BeerBorg

Yesterday I made my first attempt at a partial mash recipe. Made a 5 gallon batch of Dunkelweizen. My question is that the OG came in a little low 1.046 versus estimated 1.054. I mashed my grains in a steeping bag and was wondering if for some reason I didn't get all of the sugars out of the grains. Did sparge with the 170 deg water and it was fairly clear when I finished so I thought I got it all out. Anyway, if you'll have any insight or tips for the next time, would appreciate it.

Started a little over a year ago with MrB kits now doing partial mash... love this hobby. Have to say that it was longer to make this batch even versus the other 5 gallon extract kits I've been making so hoping that I can appreciate the difference.

How long did you mash and at what temperature? Next time, instead of sparging, try squeezing the bag - I find that this extracts a ton of extra sugars. Also - the efficiency for BIAB is directly related to the crush - you want your grains to be milled nice and fine - if you have your LHBS do it, ask to run them through the mill twice.

Oh, and welcome to the Borg!

Russki - thanks for the welcome. I mashed at 122 for 30 minutes, raised to 154 for 45 min. I keep reading more and more that people are squeezing the bags but in learning they keep saying that you'll end up with the tannins if you squeeze the bag. Is this a myth or is there some truth to that?

Welcome to the Borg shewdawg. Tannin extraction is dependent on temperature and pH. Squeeze away!

Curious what water to grain ratio you used. Also what software. Can you post the recipe?

I suggest that you keep some light LME handy for low efficiency. I do.

shewdawg wrote:Russki - thanks for the welcome. I mashed at 122 for 30 minutes, raised to 154 for 45 min. I keep reading more and more that people are squeezing the bags but in learning they keep saying that you'll end up with the tannins if you squeeze the bag. Is this a myth or is there some truth to that?

As others have mentioned - as long as you don't exceed 165F or so, no worries about tannin extraction; squeeze away! Also - with modern well-modified malts, you don't really need a protein rest (120-130F), unless you have a high percentage of unmalted wheat. You can go straight to the sacc rest (148-158F) for 60 min. How much water/grain did you use?

Got this recipe from my LHBS who put this together:

Specialty Grains:
1 lb Caramel Wheat malt
1 lb Wheat Malt, Dark
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb Wheat, flaked

Fermentables:
2 lb Amber Dry Extract
3.3 lbs Wheat LME

Hops:
1 oz Hallertauer Hops (60 min)

Yeast:
Safbrew WB-06

Put this in Qbrew and the OG's seemed to line up pretty well. First attempt so definitely a learning experience and looking forward to trying this again... oh yes, and drinking this one as well.

And for water to grain ratio I used 4 qts for the grain bill that I had in the recipe.

shewdawg wrote:And for water to grain ratio I used 4 qts for the grain bill that I had in the recipe.

How did you control your mash temperature? A little trick I used in the past is preheating the oven to 170F, and placing the pot inside after mash-in, then killing the heat. Hot oven holds mash temps near perfectly.

Someone who's used wheat more than me might jump in soon, I think flaked wheat can be persnickety.

When you put the grain bag in the strike water did you use a spoon to make sure the grain and water got mixed well? When I have a lot of grain in my bag I have to make sure there is good saturation because my brew kettle is pretty tall.

Yes, I made sure that I blended the water in as I actually watched a few videos on this and picked up on this trick there. I like the idea about keeping it in the stove to preserve the temps.

shewdawg wrote:Yes, I made sure that I blended the water in as I actually watched a few videos on this and picked up on this trick there. I like the idea about keeping it in the stove to preserve the temps.

That is how I mash also, I'd been pre-heating and then turning the oven off until I discovered that I had a Keep Warm function which holds my mash steady.

Having your OG come in "a little low" the first time you mash is a big success. Enjoy the beer.

That's not that bad of a discrepancy for your first attempt. With more brew days, the practice will help you figure out how well your equipment works and then you'll make changes to your technique accordingly so that you hit your targets more often. Squeezing the bag is something I also advocate, as it helps get out more of the sugars from the mash.