Moving to 10 gallon batches

[JuanMoore]

About 6 weeks ago I realized that there really wasn't anything stopping my brewing partner and I from doing 10 gal batches instead of 5. Our MLT is a little small for really big beers, but 5 gal is probably a better size for those super high gravity brews anyways. The main reason for doing this was to have more beer, as we have trouble brewing often enough to keep up with demand, but I've found some other advantages too.

We ferment in 6.5 gallon carboys, so the larger batches get split evenly in two. This creates the perfect opportunity to easily and accurately compare yeasts, hop varieties for dry hopping, dry hopping techniques, fermentation temperatures, and any number of other things. I like learning as much as I can about brewing, and trying new things, so this has been really fun so far.

The first one is about ready to drink, and we dry hopped each half with a different hop. We're also comparing a long primary vs using a secondary. I feel like we've had better results since we quit using secondaries, but I look forward to having a more accurate comparison between the two techniques. I've gathered almost everything I need to build a keezer, and look forward to comparing kegging to bottle conditioning.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to do this, so I was curious what types of comparison brews everyone else has done?

 

[FishinDave07]

I haven't got around to doing comparison brews per se, but my brew partner and i once made a Nut brown, Pumpkin, and a Nut Brown Pumpkin Hybrid. He mashed the brown, i the pumpkin, we finished off with 7.5 gallons of each and since we are using 7.5 gal fermenters we split the brews 5 5 and 5. Frangelico hazelnut liquor and pumpkin spice were added during the secondary and both were added to the hybrid.

 

[rcrabb22]

I have compared yeasts, For example, can I perceive a difference between White Labs WLP001 and Wyeast 1056, Safale 05 vs WLP001, etc..

 

[FishinDave07]

I have compared yeasts, For example, can I perceive a difference between White Labs WLP001 and Wyeast 1056, Safale 05 vs WLP001, etc..

can you?


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[Arkador]

my brewbuddy and I split 10gal batches, and almost always use different yeasts. after they are ready, we trade a couple bottles.