1st AG cant get correct amt of water in mash tun

I am making Sam Adams Dopplebock. I have a 5 gal tun and almost 17 lbs of grain. I am only able to get 4 gallons of water into the tun. I know I need to end up with 6.5 gallons of whort.

What do I need to do?

Do I spurge 4.25 gallons of water to get to 6.5 gallons of whort? I don't feell this is right.

divide it up, mash twice (maybe thrice)

get a larger mash tun for your next batch

I believe your grain bill will absorb about 1 gal especially that heavy of a grain bill. I think if you add the gallon back in your HLT. Then there's the % you will lose in the boil. All in all it always feels wrong the first time you do it but after awhile it will become second nature.

So there shouldn't be a problem if I add the extra gallon during the spurge

My first AG batch was Edwort's House Pale Ale........

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale-31793/

I read the links that he had posted with his recipe. Seventeen pounds is a lot of grains! The first on hour mash basically you just want enough water in there so you can stir it. After that is drained you add more water until you end up with what you want. I use two additions, but whatever works.

Anyway, I just copied what Edwort did and modified it for my rinky-dink set up.

That mash won't fit in the MLT. I have that problem with 10 gallons of my favorite IPA. I'm not sure how the "work arounds" work. What I would do is make the grain bill smaller so that it fits in the MLT, and use DME to make up 8 pounds of the grain.

You can just about fit 14 lbs grain in a 5g MLT if you mash thick, but I wouldn't mash a Dopplebock thick. I'd either do what Yooper suggested, or make a smaller batch.

-a.

OT- ajf, I have seen your sig a few times but just got it, lol