I did my first partial mash today with NB’s RyePA kit. I used my regular brew kettle for my mash but had a hard time maintaining the 152 degree temp during the 1 hour mash rest. I used towels to maintain the heat and added some hot water to keep the temperature.
When I took my hydrometer reading the OG was 1.070 (kit is suppose to be 1.065); however, my carboy was a little under the normal water level so I added more water. My problem is I tasted the wort sample and it tasted very watery and mildly grainy but had a sweet, sugary smell. I did not really taste any rye but it did have a nice bitterness. Since this is my first partial mash, I wanted to know if a watery wort sample is expected when using more grains? If not, what may I have done wrong?
Thanks!
If you got an OG that close to where the kit was aiming, I’d vote for success. RDWHAHB.
Don’t judge the taste yet. I’ve always had a hard time predicting the beer from the wort sample.
Thanks, I figured since I did not get a really low OG that the beer is likely fine. I tend to worry when I do something for the first time and likely am doing the same now. Since I have never tasted a wort sample from a partial mash or all-grain beer I am not sure how different it should taste from extract.
I plan to move on to all-grain this fall but wanted to get a handle on partial mashes first.
Cheers!
They really shouldn’t taste that different, but only for the exact same beer. Different beers will give you much different tasting wort samples. Also, it’s sometimes difficult to get the extract thoroughly mixed, and this can give you a sample that’s not as representative.
I did the same thing, and I still often do partial mashes due to the sheer convenience of kitchen brewing.
