Brewing My Biggest Beer Ever Today

The Problem:
Brewed up an 11G batch of a Stone IPA clone last Saturday, and the gravity came out way low (16-17 pts)... Been Fermenting for a week w SA05 (1 hydrated pack in each 6.5G carboy)

The Solution:
Brewing up a 'BIG' 5.5G version of the same recipe, to be fermented for two weeks, and then blended with the other two batches to get the OG up from .050 to the targeted .066, so that I can then transfer and dry hop... The 5.5G batch today, will have a gravity of .095 on the low end (@65% eff) to .109 on the high end (@ 75% eff).. This will leave me with a 5.5G batch to 'experiment' with (gonna try a fresh banana addition) at whatever gravity remains after mixing the other two.... (somewhere between .060 and .070).. The experimental batch will continue to sit on the high gravity batches yeast for another week or two after the blending...

The Conundrum:
I'll be pitching SA05 Dry yeast.. I don't know whether to pitch one pack or two... My experience in the past with pitching two packs into an IPA is super vigorous primary with a considerable amount of krausen making it's way out of the 6.5G carboy and into through the 1" blow off tube and into the blowoff bucket...

I'm concerned that with this much sugar in the beer, it could be even worse.. I don't want to waste beer...

OTOH, I've never brewed a beer this big, and don't know if 1 package of yeast is enough... I will probably be chilling and pitching the yeast at about 62-63 degrees.... and normally, the beer would ferment through the primary at that temp or slightly higher.. I have no idea what to expect with this beer.. I have no way to control temp, I just chill it on the cool end, pitch, and leave the carboys on the tile floor of the laundry room, which is pretty cool.... This big beer will ferment in a 6.5G plastic bucket with a 1" blowoff... (My Carboys are busy)

So, I'm basically looking for advice on whether to pitch 1 pack or 2 of hydrated SA05...

Thanks,
Off to prepare for mashing 21lbs of grain...

PS... I would 'like' to pitch only 1 pack if possible..

If it's only a matter of the batch getting a 'slow start' I am pretty thorough and meticulous about sanitation.... I just want to make sure that there is enough pitched to 'get going' and to finish the job....

I'd pitch at least two. one would be underpitching and will cause all kinds of flavor and fermentation problems.

This is a lot of grain for a 5.5G brew..

After collecting what I need for the original purpose, I might just try to parti-gyle this thing... put a little extra water in the first sparge, collect what I need and then take a reading of a little more to make sure I'm not in 'tannins' range yet..... then collect enough for another 5G and see if I can get a session beer out of it...

or maybe at least enough to do a stove top mash for another couple gallons....

US-05 should have any trouble with that gravity, but I also would pitch two packs.

So far as runnings are concerned, the generally accepted wisdom is that you are OK up until the runnings are at a gravity of around 1.008 (about 2 brix). If you continuous sparge then you can just keep the sparge water going in the top until you see it coming out at that gravity, at which point you close your valves. If you batch sparge then you will notice significant drops in gravity between sparges. I would say around 1.020 would be a practical lower limit for that case, where the next sparge is likely to run afoul.

Sounds like a fun brew day; I'd pitch 2 packs, but you can check Mr. Malty based on your OG.

Question: why don't you just add some DME or LME to the fermentor of your original brew? You probably got a little utilization from your hops with a lower SG and it would be a little easier than blending.

blizzard said:

Sounds like a fun brew day;

Click to expand...

Ha! I was just about to post about how much fun this was...

I'd pitch 2 packs, but you can check Mr. Malty based on your OG.

Click to expand...

Who, what, where is Mr' Malty?

Question: why don't you just add some DME or LME to the fermentor of your original brew? You probably got a little utilization from your hops with a lower SG and it would be a little easier than blending.

Click to expand...

The main reason I started going AG (besides the financial factor), was because I was totally sick of LME, and vowed to never use that messy crap again if I could help it..

As far as DME goes, I probably would have used that last weekend if I had had any.. Leery about adding that 'now'...

But I think this is gonna be a fun learning experience.. Lot's of "never done before's" here.. Never blended, never done the fruit thing, and never parti-gyled..

Hence the (mad-scientist) fun!

Sorry, meant to post the link. Mr. Malty yeast pitching calculator.
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

There is definitely wrong with adding extract and other sugars part way through fermentation, but there is also nothing wrong with blending and experimentation. I was just curious. Plus, now you get three beers for the work of two.

First and second runnings...

mixed some of the second with the first to get 6.5G.. OG 1.058

Finished collecting the second runnings.. and was left with 3.5G at OG 1.040

Added more water to tun, and drew out three more gallons to mix with second.. and since the original collections were way low, added 2 more G from the 2nd/3rd.. Will boil it down for an extra half hour or so until I get to around 7-7.5 G and then start the hop schedule...

Not counting the 'extra' I added I'm looking at an OG of around 1.074.. Not very impressive for 21 pounds of grain...

Hopefully, I will be able to push it up over at least 1.080 with the added two gallons.. we'll see..

Have another 6.5G in a bucket of the 3rd runnings and a small fourth addition... Haven't taken a reading yet, but it looks okay, and the runnings never went 'clear'.....

I'm gonna have to rethink how I do my mashes.. I can't seem to hit good efficiency when trying for anything over .055 or so...

I am a little confused, but I think your new booster beer is starting at 1.095. That's definitely two-packet territory. If you only have one packet, then that's probably fine, but two would be better.

My Mash came out way low again.. I have no idea why.. I did everything right AFAIK.. I'm out of answers..

I pitched 1 pack into 5.25G of 1.071

That storm we've been getting hammered with all week finally passed yesterday evening, and the temps dropped into the dingle digits... So the utility room got a little too coll and the wort dropped below 60 degrees.. Brought it into the kitchen a couple hours ago, and it's up to 62 now and rising.. tweaked my back a little when I brought it in...

I've got an extra 6 gallons of 'something' (additional runnings) sitting in a bucket in the kitchen.. I'll take a reading on it later, to see if it's worth using to brew...

I guess I'll just make my clone out of this 071 batch, and get creative with everything else...

I think I've found the culprit!

From the Beginners FAQ in the AG forum:

" 1. Low efficiency.
I have found that the most common thread here is not using enough water during mashing and sparging. All you need to do is figure 1 to 1 1/4 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash and about 1/2 gallon of water per pound of grain for sparging.
I think some folks are concerned about too much wort volume when they are figuring how much water to use but if you want decent efficiency you have to use the correct amount of water.
If your brew pot isn't big enough for the volume required you will need to compensate by using more grain and know that your efficiency will be lower. (You will want to use the 1 to 1 1/4 quart per pound of grain for the mash and adjust your sparge water for the volume required)
If you have a large enough brew pot you will need to calculate the boil time so you will have the correct volume when completed. Some high gravity brews can take 2 hours or more to boil down to the correct volume."

'This' would explain why the 'only' time I get decent efficiency, is when I mash for a low gravity beer...

What I should have done for this beer, is to strike with the 6 gallons I originally did, then rinsed with an additional 10-11 gallons!

Then boil it down... It would have meant that I would have had between 13.5-14.5 gallons collected, and had to boil for 3 hours prior to starting the hops schedule...

PITA, but at least I have an avenue to explore...

On my original 10G attempt at this beer, had I struck/mashed in with the 8 gallons I did, and then rinsed with 13 G, I probably would have gotten the efficiency I was after... I would have more wort than my keggle would hold, and would have had to boil it down some and add the rest... Probably 2 hours total pre-hops boil down...

Something to try next time anyways...

Or I could just do smaller versions of the IPA's....