My First Partial Ag Mash

[Archie]

Gday Everyone,
Well I am excited just bought myself a 30 lt stock pot, and I am ready to start my first Partial Mash.
I have decided to go for a Light Lager the Germen Helles in particular.
I was going to use 3 kg of vienna grain but the local HBS only had 2 kg left, so I settled with :

06-25-2006 First Partial Mash

A ProMash Brewing Session Report
--------------------------------

Brewing Date: Sunday June 25, 2006
Head Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Recipe: First Partial Mash

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 23.00 Wort Size (L): 23.00
Total Grain (Kg): 4.50
Anticipated OG: 1.047 Plato: 11.57
Anticipated SRM: 4.9
Anticipated IBU: 20.5
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.047 Plato: 11.57
Actual FG: 1.012 Plato: 3.07

Alc by Weight: 3.55 by Volume: 4.54 From Measured Gravities.
ADF: 73.5 RDF 61.1 Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
33.3 1.50 kg. Alexander LME - Pale America 1.037 2
44.4 2.00 kg. Vienna Malt Germany 1.037 3
22.2 1.00 kg. Munich Malt Australia 1.038 6

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.00 g. Tettnanger Tettnang Pellet 4.50 12.9 60 min.
20.00 g. Tettnanger Tettnang Pellet 4.50 6.6 30 min.
10.00 g. Tettnanger Tettnang Pellet 4.50 1.1 5 min.


Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-23 SafLager W. Euro Lager

Now for my mash I am using a rubbermaid type keep cold cooler it is only 20litres in volume which is plenty big enough for me to start. A stainless braided mnifold.

My question is my mash temp should i aim for around 68 degrees celcius.
So i am going for a strike temp of around 74 degrees celcius
my mash tun loses 5'C in 60 minutes of temp

Any ideas thoughts, to make things easier tomorrow would be greatly appreciated
anyone see any dramas with my recipe

Cheers
Archie

 

[matti]

I put 70 degree water to achive 55 degrees for 15-20.
then i use decoction to heat mash up to required temp.
Infusion mash if you achive 68 degrees initially with room to top up. Top up every 20 min with boiling water.
Boil your sparge liquor and bring ph to 6.8. recurculate and sparge slowly. The closer the lauter bed temp is to 66-70 and an hour sparging you should achive better efficiency then 65%.
Have fun.
Matti

 

[Archie]

Thanks Matti I am not really sure what decoction is so will go with the infusion method and as for ph not sure how to test for that either.
Am pretty excited to get started
Arch

 

[dicko]

Hi Archie,

I started with the same equipment as you and it provided me with some very good beers.
You may find that if you boil a kettle and pre heat the mash tun then your strike temp will be a lot easier to obtain. You must drain the tun before you add the grain and the strike water.
Strike the mash with 2.5 litres of water rather than three litres so that if you are a bit low or high you can add hot or cold water to adjust the temp in the first few minutes.
I use to use a strike temp of 76 deg c to achieve around 67 deg c in the mash.
Because it is a partial mash the mash temp is not as important, but try to achieve somewhere between 65 deg c and 68 deg c.
I used to wrap a wool blanket around the tun to maintain mash temps and this helped a lot.
Your recipe looks good and should come out OK.
Remember to enjoy yourself on your first partial mash and be carefull, it becomes an obsession. :lol:

Cheers

 

[Archie]

Thanks for the info dicko,
well it has already begun actually haha
obsession started

 

[pint of lager]

Your first partial looks great. You have read Cubbie's thread?

Aim for 66, but 65-68 will be fine. Take notes of the strike temp, stir in the grain, stir really well, wait two minutes then take the temp that it settles at. This will help you learn your setup for the next one. Have a full kettle of boiling water ready, in case you want to increase the temp. A small amount of cold, say a cup, will drop the temp plenty.

Do not worry about pH. Stick to keep it simple. Adjusting pH is for advanced all grainers, not the first partial mash.

Do not worry about your efficiency. When you are doing all grain, and have a few brews finished, then start working towards adjusting efficiency.

Decoction is for advanced mashing. It involves multistep mashing and to increase the temperature, part of the mash is pulled from the tun, boiled and returned to the tun to increase the temperature.

Enjoy your first mash, the magic of enzymes converting the starch into wort is for brewers to enjoy. The aromas are stunning. Watch for boilovers. Give yourself plenty of time.

 

[Archie]

Hey there pint of lager,
Cheers for the tips Brew day is here haha.
yes i did read cubbie's thread cant wait to get started.
I will post how it all went this afternoon once i have finished my first partial I will try to aim for a temp of 66'C
do you normally sparge with about 1.5:1

Cheers Arch

 

[pint of lager]

Just logged on. Probably too late to answer your question.

When you mash in, use 2.5 litres water per kilo of grain. 3 litres is also fine, but starting at 2.5 means if you need to add more water, you have plenty of room and the mash will not be diluted too much. There are good reason under specific circumstances to go below or above these ratios, but 90% of brewing is done at 2.5-3.0 litres per kilo mash in.

The quantity of water to sparge with for a new brewer is 3 litres per kilo.

Keep your mashin water + sparge water = 5.5 litres per kilo of grain. So if you mashin with 2.5 litres per kilo, use 3 litres to sparge. As your brewing experience increases, you may be able to increase this a bit. So for your 3 kilos of grain, you will mash in with 7.5 litres and sparge with 9 litres.

Hopefully it has all gone smothly and your fermenter has a nice Helles sitting in it.

 

[hupnupnee]

Why not go all grain, Archie. You certainly have everything you need to do it?
I'm no where near the level of the other guys, I'm up to my 4th AG I got to say it's dead easy to start with forgett about pH and concentrate on the temperature control. Just check every 15 mins or so and be ready with the boiling water to up the temp.

Release yourself from the goo!

Floculator

 

[Archie]

cheers pint of lager ,
half way through as we speek things are looking great.
why would you increase the sparge and mash in litres,
what effect woulf this have on your mash

Thanks again mate
Archie

 

[pint of lager]

Mashing

water:grain ideal is 2.5:1

If you have a thicker mash, say 2:1, this makes a brew that is less fermentable. The enzymes that make longer chain sachaarides (malt sugars) work better in a thicker mash. The final sg of your brew will be higher.

If you have a thinner mash, say 3.5:1 or even more, the enzymes that make shorter sachaarides are favoured. Your final sg of your finished beer will be lower.

Sparging.

If you use less water to sparge with, you have poorer efficiency as not all the sachaarides are washed out.

If you use too much water, you oversparge and will pull unwanted tannins out of the grains, leading to harshness and astringency of the end brew.

Most people eventually work out that (mash water volume per kilo grain) +(sparge water per kilo of grain) = about 6. This is for people that have quite a few mashes under the belt and have fine tuned their equipment and setup.

For newer brewers, it is better to stick to around 5.0 to 5.5, this will give you a safety margin.

 

[Archie]

Hi there Hupnupnee,
Im not sure but maybe someone else can let some light on this subject,
I got a little excited and went out and spent $50 on the bunnings 20lt cooler and am pretty sure its not big enough to do AG mashes in.
but the time the Grain goes in lets say 4 kg plus the initial mash water of 10 litres, sparging would be the problem.
I would need around 22 1/2 litres of water my tun wont fit that in.

I guess i could try fly sparging but then there is more equipment.

My first partial is on the boil now hahah
Archie

 

[Archie]

Hmm my post is missing some info sorry about that but i am pretty sure you can figure out what i am saying

 

[Archie]

Just a quick one I have just tried to work out my efficiency in ProMash, my measured SG was 1.031 now it seems a little low is this because the wort is still hot do you need to cool the wort before taking a gravity reading.

Cheers

Archie

Wow doesnt grain taste so much better in the wort form haha

 

[Voosher]

Just a quick one I have just tried to work out my efficiency in ProMash, my measured SG was 1.031 now it seems a little low is this because the wort is still hot do you need to cool the wort before taking a gravity reading.

Cheers

Archie

Wow doesnt grain taste so much better in the wort form haha

I use these numbers to adjust SG at different temps...

100C +41
95 38
90 34
85 30
80 27
75 24
70 21
65 18
60 15
55 13
50 10
45 8
40 6
35 4
30 2
25 1
20 0
15 -1
10 -1
5 -2
0 -2


The skinny is that hot wort will give an artificially low reading. Add the appropriate number to get something close to the true reading.
Or get a refractometer!!!

 

[Archie]

Hey Voosher,
Thanks for the info, well i think it is time i buy a refractometer.
Do you know a place some homebrew shops dont stock them
Cheers
Archie

 

[Voosher]

Hey Voosher,
Thanks for the info, well i think it is time i buy a refractometer.
Do you know a place some homebrew shops dont stock them
Cheers
Archie

Too easy mate...
Either www.craftbrewer.com.au
or
www.mashmaster.com.au

I think you can trust the blokes that run those sites... just!!!



No affiliation... etc.

 

[Archie]

Cheers Voosher.
Will post again when its in the fermenter
and let the whole world know how it went hahah


A very happy homebrewer

 

[Stuster]

Archie

Promash will also help you with hydrometer temp. adjustment. Click on Hydro Adjust on the main page.

Enjoy it.

 

[Archie]

Well There it is ladies and gentlemen,
My first Partial Mash German Helles Beer.
Wow what a long day started at around 2:30 this afternoon and just finished now at 8:30.
But a very succesful day. My estimated starting Gravity for this recipe was 1.047 and i just had a reading from the fermenter at 16'C of 1.045 so my efficiency was %61 by promash. I am pretty happy with that.
I do have a few questions though hopefully the good brewers out there can answer them for me.

1. During initial sparging. Once you have cleared up the wort do you completely drain the wort from the grain bed before adding the sparge water or do you just add the sparge water over the grain bed with the initial mash water??

Some Problems I had

1. My 30lt Stockpot has no tap in it to transfer the heated water.

2. I currently have no way of measuring the wort from the Mash tun into the Stock pot so had to make estimates although they were pretty well educated estimates.

3. Partial Mash what a shame to add LME to such a nice tasting and smelling wort

I will hopefully be able to rectify these problems in the near future

Cheers
Archie
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