I goofed! AG problem

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AleFred

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went the lhbs today got my first all grain recipe for a chocolate stout... forgot to tell the dude to split the grains into half the batch 2.5g because im not properly set up for 5 gallon batches...so my problem is i have all the grains together in one bag...could i place the grains in a primary stir them up good and try and pour half of them into my mash tun? im such a klutz i need help again brew dudes...
 
What part of your system is the limiting factor. If you can mash all of the grain at once, you could just do a split boil.
 
Do you have a scale? (if not, consider it a necessity, much like a thermometer, when going all grain)

mix it all up, divide in half...there you go.
 
Well I am not sure how you are going to pull this one off but if it were me I would make sure I mixed everyhting up really well first. Then, I would just cut the batch in two and make different beers using two different yeasts or you could make two of the same beer; IMHO

Hopefully someone can chime in with a similar experience...

Cheers
 
think im gonna try and mix it up and weigh out half...its a lil over 10lbs of grain
 
Do you have a scale? (if not, consider it a necessity, much like a thermometer, when going all grain)

mix it all up, divide in half...there you go.

I seriously don't agree with this method. A stout is going to have relatively small amounts of specialty grains, specifically roasted grains, that have a huge impact on the beer. It is highly unlikely you will get equal amounts even by mixing thoroughly beforehand.
 
Can you do a full 5 gal boil? If so why not just two times through the mash cycle. Split the grain do a mash. Then do the rest a second time and boil. If nasty's get in the first while you wait you are going to boil any way. Or is that too simple...Let the beer Yoda's chime in. I am still a noob.
 
Well what I'd do is mix them up and do as much as you can in the MLT, and the rest via BIAB in the BK, then combine them.

You should be able to cram about 7.5 lbs or so in a 3 gallon MLT if you do 1.25 quarts per gallon.

That leaves 2.5-3 lbs of grain which should be easy for most sized pots BIAB. All you really need is an extra pot to heat water in and a 5 gallon (or smaller, possibly) paint strainer bag you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's for a couple of bucks.
 
say i put enough strike water in the mash tun for 7 lbs of the grains, then i placed 7lbs of weight in the tun to see how much is displaced ..would that be accurate enough to see if it would over flow...seems like common sense i just want to be sure...
 
AleFred said:
say i put enough strike water in the mash tun for 7 lbs of the grains, then i placed 7lbs of weight in the tun to see how much is displaced ..would that be accurate enough to see if it would over flow...seems like common sense i just want to be sure...

"7lbs of weight"? What would you use as weight?

Honestly, I would just mix them up very well, and then split it in half as best as you can. You may be a *few* gravity points off, but this really isn't a big deal, and you can always top up with water (if OG is too high), or boil it longer (if OG is too low) if you really need to be dead-on.
 
i'd use weights ...but i like your idea bettter. i just want it to come out good ..this is my first all grain batch and im already fooking stuff up by not separating my grains in the corrent amounts
 
"7lbs of weight"? What would you use as weight?

Honestly, I would just mix them up very well, and then split it in half as best as you can. You may be a *few* gravity points off, but this really isn't a big deal, and you can always top up with water (if OG is too high), or boil it longer (if OG is too low) if you really need to be dead-on.

What I keep trying to explain is that it has nothing to do with missing the target gravity, which should be easy to hit. The problem is the flavor could very well be different between the two "halves" that you split like this, because the relative amounts of roasted grains are so small that it is unlikely they are going to be distributed evenly between the two batches.
 
i dont what to do guys homebrewin has the best idea i think considering my situation, im not doing full boils yet, so im thinking to mash half add half the amount of hops. place in fermenter about 2.5g and repeat then combine with the previous wort and pitch... this is exactly the opposite of what i was trying to do for my first ag batch .... can't wait until my PARTIAL mash Lagunitas ipa is done bottle conditioning cause i need to RDWHAHB and all i have it cherry wheats which is really for my lady....cheers
 
weirdboy said:
What I keep trying to explain is that it has nothing to do with missing the target gravity, which should be easy to hit. The problem is the flavor could very well be different between the two "halves" that you split like this, because the relative amounts of roasted grains are so small that it is unlikely they are going to be distributed evenly between the two batches.

I saw that, and I wholly disagree. If you mix it well, there are so many individual grains that, even in just a few ounces, the difference of specialty grains you might get in one half vs the other will be negligible - as long as it's ACTUALLY well-mixed.
 
I saw that, and I wholly disagree. If you mix it well, there are so many individual grains that, even in just a few ounces, the difference of specialty grains you might get in one half vs the other will be negligible - as long as it's ACTUALLY well-mixed.

OK, here's an experiment for you to try:

Take a deck of cards and sort all the cards by color. Remove all but 4 of the black cards, then combine those 4 black cards with the red cards and shuffle them. Shuffle them as many times as you like, in fact, to make sure they are ACTUALLY well-mixed. Then, count out the top 15 cards (this is half of your remaining deck) and see how many black cards are in that pile. Do this a bunch of times, and keep track. ON AVERAGE you will get 2 cards, but on any given attempt it will range from 0-4 cards.

Now consider that in a typical chocolate stout recipe, you are often looking at quantities of approximately 1/20th or less of the total grain bill of stuff like chocolate malt or black patent. This would be more like 1-2 black cards with 26 red cards. The only way you can make sure it is evenly distributed in such quantities would be to go through and manually separate those grains, or maybe by spreading the entire grain bill out on a flat surface and visually separating them (which is easy to do with cards, but not so easy with 10+lbs of grain). Also keep in mind that while chocolate malt and black patent may look similar, making it difficult to visually distinguish the two when you are mixing, they taste quite different, and you want even distributions of each of those.
 
if you can boil 5 gal. do a full mash, but fly sparge. you will be full on the the three g strike, but pull half that out and then start the sparge. you should be fine.
 
say i put enough strike water in the mash tun for 7 lbs of the grains, then i placed 7lbs of weight in the tun to see how much is displaced ..would that be accurate enough to see if it would over flow...seems like common sense i just want to be sure...

There are two problems with this. Firstly, you're working with volume, not weight. What weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of brick? Which takes up more space? Secondly, the grain absorbs water. The non-grain substance you put in may not absorb water.

You'd need to find something with the same density and absorption as the grain.
 
Assuming that he does not have the capability to boil nor ferment 5 gal. batches, here's one solution.

Mix the grains as well as possible.
Divide the hops in half if possible.
Make a 2 1/2 gal. batch but put only 1 1/4 gal. in each of two fermenters.
Make the second 2 1/2 gal. batch and split it into each fermenter.

Each boil should produce acceptable bitterness, and split into each of two fermenters should average everything acceptably.
 
just to come back to this, its been sometime. The brew will have been in bottles three weeks on the 10th, and i've been sneeking one every other day or so. i must say its absolutely amazing, the cocoa nibs infused with the grey goose for a few days did the trick.. great chocolate flavor on the back end, an overall success for my first ag which i thought was a disaster. my only quarrel with the brew is mouthfeel, could of used some malto dex for sure or a higher mash temp (mine was 152). but none the less thanks for all your help, since then i've made 3 more ag batches and dont plan on going back to extract.
 

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