Sparging Question

Hey everyone, I'm going to be attempting a partial mash clone of Stone's SSR ale tomorrow, and I'm planning for a 5.25gal batch. I'm trying to use BeerSmith to calculate my sparge info, and it's a little confusing.

I selected for mash profiles, Single Infusion w/ Med Body, Sparge. It tells me the total boil vol is to be 6.42 gal, which sounds right. However, it tells me to mash in 1.81 gals of water @154, but then sparge with 5.2 gals @168. Maybe I'm not seeing something, but it seems that these numbers don't add up to 6.42, but rather 7.01 gals instead.

Is this because it's assuming a evaporation of over a half gallon just while mashing? It's a bit confusing, so any help you could give me would be great. Below, you can find a copy of my beersmith profile for this beer.


Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Brew Type: Partial Mash Date: 10/17/2010
Style: Imperial IPA Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.25 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.32 gal Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 % Equipment: My Equipment
Actual Efficiency: 0.0
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.50 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 62.1 %
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 26.1 %
0.90 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
0.90 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
3.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (90 min) Hops 106.1 IBU
1.00 oz Horizon [12.00%] (10 min) Hops 11.1 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (10 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
1.00 oz Horizon [12.00%] (1 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (1 min) Hops 0.9 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Horizon [12.00%] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.094 SG (1.075-1.095 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.024 SG (1.012-1.020 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 39.0 SRM (8.0-15.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 127.3 IBU (60.0-110.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 7.4 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 9.2 % (7.5-10.0 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.6 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 0.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 5.80 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.20 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 1.81 gal of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.2-2.7 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.0 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

The grain will absorb some water
and some also may be left behind in the mash tun
edit:
Sorry I should have read you're recipe didn't notice the partial mash

For a partial mash, you're not going to want to sparge with that much water anyway.

You want to mash with 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound of grain. Drain those runnings, and then sparge with no more than .5 gallon of water per pound of grain. If you need more liquid to make up your boil volume, use water. Oversparging can lead to tannin extraction, so you don't want to do that.

Thanks for the reminder Yooper. At first I had some more questions but I had misread your post somewhat. I think I got it under control.

So basically, mash with around 1.3 qts per lb, and then sparge with .5gals/lb, then add any water after the sparge to achieve my boil volume?

nickmv said:

Thanks for the reminder Yooper. At first I had some more questions but I had misread your post somewhat. I think I got it under control.

So basically, mash with around 1.3 qts per lb, and then sparge with .5gals/lb, then add any water after the sparge to achieve my boil volume?

Click to expand...

Yep!

If you're using more grain, of course you'll have more volume to the runnings- that is why you don't have to add water to recipes with more grain like AG batches. But when you've only got 6 pounds of grains, you're going to be limited to about 5 gallons total, following the .5 gallons of sparge water to pound of grain "rule".