Bock too big! Any ideas on how to help?

[Blackmuse]

Hello all - I had a hell of a brew day yesterday! I kept my cool and my wits about me so I certainly made beer! However, I am looking for some advise for what to do next time I try and brew this one!
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1456839/shuttz-bock-10g

I adjusted my grist to Liquor ratio down from my typical 1.5 to 1.25 since I had 30 lbs of grain! Despite that, I still had a hell of a time with the mash as my malt pipe just wasn't long enough for all the displaced liquor when adding the grains. (SEE PICS) - I made it through with some ingenuity but I certainly want to avoid this for next time... My question is how?
Should I:
1. Adjust my ratio to 1:1? - This would be an awefully thick mash and my efficiency would surely suffer ( It already did at 1.25 and all the issues - 70% instead of 75%)
2. Consider mashing a portion in a separate pot and conducting a decoction or two? - It would fit the recipe and as long as my day was yesterday I felt like I should have performed a triple decoction!
My only worry on 2 is in returning the decoction to the mash - it would still be unwieldy... (I think)
3. Just adjust my recipe to include some light DME?

- OR - if you've got any other ideas I am not thinking of! LOL - I would really appreciate the feedback.

As you can see here - it made some wonderfully clear beer but instead of 1.071 I got 1.066 - this is a post boil shot of my sample for gravity reading...

 

[Minbari]

Make a smaller batch?

If you want your gravity to be correct, just boil longer

 

[Blackmuse]

Make a smaller batch?

If you want your gravity to be correct, just boil longer

Well... that is true. I could do a 5 or even 7.5 gallon batch... I thought about boiling longer but my day was already extended 2 hours with the mash trouble and the late start... I did have the capacity to do so though - I was a bit over on my remaining wort.

 

[Donoroto]

Mash twice? As in, 20 lbs then 10 lbs, then combine the worts for the boil? Just use care with the water volumes.

 

[Craigerrr]

You could replace some of your grain with DME. This is my standard method now. Depending on the target gravity I employ one or two pounds of DME. For my upcoming Wee Heavy (1.083) I am doing a no spaege, and using three lbs of DME.
The last batch was 1.045, I didn't use any DME in that one.

 

[Craigerrr]

I use a Brewzilla as well

 

[Craigerrr]

Here is the grist for the Wee Heavy I have up next

 

[Blackmuse]

You could replace some of your grain with DME. This is my standard method now. Depending on the target gravity I employ one or two pounds of DME. For my upcoming Wee Heavy (1.083) I am doing a no spaege, and using three lbs of DME.
The last batch was 1.045, I didn't use any DME in that one.

I am thinking of going with the DME route... Part of me is confused though as the brewzilla 65L always touts 35lbs as its max grain capacity and I was well below that... I guess a grist to liquor ratio is needed to better implement the 35lb max! 35lbs at a 1:1 ratio?

- Just to be clear, in 2-3 weeks I plan to make the same beer but with slightly less malt (-4 lbs of malt and + 3 lbs of DME (late addition)) - I hope this will go over a bit better.

 

[Craigerrr]

I am thinking of going with the DME route... Part of me is confused though as the brewzilla 65L always touts 35lbs as its max grain capacity and I was well below that... I guess a grist to liquor ratio is needed to better implement the 35lb max! 35lbs at a 1:1 ratio?

- Just to be clear, in 2-3 weeks I plan to make the same beer but with slightly less malt (-4 lbs of malt and + 3 lbs of DME (late addition)) - I hope this will go over a bit better.

I have a Brewzilla 35, oddly the highest marking on it for water level is 30L, and there isn't much space above that.
It is a good machine for making a 5% beer, much higher than that and it gets cramped from a mash standpoint.
Once I switched to partial mash due to my back issue, I wondered why I didn't go that route sooner.
There is a bit more cost adding a pound or two of DME, but it sure makes my brew day run smoother.

 

[Bigbre04]

So i have a similar system design. Im pushing it as hard as possible(>2bbls out of a system designed to produce 2HL). I have to mash/recirc/sparge twice in order to fit even my smallest brews. so that is an option if you want to do big strong batches.

 

[Bigbre04]

I have a Brewzilla 35, oddly the highest marking on it for water level is 30L, and there isn't much space above that.
It is a good machine for making a 5% beer, much higher than that and it gets cramped from a mash standpoint.
Once I switched to partial mash due to my back issue, I wondered why I didn't go that route sooner.
There is a bit more cost adding a pound or two of DME, but it sure makes my brew day run smoother.

seems like a lot of this type of equipment is really designed for making 5% beers. its super annoying.

 

[Craigerrr]

seems like a lot of this type of equipment is really designed for making 5% beers. its super annoying.

I feel like the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, I really like my little machine

 

[Bigbre04]

I feel like the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, I really like my little machine

For sure. On my scale it's a pain in the ass.

 

[Donoroto]

I am thinking of going with the DME route... Part of me is confused though as the brewzilla 65L always touts 35lbs as its max grain capacity and I was well below that... I guess a grist to liquor ratio is needed to better implement the 35lb max! 35lbs at a 1:1 ratio?

- Just to be clear, in 2-3 weeks I plan to make the same beer but with slightly less malt (-4 lbs of malt and + 3 lbs of DME (late addition)) - I hope this will go over a bit better.

35 pounds might be optimistic hype. My 35 liter BZ system cannot fit 16 pounds.

 

[Blackmuse]

35 pounds might be optimistic hype. My 35 liter BZ system cannot fit 16 pounds.

Yeah, that is why I was wondering if maybe the 1:1 ratio would work.. Maybe that's how they got their numbers? I've prepped the recipe that will be pitched on the yeast cake of the last batch and it is another bock - but this time I plan to reduce the grain by 4 lbs and use 3lbs of DME. I'll still run with a 1.25 qt per pound ratio and we'll see if that helps the mash... Probably next weekend or the weekend after. This weekend is hopefully a small English Brown Ale.

 

[Zambi]

OK
No experience on any all in one system etc, but to me the logical answer would be to brew a smaller amount?
Say, you normally brew 20 gallon of a 5% beer, then go to 10 gallon of a 10% one or something around there to fit your grains.
You just get a thicker mash...

But I may see this way to simple ....
I'm just a small batch biabber