First all grain recipe, need help!

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Brewnoob6120

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I am getting ready to brew my first all grain batch, and I have some questions, I am in the process of building mash tun from a 10 gal. cooler and a cpvc manifold, I am using 13 lbs of grain, how much water should I add to the mash tun before I put the grain in? I know the strike temp is going to be 165 deg. but I cant find out how much to use, and the second question is how much sparge water to add and what temp should that be? I apologize in advance for the lame questions lol!

Dave
 
I think that depends upon the grain bill. Different grains have different absorption rates. My last 13 lb bill for a Porter used 15.31 gal of mash water at a mash of 154 degrees for an hour. My sparge was 4.6 gal at 168.
An IPA at 14+ lbs used 18.4 gal.....

I suggest using one of the many calculators available like SUDS or Brewsmith or an app :)
 
Correct me if I'm wrong. I typically add 1.25 quarts per pound. Sparge water is calculated by how much water the grain absorbs and what your pre boil volume. Grain usually absorbs it's weight in water. 1 gallon weights 8.35 pounds. 13/8.35 = 1.56 gallons (absorbed by the grain). 1.25 quarts * 13 pounds = 16.25 quarts or 4.06 gallons. 4.06 gallons - 1.56 gallons (absorbed) = 2.5 gallons run off from the mash. Subtract that from your preboil volume and you have your sparge volume.
 
Thanks for the input, I took your advice Chez and downloaded Beersmith and that did the trick, it's telling me to use 4.85 gal. of water @ 166.6 deg. with a grain temp of 72 that should give me a step temp of 152 deg. then 2.43 gal of sparge water, and that should give me a preboil volume of 5.72 gal. that was pretty close to what you had said reim, thanks again.

Dave
 
Brewnoob6120 said:
Thanks for the input, I took your advice Chez and downloaded Beersmith and that did the trick, it's telling me to use 4.85 gal. of water @ 166.6 deg. with a grain temp of 72 that should give me a step temp of 152 deg. then 2.43 gal of sparge water, and that should give me a preboil volume of 5.72 gal. that was pretty close to what you had said reim, thanks again.

Dave

Great. reim must have written the formula :) and my IPA used 18 QUARTS not gallons. Bad fingers
 
Always go a few degrees higher than beersmith tells you for the mash. I go 5f, your going to lose heat to pouring or pump transfer. It's real quick to stir a degree or two out than to add heat. That pre-boil sound awfully low to me, with a good rolling boil you should burn off at least a gallon, i'm near 2 with my setup.


_
 
Good point wildwest, I'm going to have to check that out.and by the way I read your thread about the brew shed, WOW!!! very nice, and to think I was all excited about the mash tun I just finished lol!
 
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