Boil Half The Wort

[the_fuzz]

I search around and couldn't find any answers,

I have a 33L mash tun, but my current boiler is only 20L. I have been doing 11.5L batches and utilising my old MSB fermenter.

I was thinking last night, why couldn't I mash for a 23L batch but only boil 1/2 of it and refridgerate the rest?

To me this is sort of like the infamous "no-chill" method?

Would there be any reason why I couldn't do it this?

 

[Simon W]

Your likely to end up with hazy/cloudy beer from the protein in the unboiled wort. (no hot/cold break)

 

[sah]

A couple of thoughts:

The malt is home to lots of bacteria, boiling kills it.

Volume and gravity are factors in hop utilisation.

Boiling removes DMS.

Boiling removes a lot of protein (hot break).

Berliner weiss is traditionally brewed without a boil. However, it is a sour beer though that relies on lacto bacillus.

regards,
Scott

 

[axl]

Just get a bigger boiler

All jokes aside, I can't see any reason why you couldn't boil half and chill the rest. Sound like a good idea actually.

 

[tangent]

Nothing wrong with boiling the second half of the batch straight after the first. Just doing it in halves. You could probably fit the pot in a tub of water to chill since it's a smaller size too.

 

[troydo]

i think by not boiling half your inviting infection and also hazy beer but it could work..

 

[the_fuzz]

Nothing wrong with boiling the second half of the batch straight after the first. Just doing it in halves. You could probably fit the pot in a tub of water to chill since it's a smaller size too.

That was my other idea, the chill part isn't an issue as I have 2 chillers.

I think I might just do 2 different boils and then use 2 different fermenters to mess with hops

 

[oldbugman]

wouldnt it be easier to get a bigger pot?

 

[the_fuzz]

wouldnt it be easier to get a bigger pot?

Yes,

However, I was going to do a brew this weekend and time constraints would not permit a bigger pot - this was only meant for a short term solution

 

[braufrau]

Another temporary solution might be to do a conentrated boil.
I aim for a preboil gravity of 1.050 and now I have my mashing under control i get
~75% efficiency.
Then I dilute in the fermenter.

So if you were doing a beer of about 1.050 starting gravity you could do the same size
batch as boil.

'Course then you need more hops for a concentrated boil.

 

[barneyhanway]

You have to boil the entire wort from grain. Grain husks are hosts to bacteria, lactobaccillus for one, it MUST be boiled to sanitise.
So, feel free to boil half at a time, but make sure you boil the entire thing.

 

[NRB]

You have a few options here, but do not leave unboiled wort for a prolonged time, refrigerated or not.

Options:
1. Partigyle
2. Collect all wort in a separate vessel such as a fermenter then split 50:50 and play around with hopping regimes for the same base beer.
3. Concentrated wort boil and subsequent dilution
4. Get a bigger kettle

 

[dr K]

Boiling your set aside wort will kill off most of the nasties that have infiltrated your perfect growth medium, but it will not drive off the products of those nasties, your major entry will be lactobacillus (cause its there) add to that any of the wild yeasts and various micro-flora hanging out in your brewery, doin' a bit of cruisin' as it were....

K

 

[mika]

If you were going to freeze the wort straight after mashing, would the Lacto and other beasties have enough time to achieve anything ? At 0degs any yeasties would be hibernating would they not ? As long as your wort remains solid. Just listened to a BN show where the White Labs dude was talking about freezing yeast and saying it drops viability in the order of 10% per week, I presume Lacto and any wild yeast would be degraded similarily over time.

 

[dr K]

snap-freeze?
lactobacillus has a party at anywhere between 16 and 60C, most yeasts are still active down to 7C and some to less.
even if freezing were to kill these chappies it will not kill the products that will be produced if they get going..how long will it take your freezer to chill 20litres, or even 10 litres of 65C wort down to 7C.
Will you 100% get a lactic infection, well no, maybe not but the chances of getting an infection outweigh..of course if you are making a Berliner Weiss forgwt all I have said !

K

 

[///]

High Gravity brew??

 

[tangent]

high gravity is an option but you'll have to factor that in with your IBU calculations. Since determining IBUs is a bit iffy with a "normal" gravity brew (basic brewing episode # something) you are more likely to be all over the place.
2x boils is fine. Glad you're not making excuses like "my pot isn't big enough so I had to add extract, so it's not AG" like we read all the time.

 

[the_fuzz]

2x boils is fine. Glad you're not making excuses like "my pot isn't big enough so I had to add extract, so it's not AG" like we read all the time.

You know what they say, once you've had black AG, you can't go back :icon_drunk:

I think for this weekend, I will go the 2 boils, then get a bigger pot during the 2 weeks off I've got

One last question, when I start the first boil, what is the best thing to do with the remaining wort? I do have a copper chiller.

 

[Kai]

snap-freeze?
lactobacillus has a party at anywhere between 16 and 60C, most yeasts are still active down to 7C and some to less.
even if freezing were to kill these chappies it will not kill the products that will be produced if they get going..how long will it take your freezer to chill 20litres, or even 10 litres of 65C wort down to 7C.
Will you 100% get a lactic infection, well no, maybe not but the chances of getting an infection outweigh..of course if you are making a Berliner Weiss forgwt all I have said !

K

I reckon with a half-half wort split on a ~23L batch of beer you could easily go several days with half the batch chilled and several months with half of it frozen before boiling with no ill effect. Could be interesting, time-dilated beer.

 

[///]

high gravity is an option but you'll have to factor that in with your IBU calculations. Since determining IBUs is a bit iffy with a "normal" gravity brew (basic brewing episode # something) you are more likely to be all over the place.
2x boils is fine. Glad you're not making excuses like "my pot isn't big enough so I had to add extract, so it's not AG" like we read all the time.

ffsssttt says the regular high gravity brewer. Using some nice tools we are always where we want to be. These tools are process, quality and attention to detail. Luckily David reminds me of these often and I follow his loud voice.

Something like beersmith will also sort this sorta stuff easily.

Scotty