Idea for experiment: two different types of wort

[ak47clown]

So I've got this idea that I'm thinking of trying. Maybe it's been done before but I haven't been able to find anything-I'm thinking of making two different types of wort (probably 2 2.5 gallon recipes) and then combining them for fermentation. I haven't gone as far as to even consider what I'd use but I just wanted to get some feedback as to if this would even produce something drinkable or not? My ultimate goal would be to have a really nice, complex beer that has a unique taste/style to it.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Sounds like a form of blending witch is not uncommon although this would be the first I've heard of someone doing that with wort instead of fermented beer.

 

[Kungpaodog]

I like the idea, but I'm having a hard time picturing what you could do to two separate worts that you couldn't do to one wort. What did you have in mind?

 

[giligson]

Blending is usually done at the beer stage rather than the wort stage to get to a specific taste profile.
As mentioned above. Its hard to imagine a result that you would get with two worts that you couldn't get with one.

 

[ak47clown]

I was just thinking from a hops point of view that I would get a different flavor if I boiled strain X in one wort and strain Y in the other and then combined vs. boiling both in the same...

 

[Clonefarmer]

I can't say for sure, but you can probably get the same flavor by mixing the hops together in the same wort. Blending is usually used to mix contrasting flavors such as oaked beers with non oaked or dark with light for black and tan. Also to smooth younger brews like blending Old lambic with young lambic to make geuze.
If you do decide to do this I am very curious to find out the results.

 

[ak47clown]

Yeah..if anything it'll just be a fun little experiment to try i suppose. I've got my original brew pot that came with the kit and the turkey fryer that i use presently so it wouldn't be all that hard to setup.

 

[ak47clown]

Well i went ahead and did it today. Brewed with 4 different kinds of hops, 2 different DME and I used the same grains for both. There's really no rhyme or reason to what i chose or how i went about coming up with my hop schedule other than the fact that i simply wanted to mess around and have some fun and hopefully make a decent tasting beer. I think i'll call this one bass ackwards brew:

Ingredients:
1lb muntons pale 2 row barley malt
3lbs muntons amber DME
3lbs muntons extra pale DME
WLP-002 English Ale yeast

Pot 1:
2.5 gallons water
steep .5lbs of grains for 30 minutes @170
add 3lbs of extra pale DME at start of boil

Hop schedule:
60 minutes: 1 oz galena
45 minutes: 1/4 oz simcoe
15 minutes: 1/2 oz cascade
5 minues: 1/2 oz cascade
I also added 1 zest of lemon at 15 minutes left as well (why not?)

Pot 2:
2.5 gallons water
steep .5lbs grains for 30 minutes @170
add 3lbs of amber DME at 15 minutes remaining (late addition)

Hops schedule:
60 minutes: 3/4oz Simcoe
15 minutes: 1/2oz centennial

OG: 1.058
FG: ?? we'll see...

I suppose it will end up being a not so pale IPA but we'll see! I'm thinking about adding a bit of peach extract to the secondary or at bottling as well...

I'm sure there's a lot in this recipe that doesn't make any sense but like i said-i just went for it.

 

[ak47clown]

So the beer is actually coming along nicely. It's been fermenting pretty steadily for the past 3 days and only started to slow down a little today. I took a gravity reading and i'm at 1.020 now and i'm hoping to get near to 1.010. Of course I couldn't resist tasting my sample and was pretty surprised. It's not really hoppy like i imagined but almost somewhat sweet (i'm sure part of that is due to the fact that everything hasn't fermented out yet). Even so, I feel like it's going to finish out more like an ale which I'm actually pleased about. I did some recipe calculations and it seems like i should be around 75 IBU's. To me that seems a little high but i duno...

I guess i'm also not sure whether or not you can simply add the IBU's of two seperate batches together linearly or there is some sort of adjustment that needs to be factored in as well.

Anyways I'm debating on whether or not to add peaches to the secondary and make a summery ale. I'm thinking that if it's not going to end up being all that hoppy, the peaches might give it a nice touch.