g Nelson Sauvin Leaf (12% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.5 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 18C with Safale US-05


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[RdeVjun]

Yep ploto, as per others (and a bit late!), I'd say 3kg should be an easy stroll in the park for the 15L pot. For the mash, I'd just fill it to the top, so mash at about 4L/kg. Heat 12L of water to strike temperature (just above gives you a bit of latitude), reserve a few litres of it in a jug, drop the bag of grain in (you're BIABing, IMO there's no need for this 'raining- in' palaver), stir well and measure the mash temperature. If its low, add some boiling water and stir through, too high then use cool, otherwise, if its on target, just add the reserved water to fill it to the top. Insulate it well and leave it be for an hour or more, something to remember is that stirring the mash regularly is not really going to achieve much except lose the mash's precious heat.
After the mash is drained through pulling the bag, as you've found, you can sparge with a few litres of near- boiling water in a separate pot or bucket, but that's entirely optional with a Partial Mash. IMO, to keep trub losses low, the more dilute wort is preferable to concentrated in the kettle at the end of the boil and the sparge liquor helps with that while also bringing along a few more efficiency points. It does help reduce your reliance on malt extract and tending towards what's known in some parts as MaxiBIAB or here on AHB as Nick JD's 20L Stovetop, however I doubt with a 15L pot you could do much more than 23L of all- grain 1.040.
Which ever way you go, the simple Partial Mash such as you're doing is an excellent means to trick up a can of extract, you learn quite a bit about mashing in your own environment with your own gear, plus you still get a full 23 or 25L batch of great beer for your efforts and that's just awesome! B)
Hope this helps! :icon_cheers:
[Late addition: Are you sure your pot won't cover two burners? OTOH, I do know that the cheapo big double ewe/ red aim point chain store gas camping stoves are capable of boiling the 19 stockpots too, that may be a simple way to eliminate any stove strife.]

 

[ploto]

Cheers RdeVjun, I've been through Nick JD's stove top tutorials and there is plenty of very good info in them. As you say doing these partials is a great way to learn what I can do with my current gear etc. I am tempted to do a 10l AG brew with the grain I have left, but with xmas just around the corner and my celler running low I unfortunately need to go with quantity over quality. But once the last cans of goo are gone I have promisied myself that I won't buy any more

cheers,
ploto

 

[RdeVjun]

No sweat ploto! :icon_cheers:
Talking of partials, some of my most memorable beers have been just so- don't be surprised if the beers you make are real stunners! B)