Back to back mash

[thepartsmancometh]

I just had an idea I want to bounce off everyone. I have done several pm brews, and 1 low gravity(mild ) ag brew using biab. The problem is, without buying more equipment, I can only mash about 7 lbs of grain. My current setup is mashing (biab) in one kettle, then dunking (pseudo-sparge) in strike water in my 8 gallon kettle before adding the wort to the BK as well.

My question is: can I mash 4-5 lbs of grain and add the wort to the BK, then mash another 4-5 lbs in the first kettle and blend the worts for a full boil?

Amy big issues (other than time obviously)? I don't foresee doing this often, but wanted to open my options up a little.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Im far from an expert, but since you will be boiling everything after the mash, I don't see why this would be an issue. The only problem will be the two 60-90 min mashes adding time to the brew day which may not even be a problem for you. Personally, I skipped the pm and biab and just built a cheap cooler mash tun following these directions: http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm. I have made 2 batches with it so far and have been getting 70% efficiency. I had the cooler laying around so it only cost me like $15 to build...

 

[spokaniac]

+1 on the cooler. I haven't used mine yet, just finished and leak tested it today, but with the old 5 gal igloo I had and < $15 of hardware I now have a mash tun. All I need now is a burner and some ingredients.....

 

[idover]

Do you know what your batch size will be? What size is the other kettle? I see you have an eight gallon. When I first started AG, I didn't have a HLT but I did have the common 10 gallon round cooler for mashing. I used a five gallon kettle to heat water and it always took WAY longer than I planned for.

I've read recently in "Brew Better Beer" about different ways getting wort. I learned that some grains (darker IIRC) don't necessarily require the high-temperature mash. Some can actually be "cold mashed" over a few days which might allow equipment to be extended somewhat.

Thanks!
Isaac

 

[thepartsmancometh]

While not strictly out of the question, I prefer to not go the cooler route for a few reasons; I really don't want to add any more equipment as storage is already at a premium (I already have 1 beer room, I don't think my wife will let me have 2... ). I don't foresee doing this for every batch, I just want to have the option.

Do you know what your batch size will be? What size is the other kettle? I see you have an eight gallon. When I first started AG, I didn't have a HLT but I did have the common 10 gallon round cooler for mashing. I used a five gallon kettle to heat water and it always took WAY longer than I planned for.

I've read recently in "Brew Better Beer" about different ways getting wort. I learned that some grains (darker IIRC) don't necessarily require the high-temperature mash. Some can actually be "cold mashed" over a few days which might allow equipment to be extended somewhat.

Thanks!
Isaac

Kettle 1 is my old partial boil extract kettle. I think its about 4 gallons; made of cheap thin SS (I bought it at dollar general! :rockin. Kettle 2 is an 8 gal megapot from northern brewer (with valve and thermo built in). I do 5 gallon batches (I don't have any small fermentation vessels, just 5 and 6.5 gallon carboys).

Interesting tidbit about the cold mashing, I'll have to read about that.

Thanks everyone for the input; this isn't something I will do a lot of, but I just wanted to make sure there weren't any obvious holes in my reasoning (other than increased time). I have a habit of overlooking flaws of my own creation!

 

[idover]

I live in condo, so I understand about the size. But, I do have a garage - my wife has her side for parking, and I can't remember the last time I parked inside. I got a little adventurous and tapped into the supply lines to the washing machine, went through the garage ceiling, and pump back up to the washer waste line.

Though you said that you don't want to buy any more equipment, you might consider a very thick 7 gallon bucket. When not in use, at least one carboy would probably fit in it and no space is really lost. You could use it as a fermenter, too. I can't remember the measurement (9mm, maybe?), but some people actually use the thicker walled buckets to boil, which means you could certainly use it to mash. I've also seen here somewhere where a fellow brewer with limited space and funds was asking about using his water heater drain!