Okay, so check it out. I have the basics down, but I'm still not clear on a few things. Specifically, strike water and sparge water. Check out the recipe. I'm going for a black IPA or sorts. Grain 3lbs. 2 Row 1 1/2lbs. Crystal 120L 1/2lbs. Carapils Dextrine 1/2lbs. Chocolate 1/2lbs. Roasted Barley That's 5 lbs of grain, so I'm thinking of using 2 gallons of strike water. One thing I'm not sure about is the mash temperature, and length. Fermentables 3.3lbs. Pale DME 1lb. Cane Sugar Just like my extract/steeping grain recipes, I'm going to boil for 60 minutes. Hops 3/4oz. Columbus at 60 1/4oz. Columbus at 30 3/4oz. Columbus at flameout 1 1/2oz. Centennial at Flameout 1oz. Centennial dry hop Wyeast London Ale 1028 Okay, I guess I need to know the amount of strike water, the amount of sparge water, the mash temperature and length. Also, this is my first stab at creating a recipe, and unfortunately I already bought the grain, so I can't make any changes to it unless I'm adding. Cheers, Travis
Well, the mash temp depends on how much fermentable/unfermentable sugars you want. If you want a dryer beer, mash lower. If you want a beer with more body and sweetness, mash higher. That being said, and this being your first partial mash, I'd shoot for around 152 degrees F. That's a good balance. When I did partial mash beers, I simply did a mini brew in the bag. Home Depot and Lowes sells paint filter bags that are big enough to hold 5 lbs of grain. Put the grain in the bag, then dip the whole bag into your pot - basically like a giant tea bag. Here's a good post on Homebrewtalk about it: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/
Yeah after checking my messages, I think you already did this ... but here's my 2c anyway Main thing is to make sure you pay attention to the temperature when you're using a non-insulated pot to do a partial mash. It won't move a LOT but it may drift slowly downward, especially if you keep stirring it. And critically important, if it goes down and you decide to heat it up, do so very carefully! I was using water equivalent to what is recommended for all grain mashes. Say 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, give or take. I think you'll do fine. Let us know how it comes out. Good luck!
I hadn't realized I made a typo until I read both of these. Well played, sirs. Also, I'm guessing someone is a Mike Patton fan? I could be wrong.
if you wrap your kettle in a blanket and cover it, it helps hold the temperature. otherwise you'll end up having to mess with adding heat every now and then and it's really easy to overshoot what you're aiming for.
Another way to maintain your mash temperature is to place the kettle in your oven and set the oven to the desired temperature (e.g., 150°F). Cheers!
