Partial mash turned to mush

[krahm]

I'm sure this topic has been covered (it must have), but I must just not know what to search for. I tried doing a partial mash making an APA--the partial mash included 0.75 lb Victory and 0.25 lb crystal (90 L)--but it just turned to breakfast cereal. I got very little liquid out of it (like maybe three tablespoons).

I followed the standard instructions for a partial mash. I think I used 1.5 quarts of water at 163 degrees (it was 155 after I added the grain and stirred it), assuming the temp would drop over the course of the hour. This was a stove-top attempt, so I put the burner on low at one point to try to keep the temp from dropping too much. I used water filtered through a Brita.

Any ideas what I did wrong? Surely this isn't normal.

 

[Pommy]

What exactly was your process?

 

[nanofreak]

How exactly did you collect the liquid?

 

[krahm]

I added the grain to the heated water (already in the pot, at 163 degrees), stirred it, took a temp. reading (it went down to about 155), covered it, let it sit for an hour, though I swirled it a few times. I had a digital thermometer in it so I could monitor temp. I turned the heat on at two different points. At the end of the hour, I put a grain bag across the mouth of the pot and poured the liquid into the brew kettle, using the bag to catch/strain the grain. Then I added some more hot water to the grain which was still in the pot at this point), swirled it, let it sit for ten minutes, and drained it the same way, with the grain bag over the mouth of the pot. As you'd expect, I got a lot more liquid that time, but my concern is with that first 1.5 quarts, which was almost completely absorbed by the grain.

Maybe I should add that I ordered the Victory crushed from Northern Brewer.

So maybe it got too hot at the bottom of the pot when I turned on the burner? (The thermometer reading was fine at/near the surface.)

Maybe I let it sit too long? (I was following the directions in Brewing Classic Styles, more or less, and it said to give it 60 minutes.)

Should I not have stirred or swirled? (I've never had a problem with it when steeping.)

Was I not supposed to do a partial mash with Victory? (Beersmith says it has a diastatic power of 50.)

I'm supposed to get more liquid than this, right?

 

[dbreienrk1]

what was the ratio of water to grain?

 

[Yooper]

With small amounts of grain, it seems to work better if you use grain bags for the grain. It also seems like you got over 155 degrees, as the grains seem "cooked" from your description.

Next time, bag the grains and use 2 quarts of water per pound of grain in a smaller pot. You want to have the grains submerged under the water, so you may need a tall but not as wide pot to do this. After the 45 minute steeping time, lift up the grain bag and put it in a strainer over your brewpot and pour 170 degree water over it to rinse the bag.

 

[krahm]

Okay, I'll give that a try. I'm making a half batch of the same recipe this weekend, in an attempt to get this process figured out, and I've ordered extra grain, in case I screw it up again.... I'll follow your lead. Thx for the suggestions!

 

[scubakevdm]

1.5 quarts per pound of grain right?

Edit: Nevermind, I discovered that .25 plus .75 equals one.