So, you’ve been brewing with malt extract and you’ve got your routine all figured out. The beer’s coming out pretty good, but you’re ready to take it to the next level. Enter: partial mash brewing. Partial mash brewing combines the simplicity of extract brewing with the slightly more advanced part of all-grain brewing called mashing.
The big advantage of partial mash brewing is that you get to learn how to mash without having to buy a lot of extra equipment. If you’re already brewing with malt extract, this is the only additional equipment you need to make the move to partial mash brewing:

• Malted grains – Use with a pound or so of base malt or another lightly kilned malt, like Vienna or 2-Row. Depending on your beer recipe, include a few ounces of specialty grains if you’d like.
• A colander or mesh strainer
• A thermometer.
• pH test papers (though if you have the funds, you should really go for a digital pH meter)
• A stock pot for mashing (a standard kitchen stock pot should be fine)
• Calcium carbonate and gypsum

Unlike steeping grains, as we sometimes do with extract brewing, what we’re going to do here is convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars. To do this, we’ll soak the grains in warm water for 30-60 minutes. Here’s the trick: for the naturally-occurring enzymes in the grain to break down the starches, we need to control two important factors: temperature and pH. To properly break down the starches, we want to hold the mash water at a temperature between 150-158F and a pH level between 5.0 and 5.5. That’s it!
Here’s are the basic partial mash brewing instructions. See how it compares with what you’re already doing:

1. Clean and sanitize as you would normally. This something that should be followed, regardless of your brewing method.
   

2. Add 1-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain to your stock pot.

3. Heat the water to about 170°F. Since the grain is at room temperature, we heat the water a little above the ideal mash temperature. When we add the grains, we should be right in range.

4. Add the crushed grain to the stock pot. Stir well to avoid clumping.

5. Check the pH of your mash. If it’s above 5.5, add 1/4 tsp. of gypsum and stir. If it’s below 5.0, add 1/4 tsp. calcium carbonate and stir. Adjust until you’re in the proper range.

6. Check the temperature of your mash. Hold the temperature as close to 154°F as possible. If below 150°F, add heat and stir. If above 158°F, add a little cold water and stir.

7. Mash for about 60 minutes, adjusting temperature as needed.

8. At the end of your mash, pour the mash through a strainer into your brew kettle. Recirculate the wort through your grains as needed to clarify.

9. Add water to reach your desired boil volume and proceed as if you were brewing with extract.

There you have it: basic partial mash brewing instructions. That’s not too hard, is it?
Partial mash brewing is an easy way for homebrewers to transition from extract brewing to all-grain. Once you master the mash technique, you’re ready to brew all-grain!
Questions? Feel free to ask in the comments section!
Til next time…Cheers!
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David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

Most beginning home brewers start out brewing with malt extract kits. This is simple, not very time consuming, and the results are fairly predictable.
As a home brewer progresses and becomes more accomplished, they then learn how to add some grains to their brewing process in a concoction know as a partial-mash. There are partial-mash ingredient kits for them to choose from as well. This is a little more involved but opens the homebrewer to a larger world of beer styles.
Then comes the ultimate level of homebrewing: ‘all-grain brewing‘. As the name sounds, it is brewing beer with the use of no malt extracts whatsoever. All the sugars for fermentation come from malted barley grains themselves.
The popularity of all-grain brewing has increased by leaps and bounds in the recent past. There are many reasons why this could be for any one individual, but it is my personal belief that it usually has something to do with: accomplishment or learning something; having better control over flavor; or just having the ability to be more creative and adventuresome.

• Experience: The all-grain brewer gets to experience a brewing process that is much more closely related to the process commercial brewers use. We here at E. C. Kraus know of several home brewers that have gone on to work for commercial breweries.

• Ultimate control: You may use any malted grain of your choice as this method gives you complete freedom. It lets you have full control over the brewing process, and this is one of the main reasons why this method is gradually becoming the leading choice of people worldwide.

• Increased creativity: For people who love to experiment, all-grain brewing becomes a great experience. Most of us want to create our own homebrew recipes. There are virtually endless combinations of malts and you can try the various combinations with different beer yeast types, temperature, hops etc. to make your own brewing recipe masterpiece. This method will give wings to your imagination and boost your creativity.

• Fun and adventure: If you want to learn the secrets of brewing, this method gives you a nice opportunity to do so. You get to learn many things from experience. Many individuals brew all-grain to hone their brewing skills. At the same time, it is a fun-filled way that helps you in making good quality beer.

Beyond all these points, the process in itself is quite relaxing and it is an awesome experience to brew all grain. Being able to share a brew with friends, family and neighbors that you can say you made completely from scratch is a great feeling. To get more details on the all-grain brewing process, see “The Basics Of All-Grain Brewing“. It spells out the process a little more clearly.
Happy Brewing,
Ed Kraus
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since 1999. He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.

When I first started home brewing several years ago, like most new brewers, I was only concerned with getting a beer that tasted good and that was something that I enjoyed drinking or sharing with friends and family. In reading various home brewing forums, I knew that there were a lot of people who went out of their way to get the clearest beer they could. It seemed to me that this quest for beer clarity verged on a waste of time.
However, as I grew in the hobby, I came to appreciate the desire for clarity. It started with just one off-hand comment from a relative…
Several years ago, I set out to copy one of my favorite beers from a local nano-brewery. They did not publish their beer recipe, but they did list the ingredients on their beer list. I tried my best to recreate the grain bill and hop schedule, but never quite could match the beer. But, to make a long story short, over time, this beer morphed into a substantially different brew, but one I liked a lot! During a family party, I offered this beer to some family and my brother-in-law, who is also a home brewer, mentioned almost out of earshot, “Look how clear it is!”
I hadn’t even been setting out to clear the beer to that degree, but I had been saving several bombers of this batch specifically for this party. Since they were in the fridge for about six weeks, they got pretty clear. I must admit, I enjoyed both the pride I felt in his comment, and I really did enjoy what the aesthetic of that clear beer added to my drinking experience.
A year later, my local homebrew shop was having a contest, and I decided to enter beer made with this beer recipe. Again, I left it in the fridge for six weeks, and the shop stored it in their fridge for about four more weeks before judging. The comments from the three judges all specifically remarked on how clear the beer looked, and it was one of the factors that led to this beer taking second place overall.
So yes, now I am a clarity convert, and now I set out to clarify my beer. I started with Whirlfloc tablets. It works well, but I wanted more, so I turned to cold-crashing and fining with gelatin finings. The process of using gelatin to clarify your beer is fairly straightforward, but if you’ve never tried it, I’d place this technique high on your list of things to add to your brewing repertoire. It really doesn’t take a lot of work at all, and as far as bang-for-your-buck is concerned, I can’t think of anything that is so inexpensive, so relatively easy, which adds so much to enjoyment of beer.

How important is clarity to you? What techniques do you like to use to clarify your beer?
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John Torrance is a database developer, gadget lover, and avid home brewer living in Lafayette, Colorado. When he’s not actively brewing, he’s generally daydreaming about what he’s going to brew for his next batch.