Mozart
Well-Known Member
Just started heating the water for my first ever mini-mash. I'm pretty excited about it.
Wish me luck!
Cheers!
Wish me luck!
Cheers!
Wish me Luck!
- Thread starter Mozart
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cheesehed007
Well-Known Member
Good luck! I did my first PM on Friday! Enjoy the ride! Cheers! Too many of these ! ?
Mozart
Well-Known Member
2 gallons of water heated to 168 strike, 6 lbs. of grain in the bag in the kettle.
Temp after grain add 155*.
Kettle wrapped in old blanket.
Doing Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde. Recipe calls for 150 mash, but not sweating the 5* difference. RDWHAHBing away! Time to measure hops additions, extract additions, and have a hefeweizen from my last batch while I wait.
Temp after grain add 155*.
Kettle wrapped in old blanket.
Doing Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde. Recipe calls for 150 mash, but not sweating the 5* difference. RDWHAHBing away! Time to measure hops additions, extract additions, and have a hefeweizen from my last batch while I wait.
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Mash temp holding @ 153*. Gave the grain a quick stir.
Hops and extract measured, off by a gram on a couple of hop additions, and by 1/8 oz on my extract addition, not sweating it. Pour-over sparge water heating, and collander at the ready.
Thanks to everyone on the forum for all of the help, and especially DeathBrewer for the BIAB sticky and Biermuncher for today's recipe!
Hops and extract measured, off by a gram on a couple of hop additions, and by 1/8 oz on my extract addition, not sweating it. Pour-over sparge water heating, and collander at the ready.
Thanks to everyone on the forum for all of the help, and especially DeathBrewer for the BIAB sticky and Biermuncher for today's recipe!
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Ok, this play-by-play seems like old had to those that've done it many times before, and I won't use this forum as my personal homebrew log, promise!
Just trying to share the enthusiasm this new brewer has for his first partial mash, and encouraging others who may be inclined to give it a try.
Another stir, and my mash temp is holding at 152*. Those blankets work great!
Just trying to share the enthusiasm this new brewer has for his first partial mash, and encouraging others who may be inclined to give it a try.
Another stir, and my mash temp is holding at 152*. Those blankets work great!
cheesehed007
Well-Known Member
Brew on!
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Mash done, draining in collander.
Just realized my first rookie move, calculated boil volume for hops adds without figuring water absorbed by grain. Will fix on the fly!
Edit: Pondered rushing to the store now for another gallon of spring water. Realized it makes more sense to do that at the end if I come up short, since it's only topoff anyway.
Edit 2: Coming up short in the kettle due to grain absorbing water, so increasing sparge water volume by 1/2 gallon, will adjust further from there.
Just realized my first rookie move, calculated boil volume for hops adds without figuring water absorbed by grain. Will fix on the fly!
Edit: Pondered rushing to the store now for another gallon of spring water. Realized it makes more sense to do that at the end if I come up short, since it's only topoff anyway.
Edit 2: Coming up short in the kettle due to grain absorbing water, so increasing sparge water volume by 1/2 gallon, will adjust further from there.
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Sparge complete. Measured boil volume with metal measuring tape of all things! Water seems about 1/2 way up the pot, so I hit my target, or close enough, with the add of the sparge water. Heating to boil.
BTW: Final mash temp = 151*, so lost only 4* in the hour long mash, good to know for the future.
BTW: Final mash temp = 151*, so lost only 4* in the hour long mash, good to know for the future.
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Boiling and hopping per schedule. Things going smoothly.
Congrats
I understand the excitement. I did my first partial mash last year, and I remember I was really intimidated. I've done about 4 or 5 since then, and honestly, there's really no reason to think too hard about it. If your mash water is in the right temp range, you let the grains mash long enough, you sparge at the right temp and collect as much of that converted sugar as you can so your gravity ends up within a few points of your aim, the rest is details. You can get very, very technical when mashing and lautering, but I leave that to the pros and the more serious brewers. This is still a hobby for me, and I want it to be fun. I don't want to have to break out calculators, charts, graphs, and lots of excess equipment on brew day. Chances are, the beer is going to turn out just fine, even if you **** up a little.
As always, RDWHAHB.
As always, RDWHAHB.
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Cooled and about to pitch rehydrated yeast.
OG per Beersmith: 1.045
OG measured: 1.044!!!!
Doing my happy dance, pitching yeast and waiting for this one to ferment
Thanks for everything I've learned here!
OG per Beersmith: 1.045
OG measured: 1.044!!!!
Doing my happy dance, pitching yeast and waiting for this one to ferment
Thanks for everything I've learned here!
Mozart
Well-Known Member
Final notes:
Don't measure out DME addition too early. It picks up moisture from the air and is tough to scrape out of the bowl.
Recipe OG per BeerSmith: 1.045
Temp adjusted OG: 1.045!!!
Brewhaus efficiency (what I had loaded into BeerSmith and since I was spot on, it's probably right): 65%
For my first ever BIAB mini-mash? I couldn't be happier! Yeah, the AG guys with better equipment do better, but really, this is what I was hoping for, and I hit it.
My extract hefe got great reviews at poker night, but I'm glad I stepped it up a little today. I'll try to let everyone know how it turns out!
This whole community, all of you, made this apparently successful brewday possible. Thank you.
Don't measure out DME addition too early. It picks up moisture from the air and is tough to scrape out of the bowl.
Recipe OG per BeerSmith: 1.045
Temp adjusted OG: 1.045!!!
Brewhaus efficiency (what I had loaded into BeerSmith and since I was spot on, it's probably right): 65%
For my first ever BIAB mini-mash? I couldn't be happier! Yeah, the AG guys with better equipment do better, but really, this is what I was hoping for, and I hit it.
My extract hefe got great reviews at poker night, but I'm glad I stepped it up a little today. I'll try to let everyone know how it turns out!
This whole community, all of you, made this apparently successful brewday possible. Thank you.
