Double Batch

[DanC]

I brew several different styles of beer to keep varieties in my pipeline. The problem is my pale ales go much faster than my other styles. I realize I could brew more pale ales but then I will run out of brown ales and porters. My solution is to brew double batches of pale ales. My equipment is limited to a 10 gallon brew pot so my thought is to brew a high gravity beer and divide the wort into two separate fermenters and top off with water. I am sure there could be some problems with this process. My first experiment is going to be an Amarillo SMaSH. What I am asking for is from anyone that may have some experience with this process and problems I may run into.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I do that with my extracts and the only thing is be sure you get the wort / water right per the gravity, don't just pour for volume

 

[J A]

I've done that with good success. Both straight mash and partial mash with about 30% extract addition. You'll be more limited by your mash tun volume than your boil pot. For 10.5 gallons of 1.050 beer into your primary fermenters, you'll need 7 gallons of 1.075 wort out of your boil pot. That's about 20 lbs of malt at 70% efficiency.
It's a total pain, but my best efforts along those lines have been to mash and boil twice in a day and fill up one big fermenter.

 

[DanC]

JA
The recipe builder has my estimates at 1.062 pre-boil for 8 gallons with a diluted 10 gallons in fermenters at 1.049 OG. This is 19 lbs of 2-row and brewhouse efficiency off 70%. My drinking habits during my brew day would never allow for a double brew.

Ozark
I will probably have some DME ready in case my efficiencies suck.

 

[J A]

One thing that I've found is very handy and very do-able is increasing batch size to less than double. It's relatively easy for me to get around 8 gallons of beer into fermenters instead of the 5.5 gallons I normally shoot for. Starting with a normal batch of IPA-strength at 1.068 or so, which is pretty easy to get on my system, I'd get a keg and a half of 1.047 Pale Ale. If you don't have a 2.5 or 3-gallon keg in your arsenal, you should get one - very handy. Or you can always fill a keg less than full or you could fill a keg and bottle the rest. Either way, it'll extend your inventory of that particular beer by 50%. That'll buy you another week or two of conditioning on the next batch and take the pressure off a little.

 

[Beer_Pirate]

One thing that I've found is very handy and very do-able is increasing batch size to less than double. It's relatively easy for me to get around 8 gallons of beer into fermenters instead of the 5.5 gallons I normally shoot for. Starting with a normal batch of IPA-strength at 1.068 or so, which is pretty easy to get on my system, I'd get a keg and a half of 1.047 Pale Ale. If you don't have a 2.5 or 3-gallon keg in your arsenal, you should get one - very handy. Or you can always fill a keg less than full or you could fill a keg and bottle the rest. Either way, it'll extend your inventory of that particular beer by 50%. That'll buy you another week or two of conditioning on the next batch and take the pressure off a little.

I just did something similar and it seemed to work out pretty well! I brewed a DIPA and fermented 2 gallons of the wort at full strength and diluted the rest out with water to make a pale ale that came in around 5%. Now I have more beer and more choices!