Reverse Parti-Gyle?

I've made a few Parti-Gyle beers where I take the first runnings for a big beer and then use the second runnings for a session beer. Sometimes I add a bit of extract to the second runnings to get it to a reasonable O.G. if its on the weak side.

I recently had the idea to do the reverse. Brew 10 gallons of a normal beer, then drain off the first 5 gallons into a bucket and cool it with my immersion cooler. The remaining 5 gallons I'd continue to boil and add some extract to make a big beer. Is there any reason this wouldn't work? Has anyone done this before? Right now I don't have a particular recipe in mind to try this with, although I think it would work nicely with an Irish Red. Any feedback is appreciated.

i'm assuming you are fly-sparging? i don't see any reason why this wouldn't work. the first runnings will still be the strongest, no matter what, but the continued runnings will still be suitable to make a decent beer. adding extract to that shouldn't be a problem.

i batch sparge, so the first and second runnings are for the main beer. usually when i do a small beer with the 3rd runnings i end up with a very small (2-3%) beer that has a little tannin taste. balance that with some hoppy aroma and flavor and it's good for what i like to call "free beer"...which can be consumed in a matter of days. i don't think it would be as good if i added extract to that, tho.

Yes, I fly sparge. I generally collect the first 6.5 gallons to boil for my big beer, then collect 6.5 gallons more for my session beer (hence the need for extract). With this reverse Pari-Gyle I'd collect 12 gallons for the main boil. After collecting the first 5.5 gallons I'd boil the remaining 5.5 gallons for another 10 minutes with extract (I lose a gallon to boil-off).

ahh, gotcha. less work, two different batches. sounds like a great idea, are you going to add some different finishing hops in the second batch, too?

Hmm, I suppose I could use different finishing hops on the second batch. I hadn't thought about that. Its time for me to figure out a recipe now. I'll report back when I finally get around to trying this new technique. Thanks.