Maximizing efficiency on Big beers.

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015.

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  1. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    So....... me and a couple friends have an upcoming wheat wine to brew, and we want this beer to be in the 13-14% range, and hopefully without adding sugar during the ferment but I have my doubts about that.

    Do you guys have any tips on big beer brewing in general?

    Our target OG is gonna be 1.130. Each of us has 18lbs of Halcyon malt, and 12lbs of wheat malt and 10 oz of Honey Malt. I know we are probably a little weak on wheat for brewing a wheat wine to style but that's besides the point.

    I have a couple ideas.

    1.) Mash in my mash tun, 13lbs of halcyon, 12lbs wheat and the honey malt and do that portion as normal. The remaining 5lbs of Halcyon malt, ill do a BIAB mash/slight sparge in another smaller kettle. After mashing that BIAB portion I will boil it to reduce it by half at least making a concentrated malt syrup to help boost my main mashes numbers.

    2.) Max the hell out of my 12 gallon cooler mash tun and take 5 hours to fly sparge. (My friends have 10 gallon mash tuns)

    3.) Split all the grains in half and do 2 separate mashes/sparges. This will get me around 10 or 11 gallons of wort, and then boil that down till I have 7 or 8 gallons depending on gravity readings during the long boil.

    Any other process ideas?

    Hoping to hear what you guys do to maximize efficiency on your BIG beers.


    I'm not against adding sugar during the ferment but am thinking I may not need too.

    Cheers. Pat.
     
    #1 psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015
  2. Jesse14

    Jesse14 Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2011 Massachusetts

    I don't have a lot of experience with big beers but Jacks Abby in MA does a nice job with their 10%+ beers. They posted one time that they use their 1st runnings as the sparge liquid and essentially run it through the grains a second time. Sounded like a good idea. Maybe daisy chain the runnings through each mash tun full of grain. Just a thought.
     
    #2 Jesse14, Jan 21, 2015
  3. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Use 30% DME, but don't tell anyone.
     
    #3 Brew_Betty, Jan 21, 2015
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  4. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    That's interesting. I don't understand how this would help boost efficiency but I suppose there has to be a good reason they do that.
     
    #4 psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015
  5. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    I wouldn't be able sleep for days if I did that.
     
    #5 psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015
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  6. FeDUBBELFIST

    FeDUBBELFIST Pooh-Bah (1,765) Oct 31, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    #6 FeDUBBELFIST, Jan 21, 2015
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  7. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    #7 psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015
  8. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    #8 minderbender, Jan 21, 2015
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  9. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    I've brewed a number of 1.120+ beers without adding sugar or extract. I sparge a lot, collect a lot of wort in 2 kettles, then boil the hell out of them to bring the volume down and gravity up.
     
    #9 Homebrew42, Jan 21, 2015
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  10. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    I'm leaning towards something like this because a long boil is something I like the character of. We did a 3 hour boil on a BBA wee heavy and it came out fantastic. Also Voodoo brewing does a BBA wee heavy with a 5 hour boil that is incredible.

    I'm not sure what character about the long boil I like but I feel like its gives some great character to a beer that's destined for a barrel.
     
    #10 psnydez86, Jan 21, 2015
  11. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    Long boils produce more Maillard reactions, which are flavorful.
     
    #11 hopfenunmaltz, Jan 21, 2015
  12. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    A 3 hour boil, Gilligan.
     
    #12 inchrisin, Jan 21, 2015
  13. Vogt52

    Vogt52 Initiate (0) May 25, 2014 Maryland

    #13 Vogt52, Jan 21, 2015
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  14. Naugled

    Naugled Pooh-Bah (1,944) Sep 25, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Parti gyle, long boil, keep DME on hand if you want higher OG. Use second runnings for a small beer.
     
    #14 Naugled, Jan 21, 2015
  15. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Good read. Thanks for sharing.

    I really like the idea of just pitching several different 'high cranking' yeasts into a big beer. Mostly unrepeatable and very much appreciated by a brewer like me.
     
    #15 inchrisin, Jan 21, 2015
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  16. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    I've done this a few times and have never been happy with the second runnings beer. There's a reason why the majority of commercial brewers who partigyle use some amount of the first runnings in all the beers.
     
    #16 Homebrew42, Jan 21, 2015
  17. Vogt52

    Vogt52 Initiate (0) May 25, 2014 Maryland

    Np good luck with your brew. Let me know how it turns out
     
    #17 Vogt52, Jan 21, 2015
  18. Naugled

    Naugled Pooh-Bah (1,944) Sep 25, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I agree for RIS's, I've never made a small beer I liked with the second runnings of an RIS. But they come out ok for OA's and BW's, especially if you hop them up.
     
    #18 Naugled, Jan 21, 2015
  19. dmtaylor

    dmtaylor Savant (1,149) Dec 30, 2003 Wisconsin

    Thick mash, low and slow (148 F for several hours or overnight), sparge like mad, boil for hours, and select a very highly attenuative yeast. US-05 would not be a terrible choice as it knows how to eat sugar. I have never done this but a simultaneous or almost simultaneous (like 2 days later) pitch of champagne or wine yeast might not be a bad idea. Start the ferment very cool around 60 F and slowly ramp up towards the 80s to ensure maximum attenuation.

    Partigyle is also a great idea. Use just the first runnings and make a second beer with the latter half of runnings. Do not mash-out, just let your first runnings sit warm while you play with the second runnings.
     
    #19 dmtaylor, Jan 21, 2015
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  20. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    I am not sure champagne or wine yeast is a good idea. I guess the point is to add a yeast that can handle the high alcohol, but champagne/wine yeasts are evolved to eat simple sugars, so I don't know how well they will ferment a big beer. (On the other hand, they are great for carbonation if you are priming with sugar.) Also some wine yeasts are "killer" yeasts that might impair the activity of your beer yeast.
     
    #20 minderbender, Jan 21, 2015
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