[MerlinWerks]

Hey all,

Gonna brew the Wee Shroomy, however I BIAB so no first runnings per se. My plan is to do a mini mash ahead of time to collect the wort to boil down for the concentrate. So for any of you that have brewed either of these recipes do you have an idea of what the OG is for the first runnings you've boiled down? I'm doing a 7 gal batch so I want a little more concentrate so I'm thinking 1.5 gal of "first runnings" boiled down to 1.5 pints.

Thanks

[denny]

I'll see if I have it in my notes.  But I don't know that it matters all that much.  It is what it is.

[Chris S]

The last time I made this recipe (minus the shrooms), the OG on the wort for reintroduction was 1.090. Started with 2 gallons and boiled until I could spoon it onto waffles.

[James K]

The only time I made a wee heavy I did not boil anything “down” I just boiled for two hours. Came out to 1.092 and I ended up with a 10% beer.  I used mainly Golden promise (17lbs), with some roasted barley and melanoiden.  I ended up soaking oak chips in port wine and put those into the keg (probably a mistake).

In the end everybody though I had a bourbon aged beer. Got ya drunk but I think the wee heavy part was lost in the oak and port wine.

I’m pretty sure I used imperial tartan yeast, two packs. (I had broken my flask and couldn’t make a starter).

Sorry if that doesn’t help at all.

[Robert]

It's very easy to calculate the gravity of the first wort given any water-to-grist ratio for the mash.  If you use a typical 1.5 qt per pound, the first wort will be about 1.081.  But if you are boiling it down to a syrup of a given thickness anyway, does it matter how thin it started?  (And need we point out that no Scottish brewer ever in history did this? Homebrew myth.)

[MerlinWerks]

I understand this is not an exact science or that it needs to be as Denny suggested, just looking for something in the ball park. I'll start with 1.5 gal of 1.085 wort and boil it down to .2 gal.

Thanks All

[denny]

It's very easy to calculate the gravity of the first wort given any water-to-grist ratio for the mash.  If you use a typical 1.5 qt per pound, the first wort will be about 1.081.  But if you are boiling it down to a syrup of a given thickness anyway, does it matter how thin it started?  (And need we point out that no Scottish brewer ever in history did this? Homebrew myth.)

No one is ever claimed that any Scottish brewer did it and I can't see why it matters.  The result is that it makes a damn fine beer that tastes like a great wee heavy.