partial mash brewing

[keithshead]

I'm moving on from kit brewing to partial mash this weekend. Going to brew a kolsch (sort of, putting in extra hops though);

pale malt extract,
munich malt (grain)
pilsner malt (grain)
spalt hops
riwaka hop flowers (which i have heard awesome things about!)
wyeast kolsch

Now, my kits have been good so far. A nut brown ale and an IPA i added extra hops to. But, my problem is i find they lack body or 'mouth feel' and there is a certain wateriness to them although the abv and general maltiness is fine. I'd like to avoid this with my kolsch.
Will adding mashed grain improve this?
If not what can i do? I have heard gypsum helps.
Also,does anyone have any advice on infusion mashing. i.e does it work?!

Cheers

[PureGuiness]

Steeping speciality grains is different to mashing. You could do a mini mash and I believe that this is possible in the oven on a small scale and once you've calibrated your oven settings to acheive the required temp (about 62 - 67oC). It sounds a bit tricky to me but people have done it with good results.

What will your process be to do this brew?

[keithshead]

well, going with 'www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/05/14/partial-mashing/' here. Basicaly, i will be heating water to 148-158 degrees and pouring it into an insulated container then add the grain and seal it for 30 to 60minutes to mash, then add the wort to my light malt extract. Experimenting at the moment to see if it will hold the temperature,if not i'll haveto try and keep a constant temp on the stove top.

[PureGuiness]

Yep. It will certainly work but you may find it easier to maintain a consistent mash temperature in the oven rather than on the stove top which might produce hot spots in the mash.

It can be used as a step up into all grain without the investment in equipment initially especially if you are intending to brew fairly small quantities initially. If you have a boiler that can take a full 5gal brew length then it might be better to jump straight into AG brewing.

Gypsum can help at both the mash stage and boiling / fermentation stages. I believe that adding 1 teaspoon full into the boil can help to ensure you have atleast the minimum amount of calcium required for good fermentation.

[keithshead]

That sounds like a good idea. i reckon i will give it a go. Tested my cool box last night to see if it would hold a high temp for an hour. Unfortunatly not, it was loosing 22degrees over an hour which is not good!

[trucker5774]

That sounds like a good idea. i reckon i will give it a go. Tested my cool box last night to see if it would hold a high temp for an hour. Unfortunatly not, it was loosing 22degrees over an hour which is not good!

22C over an hour is a lot even for a poor cool box. What temp did you test at?
Try filling with water about 70C and allow to preheat, after which it will be around 66C. Put the lid on cover with anything such as a quilt or padded ski coat and leave it for an hour then check again. During amash of about 75 mins I only loose about 1.5C measured at the centre of the mash

[keithshead]

Right, we're on. My grain mashed at a nice steady 20degrees C in my cooler and so far everything has gone swimmingly. It is in the fermentor right now. I pitched my liquid wyeast about 4 hours ago. I have only used dry yeast befor this and i found that krausen began quite soon after pitching. When i look in the fermentor now there is no foam and everything looks still but i am getting some activity in the air lock; one bubble every 90 to 120 seconds or so. I have been reading about lag time etc and i am wondering how long i may have to wait to see krausen. I know yeast starters help but it was a 5 gallon batch and the wyeast pack said it would be enough for 5 gallons.
Any thoughts?

[crowds]

20 c ? I doubt you will get any conversion at such a low temp...
Thats room temp in my house this time of year.
trucker5774 gave you the right advice about preheating and what temps to aim for.

[FiercelyFuzzy]

I've had great success partial mashing in a large cast-iron le creuset saucepan. I pre-heat the pan with hot water & then mash in a pre-heated oven at 60degreesC. I can do 1.5kg of grain easily. Cuts down on the cost of expensive DME too!

[GrafVonJon]

Thinking about this myself, to try and cut down the cost of extract whilst avoiding the startup costs of AG.

If you mash in a pan, how do you get the grain out after the mash? Just sieve it into the FV? Also, is necessary to sparge?

Trying to get a clearer picture of how a small, partial mash differs from the mashing, sparging, lautering associated with a full AG brew.

[keithshead]

I recently bought an igloo drinks dispenser that has been modified for partial mashing off of ebay. It has a stainless steel manifold inside which kind of acts as a false bottom i guess. It holds the temperature perfectly. I think you should check 'em out. Little expense wil save a lot of bother.

[keithshead]

20 c ? I doubt you will get any conversion at such a low temp...
Thats room temp in my house this time of year.
trucker5774 gave you the right advice about preheating and what temps to aim for.

Don't know why i wrote down 20C! Kolsch turned out perfectly. Lovely beer.All gone now unfortunatly.

[GrafVonJon]

Thinking of heading to the HB shop this morning and doing my first mini mash AG brew today.

As a test, I was thinking of a 2 gal. batch, which is approx 1.5 kg of malt that needs mashing.

Can I do this without any new equipment purchases (just as a test) as I might be getting some gear for Christmas, so don't wanna buy anything now.

I have a 5 gal, bottling bucket with a tap, which I could insulate with something for the mash. And a large pan (10l) which could go on the hob/in oven if needed.

After the mash, what's the easiest way to deal with the removal of the mashed grain? Without sparging from a mash tun with a tap/manifold and recirculating the wort 'til it runs clear it doesn't seem possible.

what do other "oven mashers" do?