OK, so I’ve got ten gallons each of my IPA and Bigfoot beer for a local competition fermenting nicely. But, this weekend, we are going to brew two batches back to back. My standard Amber, and more IPA. This will be the first time back to back. Should work pretty good though. During the mash of the first batch, I can start heating strike water for the second, then when I go to boil, time to start mashing the second batch, and so on, and so on.
I’m sure some of you have done this in the past, if not doing it as practice. Any hints or such I should be considering?
You got it. It basically adds for the second boil, wort chiller and pitch if you time it right. An extra brew and you only add about 1.5 hours to your brew day!
That’s what I normally do. The only thing I haven’t figured out how to avoid is an extra long mash on the second batch. My first batch each day gets about 60 minutes in the mash. The second batch may mash for up to 120 minutes. It doesn’t seem to cause any issues.
It sure is nice to get 2 beers for only a couple more hours work.
The time between start of boil and when your kettle is ready to accept more wort would be much more than the 1 hour boil due to post boil time spent whirlpooling, cooling, draining, cleaning, etc. Better to start the second mash 1/2 hour or more into the boil. Otherwise, this is what many commercial breweries do. Do it a few times and I’m sure you’ll get the process figured out.
Make a checklist before hand so you can keep track of everything. That way you won’t forget about the little things like adding Irish moss, yeast nutrient, etc.
And don’t start drinking beer until you have at least mashed in the second batch
