Seeking help with split-batch brew process

[mattdee1]

For quite a while now I’ve been doing 10gal batches and splitting them between two yeasts, to get some variety. Now I’m looking at ways to get even more “diversity” out of a single brew day, and would like to try the following:

- Brew up a 10gal batch to be split between two 5gal buckets
- Steep some specialty grains “on the side”
- Fill one bucket with the straight recipe, and add the “tea” from the steeped grains to the other bucket
- Ferment, bottle, condition, etc. as normal

The “base” grain bill I’m considering is loosely based on a recipe called “Common Room ESB” that I found on this site:

90% Maris Otter
7% Crystal 60L
3% Crystal 120L

For the above, Beersmith predicts 11 SRM for color in a 1.050 OG beer.

I would like to use the steeped grains to make a “darker” version, more along the lines of a porter or darkish brown ale. I was thinking of steeping whatever amount of chocolate malt that would correspond to roughly 10% of the bill in that half of the batch (probably around 1lb or so).

Hops in the kettle will be bittering only, to allow the malt to take center stage in the “porter” version.

Then, I plan to dry hop the “straight” half of the batch to bring back some hop aroma and hopefully end up with something along the lines of an English pale ale.

Yeast strains are TBD for now. I will probably make up a large starter and use the same yeast on both because I want to be able to focus on the effects of the hops and steeped grains.

Does anybody have experiences to share in splitting batches in this manner?

Any recommended changes in the recipe or general approach?

Any recommended hops for the dry hop additions?

Thanks

 

[jschein]

only thing I would do is boil the "tea"

 

[mattdee1]

Yes, I do have some process details to think through. I was planning on boiling the steep-wort in a small side kettle before mixing it in with the rest of the wort in the fermentor.

 

[Brewenstein]

Are you able to do two separate boils? I did something similar a month ago. Made 12 gallons of Vienna wort (pre-boil) and split it between two boil kettles. At the same I steeped a half pound of C-60 in a half gallon of water at 150-160 degrees. Boiled one with Tett for a pseudo Octoberfest, and put the C-60 steep into the other kettle and hopped for an amber.


But if you aren't able to do two boils, your method should work fine.

 

[kh54s10]

Another way would be to collect the wort at mash temperature and put your steeping grains for that half right into the wort for 20-30 minutes... You could be boiling the first half while this half is steeping.

 

[Aristotelian]

I would cut your crystal malts in half. 5% is plenty for the light batch, but 20% would be way way way way too much for the dark batch.

 

[mattdee1]

Well, I did the brew yesterday. I don't have the ability to do two boils, which I agree would be more ideal. The steeped grain tea was mixed with the main wort in the fermentor.

It went OK, I guess. I will report back in a few weeks with results.

 

[mattdee1]

Results are in.

TL;DR version: I’m very happy with both versions!

Longer version:

I brewed the base beer mentioned in the OP. Hops in the kettle were just 3oz of EKG at 60min.

Split between two 5 gal buckets, one of which had the chocolate malt tea added.

I didn’t plan far enough ahead to get a good starter going, so I ended up pitching a “vitality starter” of Wyeast 1450 into the lighter-colored beer and a pack of S-04 into the darker one.

Fermentation went quickly. After krausen dropped, I tossed 1oz each Citra and Amarillo dry hops directly into the primary of the lighter-colored beer. No dry hops in the dark beer. Bottled a few days later.

I am really happy with both beers. The brown ale has a very rich chocolate aroma to it that I’ve never achieved before in any of my dark beers. Even my wife—a non-beer person, mostly—immediately pointed out the aroma when she tried the beer. For body and taste, I’d compare it to a dark mild. Some might find the taste a tad on the sweet side, but I wouldn’t change it even if I could.

The paler beer is… I don’t even know how to describe it, as I’ve never had anything that tastes like it before. It’s very “different,” but in a good way. Like I mentioned originally the core recipe is loosely based on an ESB recipe from this site, but with those American-style dry hops, it doesn’t taste like any ESB I’ve ever had. It has a moderate fruity aroma to it and a very fun/complex flavor profile for such a low ABV beer. I’d make it again for sure.

The two beers are night and day different, and I am very happy with both. This split-batch technique works, and is a great way to get some variety out of a single 5-6 hour brew day.