Unorthodox split-boiling

So I really would like to utilize my small(er) 1.5 gal kettle for my second brew, I didn't for my first, and I'm not really sure if this method will exactly work :/ but here goes

This is a 5.5 gal extract batch, on my first brew I only produced around 2.2 gal of wort and the rest was top up water. I would like to get that wort to around 4 gal!

I have around 1lb 7oz of steeping grains. I was considering steeping these in the smaller kettle, then bringing to a boil. Elsewhere....my main brew pot is 2.2 gal, what I was thinking was to boil up my DME + hop additions for the full 60mins, chill my water grains have been steeping in, add that to the fermenter, chill the main kettle, and add that to the fermenter?

In other words, is it possible to boil your steeping water separately to your fermentables and hops, and only combine them in the fermenter?

Thanks guys, always thinking ahead

I see no problem with that plan. Cheers!

Excellent!
Do you think the removal of the steeping grains from the mail boil change the time and/or quantity of my hop additions or when the hot break will happen?

I maybe didn't read your post carefully - you do plan to boil both pots for an hour, yes?

You will steep your grains at 150 to 160, then remove the grains and bring that pot to a boil. The other pot will have the DME and water (many people put half the DME at the start, and the rest at the end of the boil, but that's splitting hairs at this point). Since both pots get boiled for an hour, it doesn't really matter too much which one (or both!) get the hops - just follow the schedule for the hop additions and you'll be fine.

Cheers!

I'd save the bulk of the DME and add it at flame out. Three reasons- better tasting beer, lighter color, and it'll take up less room in the pot!

Add a pound or two of extract at the beginning, and then at the rest of it at flame out. Cool both pots to under 80 degrees, cool, and then mix and top up with cold water to get to 65 degrees before adding the yeast.

The split twin boil idealogy works well when brewing indoors on a weak stovetop. But it's tough to formulate recipes based on this type of system. Planning your addition amounts/times can easily become quite confused and much can be overlooked/forgotten.

It takes some experience to get used to this method of brewing. But I would say that it's pointless to do so with a 1.5 - 2.5 gallon capacity kettle... especially after boil off loss via evaporation and hop absorption of the wort. Invest in kettles with at least a 4 gallon capacity. The closer you can get to having two kettles of the same size, the better. Otherwise, it's kind of like filling your car full of gas, and also filling a container with 2 gallons of additional gas to put in your trunk for later. Kind of silly...an extra meaningless step which requires more work than the effort you put into simply just filling up again.

Mashing your grain in the smaller kettle shouldn't be a problem though... especially if you're only mashing 2-3 lbs. total grain. This is a good practice when brewing via BIAB, because you can heat up the remaining boil volume to mashout temps. and then after the mashin, you can dip your BIAB bag in that mashout temp. water several times, which will also rinse the grain.

bobbrews said:

pointless to do so with a 1.5 - 2.5 gallon capacity kettle... especially after boil off loss via evaporation

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You raise some good points!
I guess ill be loosing twice the amount of wort to evaporation because its two kettles, I might well end up loosing the potential volume of the small kettle alone! These are definitely good points to think about.