Barley Wine Partigyle type question??

[Temp81]

So I just finished my new and bigger mash tun, its a 52qt colman marine cooler, and I am itching to get a high gravity brew in. My old 5 gallon round beverage cooler had it's limitations on gravity. So I thought I would give a BW a try, my recipe is as follows.

Eff: 75%
OG 1.092
FG 1.025
Target Mash Temp: 150-153F

12 pounds 2 row
3 pounds Vienna
2 pounds Victory
8 oz Crystal 40
8 oz Crystal 120
8oz Pale Chocolate Malt

4 oz Chinook at 60
1 oz Centennial at 15
2 oz Cascade at 15

I may dry hop it, but not sure yet.

I'll use US05 for Yeast.

I was wondering if I do a single batch sparge for a preboil volume of about 8 gallons then boil it down to about 5.5 gallons for the BW, will there be enough sugars left in the grain to get maybe 3 o 4 gallons of a 3.5-4% session ale?

Feel free to critique my recipe as well. Thanks in advance all.

Ryan

 

[Brewenstein]

Have you done a high gravity brew before? Your efficiency looks too high to me. The only way that this will work is if you sparge enough to get your 75% efficiency, and then boil long enough to boil the extra water off to hit your target OG and volume. When I do a big beer like this, I use 60% for efficiency so that I don't have to sparge and boil extra, and then yes, there will be plenty of sugar left for a second beer. But when you do it this way, you will need more grain to make up for the loss in efficiency. Also, don't be afraid to use some sugar to boost the gravity. On a large beer like this, there will be enough residual sugars that you won't need to worry about the sugar making the final beer seem dry.

 

[Brewenstein]

Also, some good information in the links below.

www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.2/moshertable.html

www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.2/mosher.html

 

[Temp81]

No I've never done anything over 1.065 with just grain. I kind of thought my efficiency was a little high. My first few brews with my new tun had me approaching 80%, so I wasn't sure exactly what I would get with a big beer. I may just add some sugar, maybe sparge a bit more and boil a bit more and see what happens.

 

[hottpeper13]

I party gyle a RIS every year as a black friday release, and need ~26 lbs of grain and ~ 60% eff. I get 5.25 gal of 1.092 and 5 gal of 1.040. I do need to do a 2 hr boil for both,and start with ~8 gal each.

 

[GrogNerd]

here's a spreadsheet from Kai which helps me plan a parti-gyle

good luck with yours!

 

[Temp81]

Thanks for the reading. I just decided to sparge out to about 12 gallons and boil it down to my desired gravity and hopefully my volume will be close. I'm about 10 minutes into the boil now. First runnings were 1.070, sparge was 1.046. So if I cut volume by half I should get close to my desired OG. So my next question is should I use 2 packs of US-05?

 

[m1k3]

Yes, you can use 2 packs of yeast that will not be over pitching.

 

[m1k3]

BTW- With a 52 quart cooler (13 gallons)... you can mash up to 33 pounds of grain (at 1.25 qt/pound).

With a Parti-gyle... I prefer to not put all the grain in at once but hold some back to cap the grain bed and mash again. (otherwise I the second beer is made from inferior quality wort)

Honestly, I don't do Parti-gyle anymore... I prefer just brewing a second beer... my time is worth more than saving on efficiency.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

I have done a few brew days like this now and really enjoy it. In fact last one I did was a barley wine as well. However most of the time I do no-sparge brewing. Not sure if you'd have the room for it in the 52qt, I use the 72qt. I usually plan on 60-65% efficiency and have pulled several 2nd running beers in the 35-45 range. Might not get exactly where I want it, but I keep a few lbs of DME around just for that (and starters). A pound of golden light, wheat and amber can help out a 2nd runnings beer greatly and you don't have to worry so much about hitting every number exactly.

 

[Temp81]

I don't think I'm gonna do the partigyle anymore. I have a really long boil still and plans this afternoon. So I will just take all of this for learning and do the partigyle in the future.

 

[Brewenstein]

Yes, you can use 2 packs of yeast that will not be over pitching.

And even though you don't have to oxygenate with dry yeast, I would still do it for a big beer like this.

 

[m1k3]

And even though you don't have to oxygenate with dry yeast, I would still do it for a big beer like this.

And if possible start at lower end of the recommended ferm temp range for the yeast.

And have a blow off tube ready... big beer blow off more (in my experience)

 

[Temp81]

Yeah I don't have an oxygen rig, I usually just shake the he'll out of it a few times before pitching my yeast. I got kind of tired of boiling so I stopped at about 1.080. Still big, but not where I was aiming. Oh well I'll get it next time. Lessons learned.

 

[Temp81]

Well it was better than I thought, only about 5 points off OG actually came in a 1.087. Once everything got cooled down any ready for pitching I retook my gravity reading with both refractometer and hydrometer. Overall a pretty good brew day. I can't complain about 5 points after my miscalculation of efficiency. Yeast is pitched and blow off tube is in place. Thanks to everyone for the help.