Parti-gyle Q: Any tips on this scenario?

Howdy,

This is what I'm planning on doing and here is my situation/justification.
1) I want to get 10 gallons of beer split between two batches. I'm wanting to do a parti-gyle beer because I don't want 10 gallons of DIPA or 10 gallons of Barley Wine.
2) I've inherited 8 pounds of Amber LME. I love efficiency and hate waste so I want to do everything I can to incorporate the LME into a beer.
3) On strict DME recipes in the distant past, I had the dreaded 1.020 finishes on batches more often then not. Friends also had this (we live in Korea and have the same supply chain)
4) On AG batches, I always get proper attenuation.
5) My brewhouse efficiency is always 75%

I'm hoping for a 1.070 - 1.090 DIPA on the first runnings. I've got Conan yeast and want to play with that. I'll boil, chill and pitch while my sparge water sits in my mashtun kind of making a super long, i.e extra attenuative, mash for the 2nd runnings. After I finish up the 1st running's batch, I'll add some crystal 40 to the mash, lauter, start that boil and then add 8 lbs of LME late in the boil (1.062 by itself in 5 gallons).

In traditional brewing software, what should I shoot for to get in the ballpark? I've got access to 2-row, munich 1, Caramunich 2, Caramunich 3.

 

With 8lbs of LME in the second runnings it's not going to be a traditional parti-gyle. Nonetheless, I think what you are intending to do makes some sense.

But I am wondering what exactly you are attempting to get out of the second beer? With 8lbs LME and an OG of 1.062 you're going to have a pretty substantial beer, not the more traditional lighter beer you'd normally do with your second runnings.

But does it really matter? If you just want to make some good beer take your second runnings and add the LME and let it turn out how it will. You could check the gravity of the second runnings to know what to expect for next time you do this.

 

Looking back at your post it seems you are anticipating that the second runnings will be more fermentable and so you could add the LME which is less fermentable and end up somewhere in the middle? Seems to make some sense to me. I'd say go for it.

 

Exactly. That's what I'm hoping to do. I have to figure with the thin second runnings and the LME, I should have a really hardy second beer too. I was hoping someone could offer some empirical help but I may just have to shoot from the hip on this one. Like you mentioned, it isn't a traditional parti-gyle but it's pretty much the closest thing I could think of.

 

Just an idea here, but if you know your usual mash efficiency and if you measure the gravity of your first runnings, I think you could do some simple calculation to figure out how many gravity points you got in your first runnings and how many gravity points you could expect in the second runnings. This is an imperfect calculation as your efficiency may be higher in a very long mash. But it may get you somewhere in the ballpark.