The best experiments w/ split batches

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

5 Is Not Enough

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
463
Reaction score
7
Location
Erie, PA
If any of you remember, I came in here(to HBT) real cocky, talking about doing 25 gallon batches in a HDPE water tank...
Well anyway, I've learned a bunch(including maybe a little humility) and have decided that at very least, a big batch deserves to be split, experimented with and observed.
So far, I've just got this:
infectable.jpg

It's not much, but I'm hoping it will make me feel better about my cleaning/sanitation methods, and maybe make some noobs feel a little less stress about their practices.:fro:
This was just 10 gal, but this will be a 25 gallon 5x batch eventually, and should make for some good "real world"(most people do 5 gallon batches, not 1 gallon experiments) analysis.

My thoughts for the future:
Yeast strains
Ferment Temps
Clearing Tanks(will need to wait for a lighter beer)
Plastic / glass aging
Autolysis of a long aged batch on a yeast cake vs in a bottle(or 2nd)
Mixing of steeped grain "teas" w/ a base hopped wort

I'm only working w/ extract/PM batches now, which might be for the better since it will generally provide for more consistent results.

I guess I've caught the HBT bug. Now I feel compelled to turn what I thought would be a simple process into about as complicated as it can get...
 
You could also experiment with wood aging (chips, cubes, staves, etc). I've split batches of IPA, and been very happy with the oaking. Last week I split a Marzen and oaked half...looking forward to this one.
 
i have just bought a bunch of 1 gal jugs to do a bunch of experimentation also, splitting up 5 gallons and have 5 experiments going on
 
mot said:
i have just bought a bunch of 1 gal jugs to do a bunch of experimentation also, splitting up 5 gallons and have 5 experiments going on
Yeah, Ive got a bunch of those and was thinking about doing some of that too, but there is much less margin for error (more fluctuation) and 1 gallon doesn't ferment the same as 5. I may still try some more complicated stuff in the 1 gals, though its a great idea. If thats what you got, anything you try and document will benefit the greater good!
 
chase said:
Would you mind elaborating on sanitation experiment?
Simple, One is in a sealed (airlocked) carboy, the other is loosely covered w/ foil and a box. They will sit and ferment, if I notice any differences, I'll note it. Its not really a very profound experiment, but at least I can say, yeah you can pretty much get away without worrying about any problems with a less than sealed fermenter or vice versa.
 
5 Is Not Enough said:
Simple, One is in a sealed (airlocked) carboy, the other is loosely covered w/ foil and a box. They will sit and ferment, if I notice any differences, I'll note it. Its not really a very profound experiment, but at least I can say, yeah you can pretty much get away without worrying about any problems with a less than sealed fermenter or vice versa.

I've already proved "somewhat open fermentation" works. I've done about 3 wheat beers that weren't closed. Make sure you post your results in the Beginners area...:mug:
 
Soulive said:
I've already proved "somewhat open fermentation" works. I've done about 3 wheat beers that weren't closed. Make sure you post your results in the Beginners area...:mug:
;) right on
 
I did a couple batches side by side, same recipe (Belgian Tripel), fermented one with Chimay yeast (WLP500) and the other with Rochefort yeast (Wyeast 1762). Great experiment...
 
Evan! said:
I did a couple batches side by side, same recipe (Belgian Tripel), fermented one with Chimay yeast (WLP500) and the other with Rochefort yeast (Wyeast 1762). Great experiment...
How did it turn out?
 
ebeer said:
You could also experiment with wood aging (chips, cubes, staves, etc). I've split batches of IPA, and been very happy with the oaking. Last week I split a Marzen and oaked half...looking forward to this one.

Just oak, or toasted oak. To what degree.... share!!! I want to oak age beer but the first batch I did I added half of a package of oak and overpowered it really bad. :(
 

Latest posts

Back
Top