Parti-Gyle for BIAB

[Bryan_85]

Actually "Parti-Gyle" might not be an accurate description, but that's the general idea. I have one very general question relating to mash times and another about grain bills as I prepare for my first endeavor into making 2 different beers from the same grain before (in my BIAB setup).

1) Initially I was going simply mash the "stronger" for about half an hour and then switch the grain bag into another pot for the "weaker" mash for an hour. I thought that this would save me time by allowing me to get this stronger mash boiling while the weaker mash continued...to mash.

The more I thought about it, however, the more I worried that whatever chemical reactions are happening in the mash would be incomplete after half an hour and I should mash the stronger wort for a full hour (or more). Thoughts on that?

2) I haven't decided if I want to make an IIPA or barley wine with the stronger wort, but either way I'd be mashing low (~150ish) and not have much crystal malts. These 2 factors together aren't really ideal for the smaller beer (seems like it could get watery, right?). I've read that some ppl add some crystal and mash again? Are there other strategies for dealing with this issue (besides brewing 2 beers with more similar mash temps & grain bills)? If the grainbills aren't the same between the 2 worts (eg I throw some crystal malts into the second mash), then are they technically not parti-gyle?

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[tbred]

How big of a batch are you thinking about? When I did mine, I just bought a cheap cooler to mash in. Worked great for my 1 gallon batch.

Question 1: I have heard of people just moving the bag of grains to another kettle. I would run a regular mash though.

Question 2: Its called capping and its still a parti-gyle. You could always cap with some 2 row or add dme to the boil to bump up your gravity.

Good Luck!

 

[Bryan_85]

How big of a batch are you thinking about? When I did mine, I just bought a cheap cooler to mash in. Worked great for my 1 gallon batch.

I haven't really settled on a recipe, but with my 5 gallon kettle I was thinking about doing 2 - 1.5 gallons (final volumes) batches. You know - keep the math simple for the first attempt!

Question 1: I have heard of people just moving the bag of grains to another kettle. I would run a regular mash though.

If you "cap", and mash longer, do you have to worry about the mash getting too long for the grain that's already been mashed? I mean, if the bulk of the grain is mashed for an hour for the first wort, and then again, would 2 hours of mashing have some adverse effects? (I thought I read somewhere that mashes can get too long.) Or perhaps the "2nd mash" could be very short because, in a way, part of what is being done is just washing the grain again.

Question 2: Its called capping and its still a parti-gyle. You could always cap with some 2 row or add dme to the boil to bump up your gravity.

 

[Bryan_85]

In case anyone's interested, I found this Brew Strong podcast on partigyle:

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/981

One thing they mentioned is that if you "cap" and mash again, then the PH can (depending on the water, of course) be higher than optimal. They said that one good strategy is to add some darker roasted grains for the 2nd mash to lower the PH. No surprise there, but it made me wonder: could crystal malts be used instead with a similar effect on the PH?

 

[SaguaroMan]

Why not just use some acidulated malt to lower the pH?

 

[Bryan_85]

Why not just use some acidulated malt to lower the pH?

Thanks for the idea SaquaroMan. I'm not very familiar with this malt. I also haven't noticed it in the LHBS before, but it might be there. And as long as it's under <3% of the grainbill there won't be any sourness?

 

[SaguaroMan]

Correct! A few ounces should do the trick

 

[Weezy]

I've collected two worts from one batch. I did an initial mash at 1.5 qt/lb at about 60% efficiency, collected those as essentially first runnings for the first batch. Second batch was essentially a batch sparge of the sugar rich grains. I did monitor pHs, which is the concern as stated above, but the second batch was high enough gravity to be fine thanks to the planned low efficiency of the first runningd (I adjust pH with an eye dropper and 85% phosphoric acid).