Guidry
Well-Known Member
New to AG and have brewed the same recipe twice (13.25lbs of grain). I have the common 10 gallon round orange tun. Ran the recipe thru several different software apps and all of them said to use approx 4.15 gals for the initial infusion. All of them suggest about a 0.13gal/lb absorption rate. Well, in both cases, I ended up with approx 4.25 gal in the mash due to adjustments to get the proper temp and both times I collected 3.5 gal. Even if I consider all of the "loss" due to absorption, that gives me a 0.06gal/lb absorption. Seems low right? And that does not assume any loss in the bottom of the tun. Any advice on how to determine the proper loss values for absorption and tun loss in my case?
Second, while I'm asking questions, all of the apps also recommended adding 5 gals for sparging (this with a 6.75 gal pre-boil volume specified). Assuming that the grain will have already absorbed all the water it can, and whatever tun loss I have will already still be in the tun, doesn't that volume seem way high? From my understanding, the sparge volume should be equal to the pre-boil desired volume minus the volume collected from the initial infusion, right?
Second, while I'm asking questions, all of the apps also recommended adding 5 gals for sparging (this with a 6.75 gal pre-boil volume specified). Assuming that the grain will have already absorbed all the water it can, and whatever tun loss I have will already still be in the tun, doesn't that volume seem way high? From my understanding, the sparge volume should be equal to the pre-boil desired volume minus the volume collected from the initial infusion, right?