Best Use for RIS Second Runnings

[srqbrew]

Going to be brewing an RIS soon, and I hate to see the extra gravity go to waste. Most folks I read about making partigyle small stouts mention a thin body. What's the best way to handle this? Cap the mash? Or - maybe more interestingly - can anyone recommend a different style/recipe that could be built from this base?

 

[srqbrew]

First thought: Amber Belgian with a bit of spices and dark candi syrup - kind of Rare Vos in style.

 

[jmark]

I'd be interested in responses to this... I've got a weekend coming up in March where my wife and kid are off to NC and I might have to do a massive brewday to do a big RIS with two mashes and combine second runnings from each for another really long boil to get to a decent gravity.

 

[catdaddy66]

I did a partigyle once of the 'Kate the Great' recipe. Kate didnt turn out so well but the small stout was delicious! It was a bit dry but very drinkable.

 

[theDREWery]

You could cap the mash with a fresh pound of flaked barley and a pound or two of base malt, bring the body back for a small stout.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

boil down the second runnings as far as you reasonably can and add back in the main beer

or

mash the darker grains separately along with a bit of base, add into the boil, have a pale beer from the second runnings.

or

use the second runnings for starter wort, putting it in jars and run it thru a canner/pressure cooker

 

[bobeer]

I'd make a dry-ish stout or boil it down a bit and add some lactose to make a milk stout.

 

[Brewenstein]

^^^ This, or and malto-dextrine to up the mouthfeel a bit without increasing the sweetness.

 

[Braufessor]

I do this annually with a friend of mine. 2 mashes, first runnings of each end up as RIS. We collect second runnings of each and make a second beer. We generally turn it into a black lager..... it is fantastic. Honestly, it is probably better than the RIS. It is one of the best Lagers I brew each year.

Also - when doing this type of thing, I think it is always a really good idea to have 4-5 x 1 pound bags of DME on hand to adjust gravity of either or both beers. This type of thing can be a bit hit and miss sometimes, and better safe than sorry.

 

[jmark]

I do this annually with a friend of mine. 2 mashes, first runnings of each end up as RIS. We collect second runnings of each and make a second beer. We generally turn it into a black lager..... it is fantastic. Honestly, it is probably better than the RIS. It is one of the best Lagers I brew each year.

Also - when doing this type of thing, I think it is always a really good idea to have 4-5 x 1 pound bags of DME on hand to adjust gravity of either or both beers. This type of thing can be a bit hit and miss sometimes, and better safe than sorry.

This sounds like a good plan... make a schwarzbier or something similar... do you do anything special to the second runnings or use as is?

 

[Braufessor]

This sounds like a good plan... make a schwarzbier or something similar... do you do anything special to the second runnings or use as is?

When we do it, we do two mashes that are identical (dark grains included in each).
We collect the second runnings "as is"....... I think you want to be a touch careful to not "over sparge" too long simply for the sake of collecting a desired pre boil amount of that second beer. We always end up adding 2-3 pounds of DME and maybe a gallon or two of RO water to the second runnings beer to bring it in on volume and gravity.

Otherwise - we don't do anything else to the wort..... just treat it like a normal beer. Boil it, add hops, etc.

 

[jmark]

Good deal... and that's a good point about over-sparging. Will keep that in mind... it's going to be a looonnngg brew day regardless!!!

 

[Braufessor]

Good deal... and that's a good point about over-sparging. Will keep that in mind... it's going to be a looonnngg brew day regardless!!!

When we do it, we start boil on 1st runnings of mash #1 right away..... so it is boiling during mash #2. We collect the second runnings from mash one in a bucket and set it aside.

1st runnings of mash #2 go into the already boiling wort from mash #1. We collect second runnings in a bucket.

I have stainless pots for mash tun.... So, we clean that out, add second runnings to that kettle and use it to boil the second runnings beer. So.... we end up with 2 boils going at the same time. The boil for the second runnings beer is staggered a bit behind (30 minutes or so) so that we can chill the RIS and then be ready to chill the black lager.

If doing something like this, it really helps to have a second burner to get that second beer going and overlap everything. It is also critical to basically have everything ready in advance - we get water, grain, water additions, etc. all ready the night before. It definitely can be a long day. But, with our process, we generally finish with 8 gallons of RIS wort (1.12-1.125 range) and 5 gallons of Black Lager (1.045-1.055 range).

It is a great type of thing to do with a brewing friend or two and then split the beer at the end.

 

[srqbrew]

Great discussion! Really appreciate everyone diving into the logistics - that's going to be really helpful. Shcwarzbier is a neat idea. I'd probably have to use a kolsch yeast, but my basement is around 58 this time of year, so I think I could pull it off!

 

[srqbrew]

I've decided to use the second runnings for a beer de coupage with my sour carboy. Going to ferment with Ringwood (harvested from Deschutes), followed by 3711 to get a really dry product.

The sour's got a red base. I'll test some blends after this beer ferments out, but I'm hoping for a 50/50 blend to use everything up simply.

 

[SirHC_]

This sounds like a fun idea. Let us know how it works out.

 

[C-Rider]

I don't understand this whole "second runnings" thing. I BIAB and have done a number of RIS batches and since I squeeze the last drop out of my bag I don't have any sugar left for a second brew.