Pelikan

Recipes 

I'm trying to go for highest overall efficiency. For my setup, about 7.5 gallons combined volume in the mash/sparge is ideal (gives me about 6.5 gallon boil volume, and somewhere around 5.25 final).

In any case, I'm trying to figure if 12 pounds of grain plus 4 gallons of water (1.33 qt/lb) in the mash plus 3.5 gallons sparge is the ideal path, or if 11 pounds grain and 3.5 gallons water (~1.27qt/lb) in the mash plus 4 gallons sparge is the way to go.

Ultimately, max efficiency is the goal, but there's also something to be said about a higher concentration of grain-derived fermentables in the mash. If you were in this position, which route would you go?

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On a brewing hiatus. Will get back into the fray eventually, methinks...

flyangler18

Recipes 

What's your logic here? 12 lbs of grain will yield more in terms of fermentables compared to 11 lbs.

Pelikan

Recipes 

I didn't know if the sparge volume to mash volume made a difference. Again, just looking to maximize my efficiency, and don't know exactly how the above ratios will impact that figure.

__________________
On a brewing hiatus. Will get back into the fray eventually, methinks...