I tried a parti-gyle about 6 weeks ago month. I have a 5 gallon igloo set up. I was aiming for an 8% stout that I was going to rack onto a secondary over peanut butter powder, cocoa nibs and raspberries for a PBJ taste. The second runnings was supposed to be a 4% brown ale - take first runnings and then add box of PB Captain Crunch to get a brown ale with a hint of PB. The plan was to let the cereal steep whilst I did the first boil, then crack on with the second boil. I was aiming for about 3.5 gallons final volume for both.
What actually happened was I got a stuck sparge on the first runnings due to the large grain bill - I have learnt a valuable lesson for next time re using rice hulls. Once I cleared up that mess I ended up with much lower OG than desired - ended up about 5% in the end. I thought "bugger it" I'll keep going and see what happens. The brown ale turned out at 3% - I only got about 3 gallons for each - so I pretty much messed it up.......HOWEVER the brown ale is actually pretty nice - quite roasty, malty with a slight PB hint. It is still very young so I've had a couple but will leave the rest for another month or so.
I've not tried the PBJ Stout yet - will leave that for a couple of months also. I would definately do it again - it was fun (even the stuck sparge - my first ever so a good learning experience). You are busier than a one armed paper hanger and you need to be organised but I reckon it is a very efficient way to brew if you're doing something big.
I called them - big brown dog and small brown dog (you can guess which)
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