Newest Threads

lmd · 02-28-2013, 07:23 PM

I have done two all grain brews and I have had trouble figuring out how much of the first runnign sI have collected. I drain into an 8 gallon ss megapot with no markings.

what is the easiest way to see how much I have and then how much I need to batch sparge?

**bferullo** · 02-28-2013, 07:29 PM

Make a dipstick with gallon markings in by pouring a gallon in your pot, mark with permanent marker, repeat. I used an oak dowel from Home depot for a buck or two to calibrate my 10 gallon SS kettle.

broadbill · 02-28-2013, 07:30 PM

Find yourself a dowel, and put markings on it for where 1 gallon, 2 gallon, 3, etc. come up to when added to the pot.

Bonus points: weigh the water for better volume measurement (1 gallon =8.34 lbs, or if you are metric savvy: 1 L =1000g)

anico4704 · 02-28-2013, 07:31 PM

I drain my mash tun into a bottling bucket with volume markers on it, pour it into the kettle, then fill tthe bottling bucket up to the desired volume of sparge water and dump that into the mash tun. Very simple

**GrogNerd** · 02-28-2013, 07:36 PM

tape measure.

measure the diameter of your kettle for reference, then when you pour you wort into it, measure the depth.

simple geometry from there

my BK makes it simple. 1 inch = 2 quarts. not telling you the diameter

**RM-MN** · 02-28-2013, 07:38 PM

If its a straight sided pot and you know that it is 8 gallons, measure the height of the pot. If 32 inches makes 8 gallons, then 4 inches make one gallon. Height divided by 8 equals height of one gallon.

***Yooper*** · 02-28-2013, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bferullo

Make a dipstick with gallon markings in by pouring a gallon in your pot, mark with permanent marker, repeat. I used an oak dowel from Home depot for a buck or two to calibrate my 10 gallon SS kettle.

But what do you mean by the amount you need for batch sparging? Sometimes you end up using more sparge water than you need to collect in runnings. You just stop collecting runnings when you reach your target pre boil volume or the runnings SG gets too low that you may be extracting tannins.

For batch sparging, you don't end up more sparge water than you need, and you don't stop collecting runnings when the runnings' Sg gets low- the water is added in a big "batch", so whatever goes in comes out!

But the dipstick is a great idea if you don't want to mark your pot. Or, measure it in a bucket and then put that in your pot. I have the dipstick, and it works fine.

Measure your runnings, so you know if you have 3 gallons you'll know exactly how much sparge water you'll need to add to the MLT.

lmd · 02-28-2013, 07:40 PM

Thanks for the replies..I may just get a dwoel from HD. I also like the drain into the bottling bucket that already ahs the markings and then dumping into the bk.. Its just an extra step.

**Evan_L** · 02-28-2013, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by broadbill

Find yourself a dowel, and put markings on it for where 1 gallon, 2 gallon, 3, etc. come up to when added to the pot.

Bonus points: weigh the water for better volume measurement (1 gallon =8.34 lbs, or if you are metric savvy: 1 L =1000g)

8.34 for water but wort will be different depending on SG.

I got lucky, my pot is almost exactly 1.125"/Gal so I just use a ruler.

**jflongo** · 02-28-2013, 07:43 PM

If I take my 7.5 gallon, it's 13" high, so 0.577 gallons / inch.

You could mark that on a stick, and then verify it by using a bucket or pitchers.