brewjack

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I just completed my first all grain brew this weekend! Better yet, it appears I didn't screw it up terribly! So all and all a pretty awesome weekend.

But to my question. I noticed that after I had already collected enough wort to hit my target gravity, I still had very sweet wort coming from the MLT. I didn't want to waste it, but then again I already felt I had my hands full with one project. This reminded me of something I read a while back (when and where, i forget), that some high gravity beers (barley wine if memory serves) were traditionally brewed by taking the first runnings off the MLT and then a lower gravity beer with the remainder.

So has anyone tried this? Or is there a name for this technique? What beers work well to be brewed simultaneously?
Or, is my memory failing me, and no one in there right mind does this?

Thank you,

Dynachrome

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One phrase I've heard is partygyle.

The germans had a process that split three ways into, roughly translated, big, medium, and small beers.

Some light reading:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/1st-runnings-barleywine-2nd-3rd-runnings-light-beer-anyone-done-101634/

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djfriesen

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Research part-gyle. It's a fairly common practice.

ReverseApacheMaster

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If you end up with too much sparge water you can always run it off, boil it down and toss it in the freezer to make future starters.

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Stauffbier

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^ this is what I do, but I do want to try a party-gyle...

brewjack

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This is great! Thanks for the replies.
On a side note, I somehow expected the wort to be running pretty much clear by the time I finished sparging. I hit my target gravity units in the volume I was trying for. So is that just the way it works? There's normally some left behind like that?

AKnewbrews

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With brew efficiency consistency, usually the amount of grain purchased (which was previously calculated) will yield what you need without the risks associated with over-sparging. Sometimes (maybe more often than not), you end up with better or less efficiency than what the grain bill was calculated at, hence why you hit your gravity with some leftover, unless you over-sparged. There will NEVER be a 100% efficiency rate because stripping all the sugars from the grains usually comes with a price in the form of tannin extraction from the husks and a ridiculous amount of wort (due to sparging with a lot of water) that will probably be too much for the kettle that you have to boil down in.

The key is consistency. I keeps your gravities, volumes, and grain bills in check so you don't have leftover, or lack thereof.

Of course, as stated above, if you plan on it (or not), extra AG wort is great for starters!

So yes, sometimes there is some left behind. It all depends on your calculated efficiency and the grain bill that is supposed to fulfill that efficiency.

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