All grain partial boil **With picture**

[Jack_Frost]

Hi

First of all I have to say I have very limited space as I am brewing on a narrow boat. Therefore I only have one 15ltr pot and a 27ltr fermentation bin.

Here is my brewing vessel. Appologies for the clutter on the towpath, I was preparing to paint the roof.


I really want to brew more than 10ltrs of beer.

Would it be possible to mash using the pot and batch sparge in the fermentation bin. Then mix the first mash into the fermentation bin (with me so far). Then pour off some of the mixed wort back into the pot and do a partial boil.

I know that I will have slightly different hop utilisation, but will it even out a little when diluted back?

Have I completely got the wrong end of the stick or is this a goer.

What is the ratio of grain to water that I would want to use and to batch sparge with. I dont seem to have seen this written down anywhere but think it might be 2.5ltrs/kg.

How much could I mash in my pot?

Tim

[soupdragon]

Hi

What you're asking about is basically what I'm planning to do tomorrow. The only real difference will be that I'm only doing a partial mash, batch sparging to give me about half my brew length then boiling with the full hop quota before topping up in the f/v and adding the ballance of my fermentables as dried extract. If you boil all your sugars with all your hops in about half your wort, your hop extraction will be low. So as long as you use extra hops you should be ok.
Best of luck

Cheers Tom

[Jack_Frost]

Thanks Tom, it sounds promising. How do I calculate the volume the the grain will take up in the pot?

Tim

[soupdragon]

As you mentioned in your opening post, 2.5 ltr per kg is about right but for me I'm splitting a 3 kg bag of pale malt in half so I can make 2 brews along with the dried extract I've got. I'll have 1.5 kg pale and 200 grams of crystal so I'm mashing with around 4.5 ltrs of water. I'll batch sparge twice with about 4 ltrs that should leave me with a managable 12 ish ltrs of wort to boil in my 15 ltr stockpot. Once cooled I'll add 1.5 kg of dried extract and top up to 23 ltrs chuck the yeast on and hope for the best

Cheers Tom

[Jack_Frost]

Hi

Using the batch sparge calc on this site I came up with the following figures to try and back calculate what you are planning. They look pretty similar, the only big difference is you are going to do 2 sparge of 4ltrs to equal about 8 which is the suggested amount.

I think I am getting the hang of it.

[soupdragon]

I must admit that most of that is double dutch to me, it took me a while to get my ( puddled ) head around beer engine
As long as the beer that I end up with tastes fine I'm not that concerned with the majority of the many variables that some of the more serious brewers ponder over. Each to their own and I'm sure that as I get a few mashes under my belt I'll start to fiddle a bit

Cheers Tom

[soupdragon]

Thanks Tom, it sounds promising. How do I calculate the volume the the grain will take up in the pot?

Tim

Hi Tim

Managed to get my 1st partial mash done without too much effort
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=34255
The only thing I'll change is the colander I used to strain/filter the mash/boil. It just wasn't big enough to cope with the ammount of grain. I've got a spare 5 ltr bucket that I'll attack with a 2mm drill
When you planning on doing yours?

Cheers Tom

[Jack_Frost]

Well done on the the mini mash sounds like it went well.

I have got an extract in the fv at the moment, so I will have to wait untill it is done. I am hoping for a couple of weeks time.

I will let you know how it goes.

Tim

[soupdragon]

Hi Tim

It did go better than I was expecting, if this keeps up I will end up going all grain even tho I said I wouldn't
You just can't help wanting to do the best that you can, regardless how happy you are with the beers you're making at the moment
I'd have to be home made gear tho as I can't afford to buy a nice new mash tun/box and a ready made boiler. Had an old brew-heat boiler 20 odd years age and it cost me best part of £30 then, I dread to think how much one costs now
Best of luck on your 1st partial, I'm sure the little extra effort will be well worth it

Cheers Tom