Scaling a recipe from 400 gals

[Joe_Beer_1 (Joe_Beer)]

There’s been a local brew pub in my area for a couple decades. They’ve always had this imperial IPA that I really enjoyed, but I haven’t seen it on tap for the past year or so. On a whim, I filled out the contact form on their website and asked if they wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe if they’ve decided to discontinue it. Well, the manager of place emailed me back and gave me a rough outline of the recipe. Apparently the malt they use has gotten super expensive so they only make it a couple times a year now.

A few specifics are missing, intentional I assume, like the kind of yeast, boil time and kettle hopping schedules, but I guess I’ll figure something out as I scale this down.

The recipe makes “about 400 gallons” and 1265 lbs of a base malt listed. In Brewfather, this scales down to around 18 lbs. I think that’s way over what my foundry can handle.

I’ll probably start with 1-2 gallon batches first, but for the nearly 20 lbs for a 5 gallon batch, I’m wondering if I can split the mash between the foundry and a cooler or something?  Then after mash out, run the cooler off into the foundry and start the boil?

[denny]

Seems like that would work.

[rburrelli]

@Joe_Beer

There’s been a local brew pub in my area for a couple decades. They’ve always had this imperial IPA that I really enjoyed, but I haven’t seen it on tap for the past year or so. On a whim, I filled out the contact form on their website and asked if they wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe if they’ve decided to discontinue it. Well, the manager of place emailed me back and gave me a rough outline of the recipe. Apparently the malt they use has gotten super expensive so they only make it a couple times a year now.

A few specifics are missing, intentional I assume, like the kind of yeast, boil time and kettle hopping schedules, but I guess I’ll figure something out as I scale this down.

The recipe makes “about 400 gallons” and 1265 lbs of a base malt listed. In Brewfather, this scales down to around 18 lbs. I think that’s way over what my foundry can handle.

I’ll probably start with 1-2 gallon batches first, but for the nearly 20 lbs for a 5 gallon batch, I’m wondering if I can split the mash between the foundry and a cooler or something?  Then after mash out, run the cooler off into the foundry and start the boil?

I mashed 17 lb BIAB in my Anvil 10.5 last week. Started with 8.5gallons of water. That came to about an inch from the top.

I have seen posts where others have done up to 22 lb with a thick mash (I assume).

[dmtaylor (Dave Taylor)]

You know… there is such a thing as a 4-gallon batch.  Or 4.5 gallons.

But a cooler will of course work just fine for splitting your mash if you’d rather go that route, or make more rather than less.

[profitt_chartermi.net (Kevin)]

@Joe_Beer

There’s been a local brew pub in my area for a couple decades. They’ve always had this imperial IPA that I really enjoyed, but I haven’t seen it on tap for the past year or so. On a whim, I filled out the contact form on their website and asked if they wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe if they’ve decided to discontinue it. Well, the manager of place emailed me back and gave me a rough outline of the recipe. Apparently the malt they use has gotten super expensive so they only make it a couple times a year now.

A few specifics are missing, intentional I assume, like the kind of yeast, boil time and kettle hopping schedules, but I guess I’ll figure something out as I scale this down.

The recipe makes “about 400 gallons” and 1265 lbs of a base malt listed. In Brewfather, this scales down to around 18 lbs. I think that’s way over what my foundry can handle.

I’ll probably start with 1-2 gallon batches first, but for the nearly 20 lbs for a 5 gallon batch, I’m wondering if I can split the mash between the foundry and a cooler or something?  Then after mash out, run the cooler off into the foundry and start the boil?

This is an Anvil Foundry 10.5 I assume? You can fit 18 pounds using a much thicker mash. It will be tight with the malt pipe but if you use a bag it should be a much more comfortable fit.

[andyfarke]

@kevin

@Joe_Beer

The recipe makes “about 400 gallons” and 1265 lbs of a base malt listed. In Brewfather, this scales down to around 18 lbs. I think that’s way over what my foundry can handle.

I’ll probably start with 1-2 gallon batches first, but for the nearly 20 lbs for a 5 gallon batch, I’m wondering if I can split the mash between the foundry and a cooler or something?  Then after mash out, run the cooler off into the foundry and start the boil?

This is an Anvil Foundry 10.5 I assume? You can fit 18 pounds using a much thicker mash. It will be tight with the malt pipe but if you use a bag it should be a much more comfortable fit.

I have done it with the malt pipe, and can verify that it is tight. I also sparge with 2 gallons of water or so, which makes for the thick mash you mention and also helps to improve efficiency. I would definitely recommend having some DME on hand…or sparging even more and then boiling down to hit your gravity.

[Joe_Beer_1 (Joe_Beer)]

Thanks all. I forgot about the BIAB trick for bigger mash. I’ll consider that when I get the recipe nailed down.

@Kevin - yep, 10.5 Foundry

@dmtaylor - of course, but then the keg is starting partially empty