I am getting married in September and would like to brew a large batch for the family to enjoy at our wedding. I have the equipment to brew 10 gallon+ batches but don’t know if combining 2 extract kits would be a good idea. My initial thoughts are that it would take 2 grain bags instead of one, would need to top off in my kettle instead of in carboys, divide evenly between two carboys, and pitch yeast into each individual carboy. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Sorry if this comes across kooky but I’m a novice so please forgive.
I’m just trying to decipher what exactly you’re trying to do. When you say “double batch”, are you doubling a 5-gallon batch to 10-gallon? I’m assuming so since it sounds like you’re brewing extract with steeping grains. And you’re planning a partial boil, right?
My initial thought is that I’d just brew two different extract kits of the same recipe. One this week, one next week. Keep it simple. It would consume double the time, but is a sure-fire way to make sure you get 10 gallons of the intended recipe.
But if you want to do it all in one brew, then I’d imagine you could double up on everything. Put all the specialty grains from both kits into one grain bag, steep in double the amount of water than normal for 20 minutes or until you reach 170, then double up on all the boil additions at the normal times. And yeah, I agree, after chilling I would top up in the kettle and then split it evenly between two carboys, pitching equal amounts of yeast into both. But I suppose you could also just split the wort evenly between both carboys and then top up to 5 gallons in each…
Please don’t take my word for it, though. I’ve never scaled extract recipes before. Only all grain. And I have software that does it for me. Do you have any brewing software? I recommend plugging the double batch ingredients into some software, specifying your boil size and total yield, and then seeing if the numbers line up (OG, IBU, SRM, etc.) to the original 5-gallon recipe. I use brewersfriend.com for this. You can use it for free and save up to 5 recipes if you don’t want to pay for a subscription.
Made the double batch last night without any real issues. I marked my carboys at 1/4 gallon increments between 4 and 5 gallons before I started. This helped me distribute equal amounts into my carboys. Everything went well. One thing that did happen that did not occur to me during the planning stage. The first carboy I siphoned into was clearer due to siphoning from the middle of the kettle. The 2nd carboy was not quite as clear due to siphoning down to the bottom of the kettle. Not sure if this will affect anything but I though it was worth noticing. OG from both carboys after topping both off was the same at 1.068. Pitched the yeast and sealed em up. In the basement now at a cool 64 degrees.
Good Job Misfit. I’m guessing that you’ll get a little more trub with the cloudier batch and so a little less volume, but it should clear just as well as the 1st. So both batches should be close to identical. If there is a difference when it comes time to package, let us know. Random variation could be interesting.
