All Grain - Parti-Gyle - Extract?

[GoodTruble]

I've been reading up on parti-gyle, and I am interested in trying to incorporate it into my brewing.

I currently brew in a brewzilla, and after I pull the grains, I sparge them in a separate kettle with 1-2 gallons of water, which I then add back into the main wort. I have gotten fantastic efficiency doing this, but I don't think the added sparge really adds too much more additional gravity than would just adding 1-2 cups of DME (I all grain brew, but am not a purist about it).

So I am starting to consider just adding a little DME to the main wort and using the 1-2 gallon sparge as the base for an second mostly extract beer. I think the main beer will obviously be better than the second extract beer (and a bit weaker without the sparge), but I also think it would be worth the tradeoff to get an entirely different, second batch of beer out of each brew day.

From my research so far, I think I need to be weary of astringency in the second wort, and that it would probably help to mix the two worts (even if just a 10% volume exchange) to help balance the the flavors. I

Any other thoughts, suggestions, warnings, disagreements, or general brew-shamings to share?

Thanks & Cheers.

 

[hottpeper13]

A true parti gyle is when the two worts are mixed, if not mixing it's just first and second runnings. When I'm looking for a high gravity beer,sometimes I'll max out my tun or bag( I do both BIAB and MIAB), boil the first runnings and add some flaked grains for body to the second runnings in a steeping bag while draining the tun.
One such recipe i have had success with is doing an RIS with the first runnings and adding flaked barley and some black barley to the second and be drinking an Irish stout of about 1.040-1.050 while waiting for the 1.134 RIS is conditioning.

 

[GoodTruble]

A true parti gyle is when the two worts are mixed, if not mixing it's just first and second runnings. When I'm looking for a high gravity beer,sometimes I'll max out my tun or bag( I do both BIAB and MIAB), boil the first runnings and add some flaked grains for body to the second runnings in a steeping bag while draining the tun.
One such recipe i have had success with is doing an RIS with the first runnings and adding flaked barley and some black barley to the second and be drinking an Irish stout of about 1.040-1.050 while waiting for the 1.134 RIS is conditioning.

Thanks. Steeping some extra flaked grains would be nice, easy addition to the second wort. I'll that a try as well.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Any other thoughts, suggestions, warnings, disagreements, or general brew-shamings to share?

Yes, but no time to write them up this morning (maybe this evening).

 

[GoodTruble]

Yes, but no time to write them up this morning (maybe this evening).

No hurry. It will be at least 2 weeks before my next brew day. Appreciate any advice you have to offer.

 

[kgav8r]

I had this same thought about a year ago and went with it. Made a big vanilla chocolate stout with the main mash then a bourbon ale with the “sparge”. I did have to use more than expected DME for the second. I BIAB in small vessels, so for me, it really wasn’t worth the effort. I spent just about as much time as I would have doing independent brews. The beers ended up excellent, but I don’t have plans to do this again. Actually, I ended up brewing a total of 13 gallons this day because of my method and setup and it took about 6 hours. I say go for it! No reason not to experiment and find out what works best for you.

 

[ba-brewer]

some information on part-gyling here,
Parti-gyles
Let's brew Wednesday - Fullers 1920 PA, AK, XK. There is more information in the blog if you do some searching.

Recently been playing around with some recipes that combine pre-boiled worts from multiple running so I can change the hop for each beer. Mostly to save a little time for a double brewday.

edit: there is a spreadsheet here that is helpful too.
Batch Sparge and Party Gyle Simulator - German brewing and more

 

[Tancred the Brewer]

I started doing something similar to this a couple of years ago. Since doing so I try to always think about if I can get a second brew out of what I am doing. I typically do a barleywine from the first runnings and then an APA out of the second runnings. I always keep the barleywine at its mash strength, meaning I don't add any additional runnings nor DME to it. I do though keep DME around to bring the second runnings up to preboil target just to make sure the second brew is where I want it. Doing this I have consistently gotten two very good, very different beers out of the same 6-7 hour brew day (from pulling the first equipment out to everything cleaned and put away). I use a 15 gal. mashtun so I have a lot of capacity for these kinds of brews and acknowledge that not everyone has that capacity, but once you try this style of brewing it does open up so many options. I have considered the RIS/Irish Stout idea as mentioned about, as well as some of the more traditional parti-gyle methods like Fullers Brewery, where you get three different styles by mixing the various runnings. I would use the imformation ba-brewer shared above as a starting point and give it a go. What is there to lose?