First partial mash

[CletePurcel]

I attempted my first partial mash today, a version of clibits amarillo pale ale but made with coopers lager rather than youngs pilsner.

OG is 1049 at 21 litres. The wort is cooling down now before I pitch the yeast - us05.

It took 3 and a half hours to do it but it smells great. I don't think I made too much of a hash of it. I put the mash in a preheated oven and it stayed at 67 deg for the whole hour.

 

[clibit]

Cooper's lager is fine! Any pale one can kit. You can't go wrong with Amarillo. It's gonna be great. :drink:

 

[Spapro]

Sounds great, good luck with it. The extra effort to partial mash is definately worth it, a massive step forward from kits.

 

[Slid]

Absolutely agree, even the first one will be great. No way to describe it until you taste it.

 

[Spapro]

The other thing about partial mashes is the yeast seems to think its Christmas come early ! Goes off quick and has usually got to final gravity within a week, not had any stuck brews etc since starting with partial mashes, must be something about the freshness of the sugars off the grains or something.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

There is one problem with partial mash; you will find that your kit beers stay in the box in a corner, whilst you drink your way through superior beer made with fresh ingredients!

 

[CletePurcel]

The only worry was that the wort took a long time to come down in temperature so I am concerned about infection. I think I will invest in a wort chiller.

 

[Spapro]

The only worry was that the wort took a long time to come down in temperature so I am concerned about infection. I think I will invest in a wort chiller.

How much wort post boil are you left with after the boil from your partial mash ?

Are you topping up with cold water in the FV ?

I get about 9-10 litres of wort from the partial mash which I chill in the sink in a bath of cold water and ice packs. Takes about 30 mins to get it down to 40°C.

I then strain into the FV and top up with 6 litres of water chilled in the fridge (in sterilised 2l water bottles). Then top up with cold water. Gets me to about 20-22°C with 23litres of wort before pitching the yeast.

I am on a water meter so trying to avoid a wort chiller.

 

[CletePurcel]

I think I had about 7 litres from the pan which I topped up to 21. It was still over 30 degrees and took a couple of hours to cool down to 25C in a sink full of water.

 

[Spapro]

It is a challenge getting the wort down to temp.

Was your 21 litres at 30°C ?

I try and get my 10l of post boil wort down to around 40°C before topping up to 23l. As mentioned, I use ice packs in the sink water (the ones you get for camping coolbags), then I top up to 21l using some bottled water from the fridge (should be at 4-5°C) then regular cold water to bring the finished 21 litres temp down to pitchable temperature.

I do stir the wort a bit while its colling in the sink bath of ice packed water. I also have the lid off the stockpot while its in the sink cooling. I refil the sink with cold water 2-3 times over the 30 mins it takes. I also agitate the water in the sink a little. All these little things improve the rate at which the temp of the wort comes down.

Hope this helps, good luck with your future brews.

 

[Slid]

I think I had about 7 litres from the pan which I topped up to 21. It was still over 30 degrees and took a couple of hours to cool down to 25C in a sink full of water.

Hi C-P

You did the right things in the wrong order.

Very much easier to cool your 7 litres of boiling wort by putting the pan in the sink for 20 mins and perhaps even 1 change of water. Moving the pan, or stirring the wort with a sterilised spoon and the cooling water with a differnt spoon helps to bring the times down too.

Adding cold water from the tap, or even some cooled water from the fridge, to the 7L at 30-35 ish, gets you to pitching temps much faster.

I watched a US made video in which "a guy puts a bunch of water in the fridge" to get his wort to pitching temperature faster. I suggest a conversion factor of six litres to a bunch, but it all depends, really.

 

[CletePurcel]

Thanks. I will try those methods next time if I don't succumb and buy a chiller first...

 

[Slid]

Thanks. I will try those methods next time if I don't succumb and buy a chiller first...

Excellent, get the Laws of Thermodynamics working with you and not against you.:thumb:

 

[CletePurcel]

The other thing about partial mashes is the yeast seems to think its Christmas come early ! Goes off quick and has usually got to final gravity within a week, not had any stuck brews etc since starting with partial mashes, must be something about the freshness of the sugars off the grains or something.

It seems to have stopped fermenting already after only 4 days. Gravity is now 1.009 or 1.010. I had a little taste and it tastes OK actually even though it is pretty cloudy. Like a nice bitter.

Should I now leave for a few days before bottling?

 

[Spapro]

It seems to have stopped fermenting already after only 4 days. Gravity is now 1.009 or 1.010. I had a little taste and it tastes OK actually even though it is pretty cloudy. Like a nice bitter.

Should I now leave for a few days before bottling?

I leave mine for 2 weeks in primary - If left at fermenting temps after its finished fermenting the yeast 'cleans up' after itself apparently. Not sure on the exact yeasty science but read on here that once fermentation has finished the yeast will move onto breaking down some of the waste by-products produced during fermentation - resulting in a cleaner tasting beer allegedly.

I leave mine for 2 weeks in primary, then syphon to a clean FV and leave at cooler temps for 1 week to aid clearing prior to bottling/kegging. So, I am bottling/kegging 3 weeks after pitching the yeast.

Hope this helps.

 

[CletePurcel]

Thanks. That's useful.

Cheers.

 

[CletePurcel]

This has been in the bottle just over a week. I cracked one open to try and it tastes very good indeed. If it improves it will be fantastic.

Much, much better than the 2 straight kits I tried.

I don't think this one will last long once it is ready.

 

[clibit]

You're half way to AG. More than half way, you've done a grain mash, just leave the tin out now! :-D

 

[CletePurcel]

You're half way to AG. More than half way, you've done a grain mash, just leave the tin out now! :-D

Thanks, Clibit.

I actually did a full AG last weekend using a Grainfather. I am planning to do a repeat of this partial AG converted to full AG next weekend to compare.

I don't think I will be bothering with many more kits. :

Here is the recipe:

 

[clibit]

Thanks, Clibit.

I actually did a full AG last weekend using a Grainfather. I am planning to do a repeat of this partial AG converted to full AG next weekend to compare.

I don't think I will be bothering with many more kits. :

Here is the recipe:

OK you're a fully fledged AG nutter! Nice recipe - simple, like me. And many of the beers I make. Simple is good.