2 beers 1 tun

3 gallon glass carboys exist.

As for partigyle recipe formulation, I've done some beginners research on it and plan on having my first partigyle brew day soon.

One thing I picked up so far is that the first 1/3 of your run off usually contains 50% of all the sugars you collect. The other 50% will be contained in the remaining 2/3 of your run off. I think that resource also said something like the second 1/3 of your runnings is 37.5% of your extract and the final 1/3 of your runnings is about 12.5%

For this reason, lots of partigyle brewers do batches like the following. Just note that the OG calculations from both of these partigyle volume split variations are based on a 15 gallon batch @ 1.060 OG (scale that volume to your own batch size as needed)

1/3 to 2/3 volume runnings split = 2:1 gravity ratio

5 gallons of RIS @ 1.090 OG
10 gallons of English Mild @ 1.045 OG

OR

1/2 volume to 1/2 volume runnings split = 2.2:1 gravity ratio

7.5 gallons @ 1.083 OG (1st runnings batch)
7.5 gallons @ 1.037 OG (2nd runnings batch)

 

I have done this a few times, and by my limited experience, I trust people with much more experience than me, ie Mosher! So that is some great info above.

I have usually tried to hit my target OG for the first beer (measuring with refractometer) and then just be happy with being kinda close on the second runnings beer. You could always top up with a little DME to adjust the second runnings gravity.

 

I use this chart for an estimate. Figure out how you want to do it (50/50 split is usually what I do so I get 5 gallons of each). What you would do then is set your recipe for whatever batch size you want (10 gallons for me=2 @ 5 gallons) at the OG needed to produce the two beers where you want them. Example, 50/50 split (runnings, not gravity points), I want OG of the big beer at 1.086, I will get a small beer of 1.043, and the OG for the full 10 gallons would be 1.065 (see chart). At this point, mash, and drain/sparge to enough wort for 5 gallons post boil on the big beer, then continue sparging and collecting enough in a separate kettle for the second beer (5 gallons post boil).

I use the 2 beers one mash technique for almost every batch; why just get 5 gallons from a brew day. I've done a Wee Heavy and 80-, Wee Heavy and Bitter, Imperial Stout and Small Stout, Pilsner and Saison, 2 different CAPs (one traditional, one with Mosaic, Simcoe, Calypso), Oud Bruin and Imperial Red IPA, Wit and Gumballhead, Bavarian Hefe and Pineapple Wheat IPA and Sour Mash Berliner, IPA and Black IPA. You can do a clean beer and sour beer, lager and ale (separate yeasts and temps). The options are endless. Go for it.

I would recommend capping the mash between runnings though... add some character grains to the mash and let it sit and defuse between beer 1 and 2. The flavor of the second runnings can be very light and bland. If doing a bitter, add some more crystal malt and maybe some biscuit malt for flavor, a bit of Roast Barley for color and the dry finish.

As far as fermenting a smaller batch, no reason you can't ferment 3 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy, just keep it closed up post fermentation until you are ready to package. If you want to do a long time bulk age, you might want to get a 3 gallon Better Bottle or something.

 

That's how I usually do it. Indeed, I frequently add enough DME to brew a 'normal' gravity beer (>1.050)

 

I'm planning the following partigyle brew for the near future:

31# of grain would yield me an 11g non-partigyle master batch with a 1.077 OG, assuming 80% extraction efficiency and 72% brewhouse efficiency (that low specifically because of the large grain bill).

If I take that same 11g final volume batch and split it into 2 equal 5.5 gallon partigyle batches, I should yield a first runnings batch with an OG that is 2.2 times the OG of the 2nd runnings batch.

So I think my first runnings beer should be a 5.5 gallon batch of RIS with a 1.107 OG
I think my second runnings beer should be a 5.5 gallon batch of brown porter with a 1.049 OG

Following the Mosher math example I posted previously, it looks like this:

3.65g = 50% sugars 1.116 OG
7.3g = 50% sugars 1.058 OG

OR

5.5g = 1.107 OG
5.5g = 1.049 OG

I tried entering this recipe into beersmith the following way:

I basically created one recipe for the 1st runnings beer using all 31# of the grain. So it was a 5.5g batch size @ 60% mash extraction efficiency and 51% brewhouse efficiency. I then did the math above to calculate what OG I could expect from my 2nd runnings beer. I haven't bothered putting it into beersmith, but if I do I'll let you know the % I use.

 

According to that chart my math guesstimate was a few points off and I should have:

5.5g = 1.113 OG
5.5g = 1.051 OG

Which means my beersmith recipe for my 1st runnings beer needs to be calculated at 53% brewhouse efficiency and 60% mash extraction efficiency.

When I just entered a separate beersmith recipe for my 2nd runnings beer, I used the same grain profile, boil time, etc. and found that a 24% brewhouse efficiency and 28% mash extraction efficiency got my preboil and postboil OG to the proper place.

 

I typically get 85% extract efficiency with my overnight mashing, I split them out when making my recipes to 52% efficiency for the big beer and the remaining 33% for the small beer. I have been in the right range doing it this way. If I ever actually brew my Baltic Porter and Munich Dunkel partigyle I have it set for this.

I believe that the chart is Mosher's work.

 

This is a very helpful site:

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Batch_Sparge_and_Party_Gyle_Simulator

 

Sounds like my beersmith efficiency #'s (when entering a partigyle brew day as 2 separate beer recipes) generally reinforces your #'s. The main difference being that you get 85% extraction overnight and I tend to get closer to 79% extraction efficiency with my quick and easy batch sparge (and closer to 72% when making a beer with a huge grain bill like the one I based my numbers above off of).

 

Yeah, if I do a single infusion for an hour then batch sparge I typically get around 75-78% depending on the grain bill (Munich was low for my Dopplebock). I like the ease of doing it overnight and cranking it out in the morning, and it really helps the efficiency. Wake up and start my sparge water up (pre-measured night before), check temps on mash and run-off the first runnings. Dump in the sparge water and mix, reset the grain bed and run-off again.

 

I got all my info on it from private messaging jlpred55. I shoot about 3-4 degrees higher than normal and let it fall overnight. I leave the MLT in my garage wrapped in a heating blanket set on high and then an old sleeping bag around that. It drops maybe 10-12 degrees overnight (8-10 hours). So far I have only done dryer styles, Pils, Saison, Imp IPA, etc, I haven't tried it on beers meant to be left with a higher FG... yet. I have been using 154*F and getting low FG on my beers so far: Pils 1.008, Saison 1.005, Imp IPA 1.009, CAP 1.010 (so far), CAP 2 1.008 (so far). As far as subscribing there is a link to follow my blog towards the bottom.

 

Makes sense given your situation. I don't brew at my own place and I try to minimize my trips to my brew location as to inconvenience the host less. So for me an overnight mash wouldn't be an option. My single infusion batch sparge mash extraction usually ranges from 79%-85% depending on grain bill size and mash ph. My brewhouse efficiency ranges from 72% - 84% depending on how many hops are in the recipe and how good I am about collecting the wort in the hoses / chiller

 

I would have to ask, why so much vorlauf? I do maybe a gallon max, and slowly pour it back on top over my mash paddle right away. I usually have to do 2 sparges to get it all. I do about 1.2 quarts/lbs of grain since I can't mash at 2q/# with that much grain. No reason to mashout (I never have, but I basically got my process from Denny Conn who doesn't mashout, he says no need to in batch sparging). I wouldn't want to dilute my first runnings too much, so I would mash, vorlauf, drain, sparge, vorlauf, drain (repeat if needed).

 

I use a container that's about one quart, and it generally takes somewhere between 1/2 qt and 2 qt before it's running pretty clear. I don't really know what causes some to clear real fast, and some to clear more slowly, but there are some factors to consider.

I tend to assume that the crush is about the same every time, as I get my grain from the LHBS and I doubt they are changing the settings on their mill. Each batch seems to have around the same basic crush.

The braid in my filter on my mash tun does let some particulate matter through, but it's not a huge amount or anything unreasonable.

The one thing that certainly does seem to bring more particulate matter upon vorlaufing is having stirred the mash. I usually only stir it once or twice at most, but if you have stirred recently, more crud will probably get through.

Regardless of these concerns, the grain bed always acts as a great filter, and despite the variance in volumes needed to obtain a free flow of clear, debris free wort, it's never really much of an issue (at least not to me).

I mash at approximately 1.25 qt/lb, slightly less if doing more than 13 lbs of grain in my 5 gallon mash tun. I've been making mostly around the same gravity beers, so I've got the process pretty down pat. I'll change it up some when my new system is complete.
I don't do a mashout. I assumed if Denny doesn't mash-out with a batch sparge, I probably didn't need to either.
I do follow the mash, vorlauf, drain, sparge, vorlauf, drain, sparge again (if needed), vorlauf again, final drain. Generally one sparge gets most of what I need, but with only a 5 gallon mash tun, it's always at least somewhat full, so often I'll have to sparge about the last gallon or so of water in a second sparge step. Obviously the vorlauf gets poured back into the mash tun, to be filtered again by the grain bed. My mash tun is cylindrical, so I get a high degree of filtering action from the grain.
I was doing a two-round batch sparge (typically about 1.8 gallons/sparge), but I've just changed it to one primary sparge, and if there's any leftover water, do a second sparge with what's left. My volumes are always pretty close, and I've not had any issues with gravity or tannins, so I assume that the extra effort I was expending to carefully split my sparge water into two equal batches was unnecessary. Please do comment if you know something I don't here.

 

Use a pump. Crystal clear runnings with virtually no effort. Every time! I let it run for 10-15 minutes while I tend to other matters.