15 gallon batch in keggle

Just wrapped up my largest ever batch - a little over 15 gallons of my Haus Pale Ale! Using a keggle as a brew kettle!

I calculated all my grains and sparge volumes like I was brewing 12.5 gallons of 1.060 wort. Hops IBUs were calculated as a 15.5 gallon batch. I figured I may suffer from a little less hops utilization so I bumped up the IBU's a little bit but I dont think it will make a huge deal.

With about 10 minutes left in the boil I started to add 3 gallons of near boiling water from my HLT. At flameout it was very close to overflowing so I immediately started to drain into a 7.5 gal sanke and then two 5 gallon cornies. I no-chill brew, so I am curious to see if there are differences in hops flavor/aroma between the first keg drained and the third. I will probably ferment each of these kegs a little differently when it comes to yeast and dry hops. Im thinking I will do one with Notty, another with Bells harvested yeast, and a third with a lager cake WLP 800.

Dilution tool in Beersmith said I should have got to 1.048, but I actually ended up at 1.052 due a little higher efficiency.

Has anyone else ever done this? Howd it turn out?

My biggest issue with big batches is making sure I have the volumes and temperatures I need for sparging. I have a 20 qt eHLT and a 37 qt aluminum kettle with seperate burner so I basically have to keep them fired all times during the mash/sparge.

Heres the recipe (calc'ed at 15.5 gallons) if anyone is interested:


BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Haus Pale Ale 3
Brewer: Kevin
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 15.50 gal
Boil Size: 18.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 5.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
20.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 79.21 %
2.25 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 8.91 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 7.92 %
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) (FHops 18.5 IBU
2.50 oz Magnum [10.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort HopHops 33.0 IBU
2.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 3.96 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 24.25 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 30.31 qt of water at 174.5 F 154.0 F

I do something similar (sorta). I brew 12g batches, but boil down to 10 gallons to make room for krausen in the carboys. Then, after the krausen falls, I reconstitute and bring it to the intended FG. Works fine. Some brewers have an irrational aversion to adding water though.

I'm going to try doing what you did. That is a GREAT idea!

passedpawn said:

I do something similar (sorta). I brew 12g batches, but boil down to 10 gallons to make room for krausen in the carboys. Then, after the krausen falls, I reconstitute and bring it to the intended FG. Works fine. Some brewers have an irrational aversion to adding water though.

I'm going to try doing what you did. That is a GREAT idea!

Click to expand...

Actually i think I may use your process next time I do 10 gallons as well. Since I ferment primarily in cornies under pressure, I usually only end up with 4.5 gallons per keg after blowoff/trub. If I wait till the main krausen falls I can bump up my total volume per vessel by adding water. Thanks for the idea!

I guess it will come down to what vessels I want to use, and whether I want to go 10 or 15 gallons, but I cant see either process really screwing anything up and, more beer=more happiness.