highgravitybacon
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- Joined
- Sep 28, 2012
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I'm pretty lazy.
In trying to think of a way to save time and effort, I have this concept, and I'm sure its been done before since just about everything has been done at this point. Stick with me here.
I don't drink beer fast enough to make it worth my while to make something like an IPA. I might drink a six pack's worth here and there, but not the 50+ bottles of a 5 gallon batch. I just get bored of the same beer. I look at the little glass soldiers and say, "men, you have served me well. But I tire of you." Then they sit until they've lost the luster.
Some beers, that's okay. Like a nice tripel or belgian strong. But lighter beers and hoppy beers don't age gracefully in my opinion.
The typical option is to make a smaller batch. But the effort to make a 1 gallon all grain batch is the same as making a 5 gallon batch. Time is the same, too.
Here's my concept, tell me if this has potential:
1.Create an all pale malt mash. 6 gallons of it. 1.060 or whatever.
2. With that wort, split it into say 3 two gallon batches. Dilute as necessary to obtain appropriate starting gravity if less than 1.060 is needed.
3. With each of those batches, add different steeping grains to create a different beer. So I might steep some crystal 60 into the stove top batch, boil and hop to create and APA. Another one I might add a bit more crystal, hop more heavily and make an IPA. Third batch might get some flaked grains, roasted grains and become a stout.
So I now have three beers from one parent mash and they can all be done on the stop top concurrently. Hop as appropriate during boil, yeast as appropriate or pick a neutral strain that works for all 3 batches.
It's the same amount of time, but more busy work. If I avoided a mashout in the parent mash, the enzymes would still be present in the wort and able to convert any loose starches, meaning I could even throw some flaked grains into the mix and have them convert in the 20 or 30 minutes for steeping.
Thoughts on this?
In trying to think of a way to save time and effort, I have this concept, and I'm sure its been done before since just about everything has been done at this point. Stick with me here.
I don't drink beer fast enough to make it worth my while to make something like an IPA. I might drink a six pack's worth here and there, but not the 50+ bottles of a 5 gallon batch. I just get bored of the same beer. I look at the little glass soldiers and say, "men, you have served me well. But I tire of you." Then they sit until they've lost the luster.
Some beers, that's okay. Like a nice tripel or belgian strong. But lighter beers and hoppy beers don't age gracefully in my opinion.
The typical option is to make a smaller batch. But the effort to make a 1 gallon all grain batch is the same as making a 5 gallon batch. Time is the same, too.
Here's my concept, tell me if this has potential:
1.Create an all pale malt mash. 6 gallons of it. 1.060 or whatever.
2. With that wort, split it into say 3 two gallon batches. Dilute as necessary to obtain appropriate starting gravity if less than 1.060 is needed.
3. With each of those batches, add different steeping grains to create a different beer. So I might steep some crystal 60 into the stove top batch, boil and hop to create and APA. Another one I might add a bit more crystal, hop more heavily and make an IPA. Third batch might get some flaked grains, roasted grains and become a stout.
So I now have three beers from one parent mash and they can all be done on the stop top concurrently. Hop as appropriate during boil, yeast as appropriate or pick a neutral strain that works for all 3 batches.
It's the same amount of time, but more busy work. If I avoided a mashout in the parent mash, the enzymes would still be present in the wort and able to convert any loose starches, meaning I could even throw some flaked grains into the mix and have them convert in the 20 or 30 minutes for steeping.
Thoughts on this?
