Wee Heavy process

[Twofox]

I've been formulating a wee heavy recipe, and have been researching a bunch. I still have 1 question about boil volume and time, hopefully someone can help.

I have a 5 gallon AG rig, 15 gallon mash tun, so it goes like this:

Mash with 6 gallons (17+ lbs grain)
First runnings between 3.5 and 4 gallons
Boil down 1 gallon for carmelization
Leaves me with 2.5 - 3 gallons first runnings

Sparge 6-8 gallons

Boil volume 7-7.5 gallons (8 gallon pot)

Boil time 90 mins.

Does that sound like it will work for a wee heavy?

I've heard alot about boiling 10 gallons down to 5, but I can't do that on my rig.

Thanks!

 

[audger]

the mash water to grain ratio seems low. normally you use somewhere around 1.25qt of water per pount of grain, +/- 0.25qt. 17lb of grain and 5 gal of water gives you 0.85qt/lb, which is lower than my preference.

i also think you will be leaving more than only 1 gallon of water in 17 pounds of grain (so if you are mashing with 5 gallons, you wont be able to pull 4g of first runnings off; and even if you did, you are going to be compacting the grain bed by doing so). for 17lb of grain, i would be mashing in with about 5.5 or 6 gallons, and then drawing off 2.5-3g of first runnings. every system is different though, so what works for me may be different for you. just my $.02.

 

[Twofox]

the mash water to grain ratio seems low. normally you use somewhere around 1.25qt of water per pount of grain, +/- 0.25qt. 17lb of grain and 5 gal of water gives you 0.85qt/lb, which is lower than my preference.

i also think you will be leaving more than only 1 gallon of water in 17 pounds of grain (so if you are mashing with 5 gallons, you wont be able to pull 4g of first runnings off; and even if you did, you are going to be compacting the grain bed by doing so). for 17lb of grain, i would be mashing in with about 5.5 or 6 gallons, and then drawing off 2.5-3g of first runnings. every system is different though, so what works for me may be different for you. just my $.02.

I'd have to look at beersmith again, but it's set to 1.33 qt/lb of grain. So those numbers aren't exact. I know my system and let's assume these numbers are close enough.

EDIT: Beersmith shows 24qt which is 6 gallons.

What I need to know, is if boiling 7-7.5 gals for a 5 gallon batch (with a 1 gallon carmelazation) is commonly done with a wee heavy. I've seen alot of recipes that start with 10 gallons and boil that down to 5, whatever amount of time it takes. My concern is that I can't do one on a 5 gallon system.

 

[bnmir]

What temp are you mashing at, and how long of a boil are you planning?

 

[Twofox]

What temp are you mashing at, and how long of a boil are you planning?

I haven't nailed down the mash temp yet, I think I've seen 154 commonly used. I was thinking a 90 min boil. So do you think I can get away with it on my rig?

 

[bnmir]

I recently mashed one at 156 and a 90min boil and got way too much unfermentables. I also used scottish ale yeast which isnt very attenuative. Bad combination.

 

[Gwitz]

I think there is a simple solution to the first runnings boil down. Collect however much you want to boil in a separate pot. A full 7 gallons isnt going to concentrate enough to get the kettle caramelization you want. Taking 1-2 gallons and boiling the snot out of it has a better chance of that.

Mash this sucker low and long, im thinking 65 for 90 minutes. I've seen 1.030 FG for this beer, im gonna shoot for 1.020 and i may throw some trappist highgrav on it to get there.

 

[Twofox]

Well, I brewed this on Sunday. I let the mash sit while I carmelized 1 gallon down by 75%, then boiled 7 gallons for 2 hrs. Came in just over my target gravity. This thing smells great while it's fermenting! Looking forward to a tasty beer.