Mash technique question

I am participating in a local breweries 2nd runnings contest. Brewers will get a wort to use however they see fit. We are free to add whatever we would like with this one.

I am taking advantage of this to try and brew an EIPA, more for myself and less for the contest. I want to add a bit more to my wort however and I was planning on mashing an extra 2lbs of grain. My question to the more experienced is, would it be best to use my mash tun for this tiny mash and treat as I normally do or would a partial mash method work just as well?

thanks

I don't think I understand, this seems to be two separate questions. If you're asking about a full size tun that's probably a little big to do 2 lb, I'd just mash it in a little drink cooler or a pot. Or are you asking if you should add extract in addition to doing the small mash, which I assume is what you mean by partial mash method. Hard to say without knowing the recipe and what you want to achieve.

Ok lemme see if I understand. The brewery is giving you second runnings and you can add more wort, lme or dme and do whatever you want to it. Then submit it for judging, Right? I would tend to think that LME , or HME would be your best option. Otherwise a 2 Lb mash is way small for a regular mash tun and would be pretty difficult to get much usable wort to add to what they have already given you. With the variety of LME and Hopped LME you could turn it into just about anything at whatever SG you wanted it to be. Then your yeast selection and hop schedule will be entirely up to you, as well as adding fruit or berries if you wanted also. Second runnings are generally lower in fermentable and lower gravity so they will definitely need some help and I don't really think a 2 pound mash is gona be enough to make much of a difference either. Just my take, I could also be way wrong too.

Wheelchair Bob

Mini BIAB!

Didn't notice the second runnings part. But still would depend on the recipe I guess. If they were making a barleywine or RIS from the first runnings you might still get a medium gravity beer from second runnings even without adding anything.

OP, do they give you the recipe of what you're starting with?

Sorry for the lack of detail. We will be getting a wort that will work out to be approx 1.060 og according to the brewer. This is a 2nd run from a barley wine so their will be plenty left in the grain.

I wanted to try and give the original wort a slightly different character and I am going to keep my grain between 2-3lbs. I realized, as chickypad and Rbeckett posted, it's not enough grain to work in my mash tun so I am going with a mini BIAB as Stauffbier suggested. The wort I get from the grain (I did not want to add dme or lme) will be added to the brewers original wort. I don't know how much influence that amount grain will have on the overall finished product, but I am giving it a try!

You can also do a steep with specialty grains and add that to the second runnings. If you want to go with a darker beer you can even cold steep roasted grains and add the "liquor" to the wort. Sounds like a fun idea. I look forward to hearing what you come up with!