New to Partial Brew And a Question On Procedure

[davemo]

I have a question about the process i want to use to do a partial mash. I have read several methods on the internet but none I HAVE SEEN are exactly like what i have planned. I want to place my grains in a bag like for BIAB method , tye the bag off and place it in the bottom of a cooler length wise. Then pour my 160 degrees mash water on top of it and mash the required time. While its in the cooler i will heat my sparge water in the same pot i used for the mash water. I will then take the bag of grains out of the cooler and batch sparge them in the kettle , take the grains out and pour the wort in the cooler into the kettle and proceed on with the extract and boiling, hop additions etc. Is my process valid or do i need to do something different????

[BDawg]

Welcome

Your procedure sounds good to me.

Before you start your mash, be sure to have some boiling water and some cold water on the side. This is so that you can adjust the temp if you miss.

You also should pre-heat your mash tun with hot water before adding the grains. That will help keep temp drop to a minimum.

Get ahold of some iodine from your local pharmacy to have on hand during the mash. When you think you should be finished (30 mins or so) draw a small sample of wort into a little white bowl. Add a couple drops of iodine to test if the mash is converted. If it turns black/deep blueish purple, it still has starch in it and it needs more time. If the iodine just stays the same amber color (or gets lighter), it is finished and you can proceed.

Have you researched what you need to do water-wise so that you hit proper mash pH?

Otherwise, sounds great!

What are you going to brew?

[brewinhard]

Procedure looks sound to me. Just be sure to give your mash a good solid 60 minutes to allow for full conversion. Everything will fall into place mostly on its own so don't worry (i.e. mash pH- for the most part, and starch conversion) too much for your inaugural brew. Try to complete a full boil (i.e. 6.5 gallons to reach a 5.5 or 5 gallon post boil amount) for more accurate hop utilization and a better final product.

Good luck, be patient, and most of all have fun!

Keep us posted with how your brewday went and take good notes!

Cheers -

Brewinhard

[NateBrews]

Yeah, that process sounds fine to me. I wouldn't worry too much about the pH, but do have the boiling and cold water on hand to adjust (and give it 5 minutes after you do any adjustment to let the temperature settle to the new value, otherwise you can keep chasing a moving target).

Here is a link to a Basic Brewing video where James does almost exactly the procedure you describe:
http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?p ... -and-tacos

Happy Brewing! Let us know how things turn out.