Split boil 10 gallon batch... Advice?

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Beer_Maker

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I'm going to attempt my first 10 gallon brew day tomorrow.

Marris Otter 17 Lb
Cara-pils 1 Lb
Crystal 20L 1 Lb
Caravienne 1 Lb
1 oz Simcoe 60 min
.5 oz Cascade 30 Min
.5 oz Fuggles 5 Min

WLP008 East Coast Ale (2L starter churning away on the stir plate)

Planning on a double batch sparge with a mash at ~152.

The issue is that I don't have a kettle near large enough to boil the 13+ gallons of wort. My plan is to mash everything and collect all of the runnings and then split that between two boils, recombine it in a 15 gal LME container, pitch, and then ferment at 68F.

I already have the hops split up for the two separate boils. My question is would it be better to treat the boils as two separate beers and then combine? Or would it be better to add all of the hops to one boil and then combine?

More importantly, has anyone had any luck with this method?

Thanks,
B.
 
I've done this. You should treat each as it's own beer. You want to make sure your volumes are exactly the same to, otherwise you'll throw off your numbers. And you'll definately want to split up the hops.
 
You want to make sure your volumes are exactly the same to, otherwise you'll throw off your numbers. And you'll definately want to split up the hops.


Sorry, I don't understand why the volumes need to be "exactly" the same as you will be combining in the fermenter.

I would think if the runnings are reasonably split in half, and the hops are split as well, everrything would work out?
 
I'm saying, strictly for numbers and repeatability factors, that having the exactly same thing in each fermenter is better.

If I throw an extra half ounce of hops in one batch, then the isomerization is going to be completely different for that beer. Mixing it will even them out most likely, but how are you going to repeat that recipe again if you're just eyeballing it.
 
I ended up doing two identical boils. I think it would have been a moot point either way because both boils ended up in the same fermenter, but for repeatability sake I kept them the same.

All in all it was a great brew day will 11 gallons into the fementer...and 79% efficiency to boot (I generally average in the high sixties mostly do to the crush at the LHBS).
 
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