Second Mash Runnings - Table Beers

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Montanabeerz, Apr 3, 2018.

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  1. Montanabeerz

    Montanabeerz Savant (1,073) Oct 31, 2016 Montana
    Trader

    I just had a bottle of Vesper from Holy Mountain, a table beer. It got me thinking about table beers and using second runnings of mashes to brew them. I believe this was common back in the olden days of old. Brewers would brew a "strong ale", then a low alcohol "table beer" by re-using the same mash and doing a second wort runoff.

    Does anyone have any experience with this? I brew 10 gallon batches on a 15 gallon keggle system and kind of want to brew my IPA recipe which is 26 lbs of 2row/wheat/oats/carapils and usually comes in around 1.070 OG, then do a second runoff of the mash and brew a farmhouse table beer with the second runoff. I usually fly sparge, but for the second runoff, I would probably just add another 14 gallons of 170 degree water from the HLT, and batch sparge it. Then do a second boil for the second beer.

    Anyone have any experience with this? Does this make sense?
     
    #1 Montanabeerz, Apr 3, 2018
  2. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    I haven't done this, but it is not uncommon and it makes a lot of sense. You can consider adding some crystal or roasted malt (or really anything that doesn't have to be mashed) to the second runnings if you care for a different character.

    That said, I do not believe this was a common technique historically. It is true that brewers would use a single mash to make beers of different strengths, but I think they would commonly blend the first and second runnings in different ratios to make the different beers.
     
    #2 minderbender, Apr 3, 2018
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  3. MostlyNorwegian

    MostlyNorwegian Pooh-Bah (2,236) Feb 5, 2013 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    It makes great sense and you get two completely different beers to drink. It's about the only way I brew at home anymore. Saves time, and maximizes my equipment.
    Most recent one was a mole porter that I got a 1090 variation using ardennes, and a 1052 version using Omega bit of funk.
     
    #3 MostlyNorwegian, Apr 3, 2018
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  4. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    I've brewed like this a coule times with decent results. Depending what you want. Adding the extra malts is a super idea. I had not tryed that, but will.
     
    #4 GormBrewhouse, Apr 3, 2018
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  5. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    #5 PortLargo, Apr 3, 2018
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  6. Montanabeerz

    Montanabeerz Savant (1,073) Oct 31, 2016 Montana
    Trader

    thanks for that link. At least for the 1st time I do this I'm not going to blend runnings, just do my normal IPA, then a totally different table beer with the second runnings. I've read of people adding more fermentable sugars to the 2nd runnings as well, but I think I'm going to just do it straight up the 1st time and hope I can squeeze a 2.5%+ farmhouse beer out of it. Pretty amazing value. Just yeast and little bit of hops for 10 more gallons of crushable beer.
     
    #6 Montanabeerz, Apr 3, 2018
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