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mark taylor
Intermediate Member
Username: Marktaylo
Post Number: 341
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 189.177.55.184
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 03:16 pm: | 
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Because of the limited size of my brew kettle, I plan to make a 7.5 gal. concentrated batch of ale and dilute it down to the gravity I want by adding pre-boil/chilled water to come up with a 15gal. batch. I understand that I need to consider a drop in my efficiency and hop utilization but other than that, are there elements of the quality of a beer made this way that I'm overlooking? Thanks in Advance.
mark
www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com
www.thebackyardbrewer.com |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 11256
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.141.103.148
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 05:01 pm: |
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Reducing the volume by half is a rather severe concentration factor; for example, you would have to brew 1.096 wort to arrive at an O.G. of 1.048. Yes, I would expect the efficiency to drop by about 15-20 percent from that for a lower gravity wort, so you will have to increase the amount of grain accordingly and consider whether you have enough mash tun capacity. Secondly, the hop utilization will also decrease; I would expect to use about 25 percent more bittering hops than called for in a normal gravity recipe, but only a slight increase in late addition hops.
I would guess that it will take a couple of test batches before you achieve the results you are looking for. There are those who maintain that a full-wort boil produces beer with better flavor. Some of the large megabreweries produce concentrated wort, but they have done a lot of experimentation and recipe testing before they do this on a production basis. Also, the concentration is more like 15-30 percent.
(Message edited by BillPierce on February 09, 2010) |
mark taylor
Intermediate Member
Username: Marktaylo
Post Number: 342
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 189.234.54.60
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 05:55 pm: |
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My original grain bill was 11 lbs of 2 row with about 80% eff. and added 2 lbs. honey for an o.g. of 1.052 in 7.5 gal.
I used 1/2oz Simcoe @ 16% for 20 ibu's
Since I am only using 22 lbs. for a double batch, I figured I'd still get a pretty good eff. but will make up the diff. with honey if needed.
I used 1.5 oz. Simcoe for this batch expecting a 22% util. in a gravity of 1.086 in 7.5 gal. which puts me at about 55 ibu's
At flame out I will add 4 lbs. honey and dilute the batch 50% with pre-boiled water. This should get me down to 25ibu's in an o.g. of 1.052 more or less.
(Message edited by marktaylo on February 09, 2010) |
Hophead
Senior Member
Username: Hophead
Post Number: 2900
Registered: 03-2002
Posted From: 167.4.1.41
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 08:57 pm: |
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For me, when I've tasted partial boil brews that add 25%+ water post-boil, they taste 'thin'.
Do a double batch!  |
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