"Radical Brewing" Recipe Question - Step Mashing

I'm going to make an all grain recipe from Randy Mosher's book.

It's a step mash, with rests at 113F, 153F and a mash out at 170F. The recipe calls for 2 quarts of water per pound of grain.

I don't have enough time to build a steam set up or heat stick so I'm going to have to use infusions.

I've played with some online calculators and it seems like I should make the water/grain ratio closer to 1.3 for the first rest, and then the amount of boiling water needed to bump the mash to the second rest would result in a water/grain ratio of 2. Is this the best way to do it?

Also, the recipe doesn't say how long I should stay at each rest. I was thinking maybe 30 minuets at the first rest and 60 for the second?

One last thing. I just started using beersmith. Is there an easy way to program this in?

I can clarify anything that doesn't make sense. Thanks in advance

Did you think about doing a decoction for the temp raises? You can program this mash schedule into beersmith.

If you look under mash profiles you should have three "double infusion, XXX body" options. Then you also have a single decoction mash if you're so inclined. All the temps can be adjusted by double clicking on each mash step.

Have you read about the different mash steps, why they are or are not used? If you know all about them, forget that I even posted.

Hmmm, we need to know your recipe. The 113F rest is not common with well modified malts. Does your recipe use unmalted grains?

To answer your questions, a water to grist of 1.0 to 2.0 is 'normal' for most all grain applications and our Brew-in-a-Bag (BIAB) brewers will tell you that you can go MUCH higher than that. So, if you need the 113F rest, I'd do it for the requisite amount of time (need to know grains and quantities being affected) at a water to grist of 1.0 (1st infusion). I'd shoot for the correct amount of water required to get to 153F (need to hold at 153 for an hour - at least) with a water to grist of 1.5 (but that's my pref). That's your second infusion. Mash-out is optional and is intended to stop conversion. I do it for fuller bodied beers. I mash-out at 168ish for 20 minutes. Just add the least amount of water needed to get your mash to 168F. It's okay if your infusions are at boiling as long as you thoroughly mix when you pour it in (and be as timely as possible).

Oh, and for Beersmith, you can build mash profiles in there. It's on the left side. You can specify the amount of water you want to add or you can specify the water to grist ratio you want to achieve.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

It makes sense to me that I would need to do a rest at 113 considering the grain bill, maybe I don't though.

Here's the grain bill from the recipe:

1.5 lb - Pilsener malt
1 lb - Sourt malt
3.5 lb - Wheat malt
.5 lb - unmalted oats
1 lb - rice hulls

I'm assuming with that much wheat and unmalted oats I can't get away with a single infusion, even though that'd be my preference.

You shouldn't need to rest at 113 since your wheat and sour malt are both malted. The only grain that would benefit at all is the oats and that's debatable. I would use (unmalted) quick or instant oats (yup, Quaker Oats) and go straight for your mash temp of 153.

I brewed the beer using a hot water step infusion.

The first infusion went fine, I hit 113F spot on

The second infusion was a fail though, I ended up 5 degrees below my target.

I attribute this to not accurately measuring the water volume for the second infusion. I measured the water accurately before heating it up but the water temperature was supposed to be near boiling. It ended up reaching the boil for a few minutes and then I had to let it cool down, during which time I probably lost just enough volume to effect the infusion. Plus the temperature of the water or the grain bed might not have been measured correctly.

Lesson learned: Measure hot water infusion volume and temperature more accurately.