Making a high ABV stout

I'd like to make a 10% ABV stout. At the efficiency I get with my cooler MLT, I'll need 20.5 lbs of grain. Mashing at 1 qt/lb, first runnings would be 3 gallons. Batch sparging with .75 qt/lb twice will give me another 7.68 gallons. This will give me 10.7 gallons in the kettle for a 6 gallon batch! Is it normal to need to boil for almost 5 hours for a high ABV beer?

dstar26t said:

Is it normal to need to boil for almost 5 hours for a high ABV beer?

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5 hours?!?!?! No, not normal.

If you're maxing out your mash tun, try dropping the base grain a little and substituting some DME in (up to 25%). That'll help you get your abv and keep the mash tun in check. Keep in mind 1 qt/lb is pretty thick.

FireBrewer said:

try dropping the base grain a little and substituting some DME in (up to 25%). That'll help you get your abv and keep the mash tun in check.

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+1 - Stouts are great candidates for this method.

I'm not maxing out the tun, 20.5 lbs will fit fine. In order to keep efficiency up, I have to use X amount of water to sparge. And I wrote 1 qt/lb for mashing in order to keep the amount of first runnings lower so I don't have to boil for as long.
I'd rather not use any DME...not a fan of the flavor it adds.

How about raising the ratio and only batch sparging once?

I just threw a quick recipe together in beersmith with 20.5lbs of grain and to get a 6gal batch, beersmith suggests mashing in with 6.4gal of water and then sparging with 4.82 gal to get a pre-boil volume of 7.97gal which will boil down to 6gal. I have beersmith setup to use 1.25qt/lb of grain, so you might want to adjust a little bit. But I don't see why you would need to sparge with .75qt/lb twice.

But I don't see why you would need to sparge with .75qt/lb twice.

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I've been doing that with smaller grain bills (actually 1qt/lb sparging) and getting excellent efficiency. If I change the process, I'm nervous about not hitting all the numbers and winding up with something different than planned.

dstar26t said:

I've been doing that with smaller grain bills (actually 1qt/lb sparging) and getting excellent efficiency. If I change the process, I'm nervous about not hitting all the numbers and winding up with something different than planned.

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IMHO, some brewers get way too hung up on efficiency. Shoot for consistency. Your OG and your pitching rate should be your primary goals. After 61 all-grain batches, I know my system will produce an efficiency of 70-75%. I make sure I get my target preboil volume, make sure the preboil gravity is within range, and let 'er rip.

Take a preboil sample. If it's too high, either lose some time or add water (volume capacity in mind, of course) or both. If it's too low, add some time and/or extract (which you've already stated your opposition to).

Being a good brewer means being able to deal with the unexpected.

Good luck!

dstar26t said:

I'd rather not use any DME...not a fan of the flavor it adds.

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That's exactly why stouts are the best candidates for it - you can rarely taste that you used some extract in a stout. However, having said that, I don't do that - I just use the heavier grain bill.