Splitting a 10 gallon batch

[jdbrew14]

Hi all I'm new to brewing and have a question for you. I have done a few 5 gallon kit batches and have decided to give all grain brewing a shot. I built a mash tun and would like to do my first mash of a 10 gallon batch. Problem is I only have a 9 gallon kettle. I have enough buckets and carboys to ferment 10 gallons in. Can I split the wort in half and boil it into two 5 gallon batches and add half the hops to each batch? Thanks in advance.

-jdbrew14

 

[bobby4]

I don't see why not, although someone may chime in with a chemistry issue. I switched to 10 gallons too (although my kettle has room), makes a lot of sense considering the brewing time is almost the same - but the drinking time is much longer.

 

[suckmyale]

I guess it all depends on how you are sparging. As you're sparging the first and last running are going to have different gravity.

Really I don't think you are saving much time doing 1 10g batch vs 2 5g batches.
I'm assuming that you are going to boil 2 batches but mash one.

If you have a large enough vessel to hold 12-14g of wort, then by all means mash/sparge it all at once.

If not,
You could mash/sparge your second batch while the first is boiling.

 

[Beernik]

I do something similar. But I'm set up for 5 gallon mashes. I brew back to back 5 gallon batches and split a yeast starter between them. But I brew different beers. I have a Vienna and a Dort fermenting now.

I agree with suckmyale, if you do one 10 gallon mash, the wort drained for the first 5 gallon batch will have a higher OG than the wort drained for the second 5 gallon batch. Maybe a recirculating mash pump could fix that problem, though.

I suppose you could accept that you will have one big and one small version of the same beer. Or you could blend them before bottling/kegging.

 

[brewkinger]

Here are my thoughts:
For 2 5g batches you will need 12-13 gallons of wort (no problems thus far)

If you have a container large enough to collect ALL the runnings then you can do what I think you are asking.
Collect it all, STIR like hell to mix it up well and then split it in half and boil away!
Should get two equal batches in the end.

Otherwise the others are correct.
Your first 6-6.5 gallons will have a higher gravity than your last half.
It is something called a parti-gyle and is done all the time to get BIG beer and then a smaller second beer.

 

[bobby4]

And give serious thought to saving for a bigger brew pot