Partigyle Brewing: The Mash That Keeps On Giving

Brewing uses an economy which places the brewer in the intersubjective space between ingredients, process, creativity, and the various groups and individuals that will become its consumers. It was a similar economy which propelled the production of beer centuries before the modern era. Many may be familiar with the brewing traditions of the monks of Trappist fame and lore. The process used to brew several of these beers--and a few others, including some of Fuller's beers--is known as "partigyle" brewing. Partigyle brewing is a type of all-grain brewing in which a single mash yields multiple beers. In a typical all-grain homebrewing session, the mash tun is drained/sparged only one time, thus yielding only one beer. However, in a partigyle brewing session, after saccarification the mash tun is filled with hot water and drained multiple times, yielding worts of successively weaker specific gravities. The rationale behind this technique is based on the tendency for a mash to lose extract efficiency as the size of the grain bill increases. In general, grain weight and extract efficiency are inversely proportional due to the increased viscosity of the wort that is produced. When draining a mash tun that contains a more viscous wort, more sugars will be left trapped in the grain bed. As homebrewers, we have worked hard up to this point to mash our grain to convert starches into sugars. One way to ensure maximum extract utilization is to re-fill the mash tun and collect multiple gyles, lest no fermentable be left behind!

In some applications, each separate gyle is combined to form one wort. This is, essentially, the same as batch sparging, a popular sparging technique among homebrewers. Batch sparging is also known to improve extract efficiency for mash tuns constructed from picnic coolers, but that's a blog post for another time. However, in the famous Trappist breweries mentioned above, each successively weaker gyle becomes a different beer. Often given the monikers tripel, dubbel, and single respectively, each beer's "number" signifies its alcoholic strength. In terms of economy, these beers also served the purpose of social class distinction. The strongest beers would be reserved for special occasions or for royalty. The next strongest would be designated for the abbot or feudal lord. The 3rd gyle (or runnings) would be the "single" beer consumed in quantity by the monks. There may even have been a fourth gyle, which produced a very weak beer served to everyone else, including pilgrims and peasants alike.

I recently embarked upon a partigyle brew of epic proportions. Though I have done a partigyle batch before, I had never done a partigyle batch that would produce three very different beers. Oh, did I mention that all three beers have a pumpkin theme, and that the overall mash contained 8 lbs. of roasted pumpkin that had been in the freezer since October? My plan for the batch was to use up most of my partially emptied grain bags from the previous year. I had about 15 lbs. of base malt of different varieties and bits of specialty grains here and there, so I formulated a master recipe with specialty grain additions for each gyle. My goal was for a big barleywine as the first gyle, an IPA of unknown strength for the second, and a sour, berliner-style beer for the third (perhaps I will do another post on sour mashing, but please ask if you have questions before I get around to such a post). In addition to left-over grains, I also had several ounces of Apollo hops to use up. This was fortunate because I intended to make an extremely hoppy pale ale (at least 7 oz. Apollo hops, with over 40 IBUs in the last 10 minutes of the boil) So, here are the recipes with some pics. When they are ready to drink I will give a tasting report.

Main mash (common to all beers):

12.13# Maris Otter
3.13# US 2-Row
.13 # Black Patent Malt
8# Frozen roasted pie pumpkin

Barleywine (OG before sugar: 1.086) (4.37 gal. boil volume; 3.25 gal. in fermenter):

• 1.00 oz. Apollo (16.00%) @ 60 min.  50.6 IBU
• 2.00 oz. Brambling Cross (6.00%) @ 15 min. 18.8 IBU
• 3.00 oz. Brambling Cross (6.00%) @ 1 min.  2.5 IBU
• 1 tsp. Irish Moss @ 10 min.
• 2+ lbs. Table Sugar (boiled w/ 2 c. water/lb. to make syrup) added in 1 lb. additions to primary 
• started fermentation with SafAle US-05 yeast and added large 4L starter of WLP099 Super High Gravity Yeast after second sugar addition in primary

Mashed in with 28 qt. of 157.3F water for a 60 min. single infusion rest @ 150F. Fermented at 61F-64F ambient temperature. Fermentation temperature should stay below 70F.
Use http://yeastcalc.com/ and http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html to calculate yeast pitching rates

IPA (OG: 1.053):

• Added 1.5 lbs. quick grits and 1 lb. Bairds Carastan (30L-37L) to mash before refilling mash tun with 24 qt. 174F water for 40 min.
• 1 oz. Apollo (16.00%) FWH @ 60 min.  66.7 IBU
• 1.5 oz. Apollo (16.00%) @ 10 min.  33.0 IBU
• 3.5 oz. Apollo (16.00%) @ 1 min. 9.1 IBU
• 1 oz. Apollo (16.00%) dry hop 14 days
• 1 lb. Table Sugar @ 15 min. 
• 1 tsp. Irish Moss @ 15 min.
• SafAle US-05 ale yeast; ferment below 70F (65-68F; 61-65F ambient temp.)

Berliner-style Sour ale (OG: 1.030):

• Partial mash of 1 lb. of main mash grist reserved prior to mashing, .66 lb. Honey Malt, and .66 lb. Biscuit Malt in separate vessel at appoximately 150F until converted. This partial mash is added back to main mash with 26 qt. of 172F water.
• Sour mash: allow mash to cool below 122F before adding large handful of uncrushed malt (I used a combination of unmalted barley I grew last summer and leftover sauerkraut juice full of lactobacilis). Maintain a temperature range between 95F-122F for approximately 36 hrs (either with hot water additions or an internal heat source), checking for desired sourness every 12 hours. It is important to reduced exposure of oxygen to the surface of the mash as much as possible to inhibit unwanted bacterial growth. Plastic wrap may be used to cover the surface of the mash or carbon dioxide may be blanketed atop the mash surface. When desired level of sourness is reached, heat mash to 168F and drain mash tun as per usual.
• Boil wort only 15 min.
• 1 tsp. Irish Moss @ 15 min.
• .50 oz. Pride of Ringwood (9.00%) @ 10 min.  7.1 IBU
• Bell's Brewery yeast cultured from bottles of Oberon
• Fermented at similar temperature as the above beers

Pics:

Mash after draining first gyle. Notice the pumpkin pieces.

Hydrometer reading of barleywine wort post-boil

Barleywine. I got impatient and did not filter trub and hops.

Pretty Barleywine wort

Barleywine wort in the glass

Hops & break material from 2nd gyle (IPA).

Hydrometer reading on 3rd gyle (Sour mash beer):

3rd gyle wort in the glass. Wow! Very tart!

Thanks so much for following this post through to the end! I would love to hear about your partigyle brew experiences in the comments.

More info on partigyle brewing:

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.2/mosher.html

http://www.astrocaver.com/java/Parti-Gyle.html

http://zombiebeergeeks.blogspot.com/2010/12/v-behaviorurldefaultvml-o.html

Until next time, BE FERMENTIVE!

Linkage of Process to Historical Context (A Series): Decoction Mashing

As I sit in my office listening to the subtle harmonies of my bubbling airlocks and the Craft Beer Temple blog show, my thoughts drift to a topic for my next blog entry. Sure, I could go straight to the recipes, but as any good academic knows, one must first explore the philosophy and process of one's craft before throwing caution to the wind and jumping in sight unseen. Although I do not intend for this to be a treatise or a dissertation, I am accustomed to a style of writing in which one begins a work by preparing the reader for what said work will contain, then actually telling the reader the thing for which purpose said work has been written, and finally reviewing what thing was told to the reader in said work. This is a rather tedious style of writing (IMHO) born out of the paranoia of academics that the reader will get it wrong (and they still often do). However, it also serves many additional functions, chief among them increasing the total number of words written and pages filled. But that is not my goal, here (notice I'm not using Courier New font). Rather, I desire to establish a basis for my craft within its historical context, and provide a link to the evolution of my current process. The task of description and linkage may bloom into multiple blog entries, and/or may punctuate sequences of entries on other topics, but I recognize that it is always there in the background and its presence is perceptible through a process of fluctuating transparency.

So, this blog entry and, perhaps, several subsequent entries will review a few traditional brewing methods, and discuss the purpose of their uses (or my interpretation of their uses; I am neither a beer writer/historian nor brewing sciences expert by trade). To preface the following, it is assumed that you, the reader, are already familiar with the basic brewing terminology and process. However, if you are not, I have included some helpful links throughout the text. If questions remain, don't hesitate to ask them and I will try to help or point you in the right direction.

Today, we will cover decoction mashing. "What is decoction mashing?" you may ask and, "why do it?" Rather than casting my bait into waters that have already been over-fished, I will focus more on the "why?" than the "what?" To put it simply, decoction mashing is a process of mashing in which a portion of the mash is removed from the mashing vessel, brought to saccarification temperature, subsequently boiled, and finally returned to the mashing vessel (tun) to raise the overall mash temperature. This time consuming process may take more time than the entire brewday for an extract brewer, and should not be entered into blindly or without proper planning. Truth be told, decoction mashing is not required to produce certain beer styles, and the homebrewer can easily brew great beer without doing a decoction mash. In fact, most (if not all) modern brewing malts are produced with such excellent efficiency and are fully modified so that a simple infusion mash is all that is necessary to convert starches into sugars. "So why do it, Mr. Fermentivity blogger?"

That's a very good question, and one I hope to try to answer. Before telling why I (sometimes) do it, let's gain an understanding of its historical context and why brewers used to do it. Decoction mashing evolved in Europe before the development of modern measuring equipment (thermometers, etc.) Brewers knew that adding water to malted grain and heating it to a certain temperature range over a length of time resulted in the conversion of starches into sugars; however, they had no way to accurately measure and regulate a temperature range between 145F-160F by heating the mash tun directly. They did have two relatively constant reference points though: body temperature, and the physical characteristics of boiling water. Over time, brewers learned that heating the mash to blood temperature, removing a portion and boiling it, and returning that decocted and boiled portion back to the mash (and repeating these steps 2 or 3 times), raised the temperature of the overall mash through a series of temperature steps which resulted in a very fermentable wort. As you may have read in the past, or in some of my links, there exist some variations on the general decoction mashing process, but the result is the same: sweet, very fermentable wort. Now that we have an understanding of why decoction mashing was used within its historical context, let's explore why a homebrewer would want to do it today.

There are many reasons why a homebrewer would use a decoction mash. And you may choose to justify your use of decoction mashing (or not) with any or all of these reasons:
-It's fun to be a part of history and place oneself within a certain context.
-Details are important to you and you aren't happy unless you do it exactly right (whatever that means...).
-You want an excuse to buy more brewing equipment and use the "necessity" of decoction mashing as a way to convince SWMBO to let you.
-You look for any excuse to make your brewday as labor intensive and/or lengthy as possible so you can savor every minute.
-You appreciate the complexity of color and flavor that only a triple decoction can provide to your bohemian pilsner or doppelbock.
-There are others, I'm sure, but I'm getting tired of writing and have other things to do.

Sorry for the abrupt end. Until next time, be fermentive.