Partial Mash Starter
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I was trying to calculate my brewhouse effeciency for the above recipe.
I dont have an exact volume of the final wort but my guess is around 26.5L I figure the 3kg of Coopers wheat LME would give me 1.036 points so my mash gave me 10 points.
So I figure I need to calculate the potenial points that my grains could give and devide 10 by that.
Can someone point me to a source which can tell me the potential for each grain? I got some from my promash eval version but not all.
cheers.
I dont have an exact volume of the final wort but my guess is around 26.5L I figure the 3kg of Coopers wheat LME would give me 1.036 points so my mash gave me 10 points.
So I figure I need to calculate the potenial points that my grains could give and devide 10 by that.
Can someone point me to a source which can tell me the potential for each grain? I got some from my promash eval version but not all.
cheers.
Steve
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G'day
Planning on my first partial on the weekend. Gathering info from everywhere at the moment.
One question regarding cubbies post number 12.
At step number 12. Top up brew pot to required volume.
How do you know what the normal volume is?
Cheers
Steve
Planning on my first partial on the weekend. Gathering info from everywhere at the moment.
One question regarding cubbies post number 12.
At step number 12. Top up brew pot to required volume.
How do you know what the normal volume is?
Cheers
Steve
Steve,
My pot is large enough to do a full boil so i top it up to my final volume.
So if i am after a 23l batch i will go to say 26l losing about 3l in evap during the boil.
You can ignore this step. In fact i do now!
Also I use 3l water per 1kg of grain these days.
My pot is large enough to do a full boil so i top it up to my final volume.
So if i am after a 23l batch i will go to say 26l losing about 3l in evap during the boil.
You can ignore this step. In fact i do now!
Also I use 3l water per 1kg of grain these days.
Steve
On the back bloody porch!
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Cheers Cubbie. Im doing a recipe courtesy of Trough Lolly (cheers TL) and have just noticed on his promash sheet that he gave me the wort size says 12litres. So I will top up to that I presume and then do the boil.
P.S Good thread by the way.
Steve
P.S Good thread by the way.
Steve
Steve,
You should be close to 12l anyway after the mash and sparge. Remember that your grain will absorb some of your mash water, there will only be a little absobtion in the grain of the sparge water.
i would probably go with 3l per Kg. That will get around 13-14 litres into the kettle and after evap you should end up with something near to 12L.
You base your hop additons on the final boil volume. I would image thats what TL has done and that is what his 12l represents.
Adding extra water into your kettle as i suggested earlier in the thread means you boil a large volume of wort which is beneficial to the beer and improves the utilisation of the hops.
Hope it all goes well and I make some sort of sence.
You should be close to 12l anyway after the mash and sparge. Remember that your grain will absorb some of your mash water, there will only be a little absobtion in the grain of the sparge water.
i would probably go with 3l per Kg. That will get around 13-14 litres into the kettle and after evap you should end up with something near to 12L.
You base your hop additons on the final boil volume. I would image thats what TL has done and that is what his 12l represents.
Adding extra water into your kettle as i suggested earlier in the thread means you boil a large volume of wort which is beneficial to the beer and improves the utilisation of the hops.
Hope it all goes well and I make some sort of sence.
pint of lager
brewing on the verandah
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This thread is excellent reading for those just starting out with partials. There has been alot of discussion recently on ahb and it appears they have missed all the information here. Do some reading and research first before posting your questions. By doing lots of background reading you will cover issues you hadn't thought of. Your brew will be more likely to be perfect.
Some points that people are missing.
Mash with 2.5 litres water @74 degrees per kilo of grain in an insulated container. Strain slowly and rinse the grain with 2.5 litres @75 degrees C water per kilo of grain. Top your boiler up with water.
Watch out for boilovers.
Bittering hops are boiled for 60 minutes. Flavour hops are boiled for 10 minutes. Aroma hops are boiled for 2 minutes. After the boil, cool the wort, strain into the fermenter andpitch the yeast.
Recipes. By doing ag, just about any recipe and style is available to you to brew. Do start with an easier style such as Australian Pale ale.
Most recipes are easily converted from ag to partial, mash the specialty grains and some base grain and use extract to make up the rest of the malt.
Do a smaller partial mash, then if you like, the next brew if your gear allows, include a larger quantity of malted grain.
Relax, partial mashes allow you to experience grain flavours in your brew without the hassles of all grain brews.
Some points that people are missing.
Mash with 2.5 litres water @74 degrees per kilo of grain in an insulated container. Strain slowly and rinse the grain with 2.5 litres @75 degrees C water per kilo of grain. Top your boiler up with water.
Watch out for boilovers.
Bittering hops are boiled for 60 minutes. Flavour hops are boiled for 10 minutes. Aroma hops are boiled for 2 minutes. After the boil, cool the wort, strain into the fermenter andpitch the yeast.
Recipes. By doing ag, just about any recipe and style is available to you to brew. Do start with an easier style such as Australian Pale ale.
Most recipes are easily converted from ag to partial, mash the specialty grains and some base grain and use extract to make up the rest of the malt.
Do a smaller partial mash, then if you like, the next brew if your gear allows, include a larger quantity of malted grain.
Relax, partial mashes allow you to experience grain flavours in your brew without the hassles of all grain brews.
Sammus
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does the size of your mash tun matter when batch sparging?
I was thinking of trying a partial in a full size tun - I figure if one were to fly sparge there would be complications with grain bed depth etc, but batch sparging it shouldn't matter right?
I was thinking of trying a partial in a full size tun - I figure if one were to fly sparge there would be complications with grain bed depth etc, but batch sparging it shouldn't matter right?
Steve
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Thats right Sammus.
POL - are you sure you want to mash at 74? Surely mean strike water at 74 to mash at 64?
Cheers
Steve
I did my first partial yesterday, and think I got a few things wrong.
I aimed for an APA, using
a can of Cooper's Pale Ale hopped extract
1.8kg ale malt
.2kg Medium Crystal Malt
30g Cascade pellets
I mashed the grain in about 5L of 64C water for 90 minutes, then here's where I think I went wrong. I sparged with 5L of 70C water, by placing grain in nylon mesh bag in a colander over the kettle. Wound up with about 9-10L of wort in kettle. Should I have used more sparge water? I get the feeling the grain had more to give when it was thrown out.
I took a gravity reading of what finished up in my kettle, and it was 1.020. I boiled the contents of the kettle for 30 minutes, with 15g Cascade at 30 minutes and another 15g at flameout. Chilled, strained, and dumped into fermenter on top of Cooper's can goo, stirred until can goo felt dissolved. Then topped up to 23L and stirred again.
OG came out at 1.020. Huh?
Stirred in another .5kg of LME after this (read 1.030 after this), and pitched US-56. Brew is happily burbling, but I have no idea what % alcohol is in this thing.
I aimed for an APA, using
a can of Cooper's Pale Ale hopped extract
1.8kg ale malt
.2kg Medium Crystal Malt
30g Cascade pellets
I mashed the grain in about 5L of 64C water for 90 minutes, then here's where I think I went wrong. I sparged with 5L of 70C water, by placing grain in nylon mesh bag in a colander over the kettle. Wound up with about 9-10L of wort in kettle. Should I have used more sparge water? I get the feeling the grain had more to give when it was thrown out.
I took a gravity reading of what finished up in my kettle, and it was 1.020. I boiled the contents of the kettle for 30 minutes, with 15g Cascade at 30 minutes and another 15g at flameout. Chilled, strained, and dumped into fermenter on top of Cooper's can goo, stirred until can goo felt dissolved. Then topped up to 23L and stirred again.
OG came out at 1.020. Huh?
Stirred in another .5kg of LME after this (read 1.030 after this), and pitched US-56. Brew is happily burbling, but I have no idea what % alcohol is in this thing.
Voosher
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Some people have fantastic stories about how perfectly their first mashing adventures went. Most of us learn as we go. I won't tell the disasters of my first but I think I can make a couple of suggestions.
Next time do a batch sparge.
Pour the mash liquor through the nylon mesh and colander. 5l of water and 2kg of grain should put about 3l of wort into your kettle.
Then return the grains to your mash tun add about 3.5l of water of at least 80C (you want to bring the grain temp up to around 75C) stir and let it sit for about 15m. Then pour that through your nylon mesh and colander.
Repeat this step one more time and you should have close to 10l of wort.
You would expect an SG of around 1050 for the 10l of wort in the kettle. Don't worry too much if it falls a bit short of that. Time will hone your methods.
This one will be a little light on the alcohol. You won't get quite as much grain freshness either. But like the rest of us you'll have something to chuckle over when you're mashing 10kg of grain in double AG batchesin the not too distant future.
Cheers.
:beerbang:
Aaron
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This is a link I stumbled across at instructables. It is a good tutorial for a frst time partial with probably nothing more than you already have in the house required. Contains videos too for those that like to be able to see it rather than just read about it. It's a great site for diy stuff in general so have a look around while you are there.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Beer/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Beer/
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Pontentially dumb question so I'll avoid starting a new thread.
I've done a few partial mashes now and they're turning out nicely. Certainly the best beers I've made. However I seek to improve and I'm wondering if my sparging method is correct or close to correct.
I used to do some kind of version of a fly sparge but it was quite messy (my set-up is primitive) so now I English sparge (similar to batch sparge I think).
Basically I drain the first mashed wort, then add the same volume of 70 deg water (which I now think should be about 75) back to the tun, leave 30 mins, strain into pot and repeat. I'm usually mashing around 3 kg of grain so getting about 7-8 L with each strain. Can I oversparge? Is it better just to do one sparge and top up with hot water or am I on the right track?
Cheers
I've done a few partial mashes now and they're turning out nicely. Certainly the best beers I've made. However I seek to improve and I'm wondering if my sparging method is correct or close to correct.
I used to do some kind of version of a fly sparge but it was quite messy (my set-up is primitive) so now I English sparge (similar to batch sparge I think).
Basically I drain the first mashed wort, then add the same volume of 70 deg water (which I now think should be about 75) back to the tun, leave 30 mins, strain into pot and repeat. I'm usually mashing around 3 kg of grain so getting about 7-8 L with each strain. Can I oversparge? Is it better just to do one sparge and top up with hot water or am I on the right track?
Cheers
Never a dumb question.
Your technique sound fine. Have a look at this link for some more info on sparging http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title...arging_Analysis
In answer to your question can you over sparge, well sort of. You can extract tannins from your mash if the sparge is too hot or (and others will be able to offer more than me) if your mash pH drops to low).
Are your sparging to get enough wort in your boil to meet your final volume?
I like to do the following. Mash, mash out, drain, add sparge water, drain. I mash at a rate of 3L/kg
so if I had 3kg of grain. I would mash with 9l water add a mash out of say 3L (enough to water to bring the mash to 75deg), drain 9L (12L - 3L absorption), then add 9l of sparge water.
Your technique sound fine. Have a look at this link for some more info on sparging http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title...arging_Analysis
In answer to your question can you over sparge, well sort of. You can extract tannins from your mash if the sparge is too hot or (and others will be able to offer more than me) if your mash pH drops to low).
Are your sparging to get enough wort in your boil to meet your final volume?
I like to do the following. Mash, mash out, drain, add sparge water, drain. I mash at a rate of 3L/kg
so if I had 3kg of grain. I would mash with 9l water add a mash out of say 3L (enough to water to bring the mash to 75deg), drain 9L (12L - 3L absorption), then add 9l of sparge water.
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Thanks for the reply and thanks for the link.
I have a new esky that's 10L (not yet used) and a smaller one (old but probably 5L?). I'm mashing between 2 and 3 kg at a time and using a ratio of 3L to 1kg. I have two pots - 1x 15L and 1 x 10 (although the 15 L was so cheap I'm looking at picking up another so I can do the boil in 2 equal parts).
Your described method sounds similar to what I've done the last couple of times. Essentially I am aiming to hit final volume (or just under to make headroom for later addition of Malt extract) and I seem to be doing OK. I guess with partials it may not be as crucial but I'd like to cross the gap some time in 2009 so this is all good practice.
