I completed my first AG batch last Sunday. I’ve got ingregients for a barleywine on the way and am thinking I will do a smaller beer after getting the first batch into the brewpot.
Since I am really new to brewing, i’m not really sure what to do in planning the smaller beer. Is there any rules of thumb to this or is it a free for all?
The grain for the barleywine is about 15lbs 2 row, 1 lb each caramunich and caravienne. Is there a smaller beer that is in line with those grains I could shoot for?
All i have on hand is some extra hops. A bit of cascade, some hallertau and I think some fuggles.
I made an amber ale a couple of weeks ago and had about 1.5 gallons of final runnings that were about 1.030. I had sort of planned for this. Once I found the quantity of wort and gravity, I ran to my computer and started playing with BeerSmith to come up with a quick 1.75 gallon recipe that I could ferment in a 2 gallon bucket. On a whim I decided on an amber !PA and just threw a recipe together. Then I remembered that I had about 1.5 quarts of brown ale wort that I was saving for a starter and tossed that in. Back to BeerSmith to adjust recipe a bit for my new brown amber IPA. When I was getting ready to add hops, I realized that I had a bunch of partial ounces of hops from various batches. So I used a lot of those instead.
It was really fun to do this. I have no idea what I will end up with and it is still in primary, but I know for sure that I can never recreate it again :cheers:
[quote=“Kgetch”]I’ve got ingregients for a barleywine on the way and am thinking I will do a smaller beer after getting the first batch into the brewpot.[/quote]The kit you’re buying is designed to deliver the right amount of sugar to the kettle with little left in the mash after sparging - with ~16 lbs grain you’ll have about two gallons of maybe 1.020 (at best) wort trapped, so you’re looking at 40 points. If you added one gallon of water to the mashtun, you would be able to pull out one gallon of 1.013-ish wort - not much to work with.
What you want to do is a “parti-gyle”, where the recipe is set up so that the bigger beer is made from first runnings only, leaving a good amount of sugar in the mash that can then be washed out with more water into a second kettle. If the gravity of these second runnings is going to be too low, then adding more grain to the mashtun, or DME to the kettle, will boost the gravity. If your mashtun can hold a bit more grain and enough water to fill the first kettle, you’re golden, otherwise you can add the grain to the mash, use as much water as possible,drain, sparge with just enough water to fill the first kettle, then add some more grain to the mashtun (or use DME), mash again, and then sparge a second time with enough water to make the second beer.
Seems kind of complicated trying to write it out, but the concept and the math are pretty simple once you put some numbers on paper.
I like your thinking and ambition on your first all grain adventure but as stated above I’d pass on this one for the same reasons. Make sure that first barleywine turns out rather than attempting to mess with another beer.
In it’s place order a pale ale or something you can drink young because barleywines are best when aged for a while.
I like your thinking and ambition on your first all grain adventure but as stated above I’d pass on this one for the same reasons. Make sure that first barleywine turns out rather than attempting to mess with another beer.
In it’s place order a pale ale or something you can drink young because barleywines are best when aged for a while.
come on…this isnt my first AG! It wont even be my second actually.
I have the barleywine stuff coming as well as a honey IPA that the wife chose. I will likely brew the IPA first.
As far as the barleywine…I may not go for a full 5 gallon batch for that, which is what initially prompted my parti-gyle questions.
I’ve never tasted a barleywine but the reading I’ve done so far has got me wanting to try it and experience the changes it goes through during its aging process.
Based on what I’ve either brewed or have in the wings…I am apparently an IPA man…which really has not been the case in actual “practice consumption”. I really like wheat beers, brown ales and yes IPA’s.
had quite a plummy porter on Sunday too!
My ideas for the barley have been maybe trim the first runnings for a 3 gallon batch, then whatever is left a smaller 5 gallon batch.
Now obviously I am no practical experience here, but my gut is telling me that 3 gallon batch would be pretty hefty then the rest would likely be a fairly acceptable gyle.
[quote=“Kgetch”]My ideas for the barley have been maybe trim the first runnings for a 3 gallon batch, then whatever is left a smaller 5 gallon batch.[/quote]This will work.
