Anyone ever BiAB then use it to mash in for high gravity?

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

So, I was thinking tonight about making a barleywine and whipped up a recipe, but I don't have a tun big enough to fit all the grain necessary. Part of the grist is also a good amount of rye, and I was going to add DME for gravity but then it hit me, what if I do a step mash with direct heat biab with the rye and some more 2-row so I can get a protein rest on the rye, then raise the temperature to mash-in temps (~168-170) and use that to mash in the rest of the grist. I know I would be staring down a very long brew day, but I'm feeling like it would totally work for a very concentrated wort in a 5-gallon cooler mash tun setup. I guess the focus of the question is would the bulk of the mash be affected by mashing in with wort from a biab?

I'm brewing with fairly unsophisticated equipment (orange cooler mash tun, 7.5 and 6 gallon pots respectively without bulkheads and fancy S*** etc., standard wort chiller, on an electric range oven) and buying shiny stuff is not currently an option, but any experience/theories/knowledge would be appreciated, I think I can pull it off.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I did a barleywine in small equipment. Just mashed the largest volume/grain bill I could fit the boiled it down to reduce volume and increase the OG. Or like you mentioned you could so a standard mash/boil and add extract to make up the missing gravity points.

 

[GrogNerd]

Randy Mosher writes about that technique in Radical Brewing (p135), calling it "doble-doble" and includes a recipe

20 lbs MO & 2 lbs Biscuit

split into 2 equal grain bills. mash first at 152, vorlauf, drain, sparge to collect 4 gallons
clean the mash tun, fill with 2nd half of grainbill. (EDIT) use runnings from first mash as strike (/EDIT) repeat the mash, sparge to collect 6 gallons

 

[aiptasia]

Two thoughts: Rye LME and Flaked Rye. Neither of which need to be mashed. In the case of the flaked rye, it merely needs to be steeped to extract the rye flavor and sugars.

 

[wilserbrewer]

While it could be done as described above, it would be more time efficient to conduct two smaller simultaneous mashes, one in your cooler and a BIAB in the kettle.

Kinda like series or parallel, cheers!

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Randy Mosher writes about that technique in Radical Brewing (p135), calling it "doble-doble" and includes a recipe

So the idea could work, which is good. As for the flaked stuff or lme/dme, I'm working with what I have, and I admittedly have a very serious rye ADDICTION, sometimes using it in excess of 65% of my grist when I do use it, and if I recall the rye dme has crystal malts and barley in it that I don't want. It's a nice product, but when all is said and done, I prefer the pita mash and good quality control over simplicity and one-size-fits all brew. And, correct me if I'm mistaken, flaked rye needs to be mashed anyways. As for side by side, I guess I could do a smaller amount of water BIAB and mash in as usual with the rest of the grain bill. Time isn't really a factor as on my days off I have a lot of time to dedicate to something like this. Thanks for the input!

 

[BlackGoat]

I've done back-to-back mashes with my BIAB setup to get a high gravity wort. It adds a couple hours to your brew day, but it really wasn't a big deal and you get the quantity you need without upgrading equipment. Concurrent mashes would be even better if that is an option.

 

[TIPA0303]

It's called reiterative mashing. There was an article in BYO recently: http://byo.com/porter/item/1317-reiterated-mashing-multiple-mashes-for-massive-brews

It's a simple concept. Just mash twice and use your first mash as your sparge water for your second mash. Shouldn't add more that an extra 1.5-2 hrs to your brew day.