Splitting a Brew

Not as in sharing a pint!

I have a porter that went to primary the other day and was considering splitting it in two once primary is done. Half, I would keep as is and the other half add coffee and/or some bourbon to in secondary.

Has anyone split batches before? Is this an ok thing to do or will dividing the beer reduce the quality of the finished brew(s)?

Thanks for any input or advice to be shared!

J.

If it's a 5 gallon batch, get some 3 gallon carboys. I would also give it plenty of time on the yeast cake before splitting it off. Such as 2-4 weeks. IF the OG was decent, then 3-4 weeks. Be VERY careful with adding bourbon. Even a few ounces in a 5 gallon batch will be very noticeable.

As an alternative, you could pull half of the batch into the bottling bucket, prime with normal priming solution (volume to match the amount being bottled) then prime the second batch using coffee instead of water in the priming solution. Save the bourbon for a batch you can age for a longer time. With just one flavor difference between the bottles, you'll get a better idea of what that flavor does to the brew. It also means you won't need to buy any more carboy's right now.

Split away. People do this all the time. Before Fermentation, after fermentation, after kegging. Its all good.

When my pipe line is low sometimes I will buy a full keg and split it into 3 corny's.

Split it up!

It is most definitely fine. It s a great thing to do to experiment. I add different dry hops, different yeast strains,honey, lager one and not the other,etc. It is a great learning tool.

Thanks for the help!

I was thinking of cold brewing the coffee, soaking it in bourbon and then draining it off before pitching.

Personally, I'd not mix the two flavor elements... I added 4-6oz of bourbon to a 5 gallon batch, and the flavor was far more than I had wanted. I wished I had only added maybe 2oz. For a 3 gallon batch, I would start with no more than 1oz at first, give it a good week or two, then maybe think about adding more.

Coffee can be added at different times too. Depending on how you use it. You can grind the beans and put them right into the brew (either during cool-down, after pitching the yeast, or once active fermentation has stopped). You can also use it in the priming solution, as already mentioned. For that, I would probably use a regular coffee maker (I use a really nice auto-drip) and see if you can get the sugar into solution with either a half, or full pot of coffee. I would make it on the strong side there. If you can't get the sugar to fully dissolve, then apply a little heat to the mix until it is into solution. Then use it.

Another option for bourbon would be to soak some oak chips/cubes in some for a week or so. Then just put the oak into the brew, saving the bourbon for drinking/cooking...

I placed a bunch of oak chips in a 1-cup mason jar with bourbon, and kept topping it off as necessary for a few weeks until the Stout was ready for it, then I put the whole thing in secondary. I wish I'd poured a whole cup of bourbon in, because there just wasn't enough bourbon flavor to notice. I tried to be careful because everyone always says it only takes a little, but I suppose I can always add a capful to each glass I pour.

Thank you!

Homercidal said:

I placed a bunch of oak chips in a 1-cup mason jar with bourbon, and kept topping it off as necessary for a few weeks until the Stout was ready for it, then I put the whole thing in secondary. I wish I'd poured a whole cup of bourbon in, because there just wasn't enough bourbon flavor to notice. I tried to be careful because everyone always says it only takes a little, but I suppose I can always add a capful to each glass I pour.

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I think it has a lot more to due with what you're looking for in the flavor addition. I was looking for a subtle addition, not depth-charge level.

This is one of the reasons why so many people say to taste the brew before you bottle it, as well as after time with each flavor addition. It's far easier to add more of an element that to try and get some of it out.

I aged the brew with bourbon added for about a month on oak after I racked it (to pull it off another element)... I tried some on the 2/26 and it still wasn't where I wanted it. I'm probably going to wait another month, or two, before I try another bottle of it. It might be closer to what I wanted come the fall.

I do it all the time but i brew 10 gallon batches. An example I did a Arrogant Bastard clone. I dry hopped one 5 gallon batch as suggested then did the other with a different hop. I also put oak in the 2nd stage fermenter. The first 5 gallons went into a keg, the second into bottles. With 3 gallons left to bottle I poured 2 shots of bourbon into the bottling bucket. So I ended up with 3 different beers.

I'd have to agree with Goldiggie though is saying in that coffee and bourbon not sounding like a good blend. While you may be on the verge of a great discovery, I believe most everything has been tried. Look at the recipes near the bottom of the forum. You can see some of the combinations that were winners.

Off the top of my head:
Coffee chocolate for Mocha Porter
Bourbon & Oak (this was soooo good in my AB clone)
Bourbon Vanilla.

Golddiggie said:

I think it has a lot more to due with what you're looking for in the flavor addition. I was looking for a subtle addition, not depth-charge level.

This is one of the reasons why so many people say to taste the brew before you bottle it, as well as after time with each flavor addition. It's far easier to add more of an element that to try and get some of it out.

I aged the brew with bourbon added for about a month on oak after I racked it (to pull it off another element)... I tried some on the 2/26 and it still wasn't where I wanted it. I'm probably going to wait another month, or two, before I try another bottle of it. It might be closer to what I wanted come the fall.

Click to expand...

Yeah, in hindsight it would have been very easy to take a taste at various times and add a bit until it came out right. I didn't want to have to hunt real hard for the flavor. I'm not a fan of straight bourbon, but I do like to have the flavor in a good strong beer.

I have about 4 gallons of mead that I need to rack. I may rack some into a 2.5 gallon carboy and the rest into one or two 1 gallon jugs. I might add some bourbon or oak and bourbon into those small jugs and see what happens.

I had an oaked bourbon mead at a festival last spring and it was amazing. Then again, I was half-lit by all of the free beer and redhot wine... (yes, wine flavored with the candy!)

Mmmm... Skittle Brau.

I have split 2 different batches.

1) I brewed a Belgian dubbel base recipe. Before adding the candi sugar, I split 5gal off, added hops at flame out, cooled, and pitched California ale yeast for a nice amber. The other 5 gal, I added 1lb Candi sugar, boiled a bit longer, cooled, then pitched a Trappist yeast. Both were excellent beers

2) I just brewed a Dobblebock and split after cooling. 1/2 I pitched with California ale yeast. It tastes similar to an ESB. The other 1/2 I pitched with a Bavarian Lager yeast. That is lagering currently.

When I brew by myself, I find 10gal of 1 type a beer to be a little much. I like more variety. I recommend splitting. It is a great way to get variety without investing too much extra time

madavis25... I think the more important thing would be placing each part into a vessel that's the correct size. Such as a 3 gallon carboy for 2.5 gallons... With your 10 gallon batches, normal sized primaries work...

I would just advise caution when using flavor elements that are new to you, for the first time. I still feel it's better to step up a flavor, than dump a butt-load in thinking it will be fine, only to have it far more than you imagined it would be... Just my take on it...

Homercidal... I'm thinking about pulling some of my own traditional mead from the main batches and doing something different with it too. Thinking of dropping a split vanilla bean into ~1 gallon of it... I'm also thinking of aging one of the remaining 3 gallon parts with some medium toast oak... So I'll have three versions of what started off as the same mead. Should help me to decide what to do next time I make batches...