Splitting evenly into multiple carboys - any issues??

Maybe I'm sweating the minutia here, but when splitting a 10 gal batch into 2 carboys does it matter if carboy 1 gets the bottom half of the kettle and carboy 2 gets the top half? After the boil everything is well mixed, but would one carboy tend to get more trub than the other - does it even matter? Or, usually at the end of the boil, I strain out the hops into the carboy, do I need to try to split these strainings evenly?

The easy fix seems like you put a Tee on the transfer hose to split flow from the kettle evenly into both carboys - is this necessary?

You're overthinking.

I've split batches before by just putting half in one vessel and the second half in the second vessel.

It doesn't matter to the beer.

Lots of variables in this like everything. How do you chill (IC, CFC, Plate), how long does the wort sit, etc.

If the wort is cooled in the kettle and let to sit I believe there can be stratification of the sugars and settling of break material.

I have seen people split batches and do half in one fermenter and half in the other and both are handled exactly the same but come out different. What I usually do is alternate filling fermenters back and forth a gallon or so at a time. Another benefit is it is easier to split the volumes evenly.

The Tee and fill both at the same time is probably the easiest way to get a perfect distribution, but I never bothered with that.

I use an IC, and split batches first half into the first fermenter, and second half into the second fermenter.

AFAIK the gravity of both is the same because the sugar is disolved in solution which means they are evenly spread, and likely the IBU's are the same (I dont know what science backs that one up).

The thing is, once they are pitched, even with the same yeast ... they become different batches of beer. They will be similar in behavior and taste, but they are truly different: different pitch rate, different oxygenation, one might have a small amount of some bacteria and the other might have a small amount of another or none at all. (Charlie Papazian agrees, he said no matter what you do in his opinion you are going to get some sort of bacteria).

Just remember to treat them as different batches, I rinse and sanitize my racking equipment in between the two, just in case.

All the sugars will sink to the bottom after the boil, one batch will be way weaker than the other.




















































































as if.

yeah thought i was overthinking it

By the time I am done, chill in kettle, use a paint stirrer to aerate and mix yeast up well. They are different every time. Of course I always chalk mine up to: I drank the first keg, up to one month @ 12 psi. The other considerably longer (longer conditioning). My .02

Stuntman said:

By the time I am done, chill in kettle, use a paint stirrer to aerate and mix yeast up well. They are different every time. Of course I always chalk mine up to: I drank the first keg, up to one month @ 12 psi. The other considerably longer (longer conditioning). My .02

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Yeah, the second keg always tastes better, regardless of if it came from the first half or second half of the kettle .

shortyjacobs said:

Yeah, the second keg always tastes better, regardless of if it came from the first half or second half of the kettle .

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Awesome. I just tapped my first keg in 6 months yesterday and kegged up the second 5 gallons of that beer 10 minutes ago. And this first beer tastes damn good.

What's a couple points?? You could always check the specific gravities (OG's and FG's) by taking a sample from both carboys if you were really worried about it. I have never experienced/tasted a difference. Although I follow in the logic already provided by Bokonon and alternate back and forth between carboys.

If your really concerned you could always blend the two beer after fermentation is complete