Two 5 Gallon Pots

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mvhsbball22

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Yo,

So I've been wanting to move to AG with a few batches now under my belt. At this time, my equipment is two 5 gallon pots and a 3 gallon pot. I read DB's Stovetop thread a few times and also looked at his multiple pot boil that he did for his RIS.

My questions, I guess, are whether it is advisable to try to boil about 3.5 or so gallons in each 5-gal pot and split the dunk sparge water between them, or if I should just stick to a 2.5g or 3g grain bill. Because it's gonna be 4+ hours, I would probably prefer to do 5g if possible, but I'm not sure splitting the sparge, grains, and hop between the two pots would work. In theory, it seems like it should, but I've heard that hop utilization would be different between the pots.

That being said, is the only downside to that proposition that it would be slightly less consistent? If so, I wouldn't be all hot and bothered, as the odds of me rebrewing the exact beer this early in my brewing career is pretty slim.

Thanks in advance for any advice you gurus have.
 
mvhsbball22 said:
Yo,

So I've been wanting to move to AG with a few batches now under my belt. At this time, my equipment is two 5 gallon pots and a 3 gallon pot. I read DB's Stovetop thread a few times and also looked at his multiple pot boil that he did for his RIS.

My questions, I guess, are whether it is advisable to try to boil about 3.5 or so gallons in each 5-gal pot and split the dunk sparge water between them, or if I should just stick to a 2.5g or 3g grain bill. Because it's gonna be 4+ hours, I would probably prefer to do 5g if possible, but I'm not sure splitting the sparge, grains, and hop between the two pots would work. In theory, it seems like it should, but I've heard that hop utilization would be different between the pots.

That being said, is the only downside to that proposition that it would be slightly less consistent? If so, I wouldn't be all hot and bothered, as the odds of me rebrewing the exact beer this early in my brewing career is pretty slim.

Thanks in advance for any advice you gurus have.
Click to expand...

I do mash the grains needed for a 5.5 G batch (approx. 12 - 13 lbs) and then split the wort equally in two 5 G pots for boiling. All you need to do is split the hops equally. As for the efficiency, I'm hitting around 90% so I don't think that the split pot method is affecting it.

Also, I find it easier to cool down since there's less wort to chill. I put both pots in my bath filled with cool water.

Enjoy your first AG !
 
I tried a split pot boil for my last AG so that I could do a 5 gallon batch. My old stove wasn't outputting enough heat to keep both at the best boil, so I may have to modify my technique next time. I had to keep moving them between burners.

fardy said:
As for the efficiency, I'm hitting around 90% so I don't think that the split pot method is affecting it.
Click to expand...

What method are you using to get such great efficiency? Any tips?
 
jewillia said:
I tried a split pot boil for my last AG so that I could do a 5 gallon batch. My old stove wasn't outputting enough heat to keep both at the best boil, so I may have to modify my technique next time. I had to keep moving them between burners.



What method are you using to get such great efficiency? Any tips?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I would like to tell you but even I am shocked that I get that efficiency most of the time. I try to keep my temperature as accurate as possible during the mash. I crush my grains directly at the LHBS using their mill, maybe that has something to do with it but I'll never know...
 
I recommend doing a partial mash with DME if you want to take on a big beer, but do not have the capacity. I use a 70qt mash tun and a 15g keggle for my imperial brewing now. Just takes big ass gear.

I suppose you could get away with two pots, but you're still going to have mash tun problems unless you have something larger than like 40qt.

Figure out what the largest beer you can make with your current equipment... add X-pale DME to reach your OG.
 
I made a barleywine and an IIPA using two 4 gallon pots and one 3 gallon. I mashed in my 4 gallon, and split my boil. The tradeoff: I made about a 2.5 gallon batch. These were the best beers I have ever made, and my efficiency was about 75%. It is totally possible to make the big beers, but your batch size will be severely limited.

I still actually mash in a 4 gallon pot, sometimes I split my mash into 2 4 gallons for larger beers. Now that I have my Eastman Outdoors turkey fryer, my boils do not make my windows look like its raining INSIDE the house.
 
Yeah, its possible but when you max out your mash tun capacity you are forced to lower the batch size. It gets quite wet in my garage when its cold outside and you are boiling off 2.5-3 gallons of water!!
 

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