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Extract to Partial Mash Conversion Confusion

SleepySamSlim

Grandmaster Brewer
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So I'm just moving to Partial Mash and have only converted a couple of recipes. I take a know good extract + steeping grains recipe and use BeerSmith to convert to Partial Mash --- main question is why do the specialty grains change ? In one case by almost 1/2 a pound. Shouldn't the main (only) change be reducing the extract and adding say 2-row Barley with which to mash.

What is the basic process BeerSmith uses to convert a extract+grain recipe to a partial mash recipe ?????

THANKS !!!!!
 
Hi,
  I think I can explain this.  Most extracts are significantly darker than the corresponding pale malts due to the process used to make malt extract, so when you convert an extract to all grain or partial mash the color of the overall beer would become significantly paler.  BeerSmith attempts to readjust the colors to match without adding new ingredients, which in some cases results in a significant increase in specialty grains to keep the same color.

  Obviously automatic conversion is not perfect, so I do recommend taking a look at the recipe before brewing to make sure that the new recipe makes sense.  Particularly in the case of pale beers, the conversion algorithm can create some unusual results due to the "extract" problem.

Cheers,
Brad
 
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