Experimental Batches

I'm thinking about experimenting with my next pale ale.

I am either going to split after the mash, and have two boils going with different hop combinations.

Or

I'll split after boil, and add different yeasts.

However, I am unclear on how this effects:

-yeast starters
-Overall gravity of beers

Can someone that has done this help me out? It is important to note that I am doing PM, and still top off with 3gallons of water after boil.

Is there any possibility of doing a full boil instead? You'll end up with better beer. (I understand you want to experiment, and don't mean to question that interest. It's just that in my experience, a full boil makes a huge difference.)

doggage said:

Is there any possibility of doing a full boil instead? You'll end up with better beer. (I understand you want to experiment, and don't mean to question that interest. It's just that in my experience, a full boil makes a huge difference.)

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No I can't do that yet, don't have the capabilities quite yet. Why do full boils make better beer?

if you were intrested in doing full boils you could split the mash and do two different pots on the stove(Im assuming you are boiling on the stove) then you could do different hops in the brews and if you wanted to be very expiramental you could split those batches down even more using different yeasts. its all up to you.

If you're going to do a partial boil and then spit the batch into mulitple fermenters, make sure you either split it up evenly before adding the top off water, or mix the wort and the top off water extremely thoroughly. It may seem mixed well even if it isn't, and you'll end up with one extra light beer and one heavy beer. As far as the yeast goes, just use a proportional amount, ie 1/2 as much yeast if splitting the batch into two fermenters.

One advantage to full boils is that the lower specific gravity of the boil results in much better hop utilization, which is very helpful for IPA's and hoppy brews. Another advantage to full boils is a better hot/cold break, resulting in better clarity.