First all grain batch - mash question

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steber

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Sunday will be my first AG batch. :ban:

Very excited to say the least. Been reading a lot of John Palmer to make sure I'm ready. Quick question on the mash/lauter.

I read that it should be a 2:1 water to grain ratio. My recipe calls for 11.52 pounds of grain which gives me 23 quarts of water. (5.75 gallons) So if reading right. This is my initial mash in soak, Once I recirculate/drain this to my brew pot I'm supposed to sparge with x.xx gallons of water.

In the book it says to use 3.5 gallons. Although his example uses 4 gallons of mash in water. for a total of 7.5 gallons.

I hear 7.5 is a pretty good total boil for a 1.5 gallon predicted boil off. So am I correct to think that I should only sparge with 1.75 gallons of water for a total of 7.5 gallons?

Please help as I want the best efficiency possible for my first AG batch. As always, thanks for any help! :rockin:
 
I use 1.5 qts water per pound of grain so that should give you 4.3 gallons to mash with and follow it up with 4.3 gallons for the sparge. This should give you right around 7 gallons of wort for a five gallon batch. You should get around 75 to 80% efficiency.
 
Pilotcox said:
I use 1.5 qts water per pound of grain so that should give you 4.3 gallons to mash with and follow it up with 4.3 gallons for the sparge. This should give you right around 7 gallons of wort for a five gallon batch. You should get around 75 to 80% efficiency.

So I'm assuming this calculates a ~1.6 gallon loss to absorption in the grain bed?
 
steber said:
So I'm assuming this calculates a ~1.6 gallon loss to absorption in the grain bed?

I figure about 0.5 quarts per pound of grain will be absorbed during the mash, so that sounds about right for your recipe.
 
I BIAB at home, but have been doing much research in anticipation of opening the brewery. Previously, I have been mashing thin at 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grist, but may be reducing that ration (at home, I BIAB- not so in the profession). 1.25 is a good one to start at, according to the pros when considering efficiency.
 
Download some brewing software and let it do your calculations. In my opinion this is the only way you will ever get repeatable results without a bunch of hand calculations. Hand calculations get a bit fuzzy sometimes when under pressure brewing and enjoying a beer or two.

Although written for HERMS my web site covers the entire all grain brew day. You may enjoy taking a read of it mash in, to boil. It covers the area you are asking about.

How to Brew All Grain With HERMS, a How To Guide
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