BeerSmith Question

It seems I can never get beersmith to calculate the water right.
I want to go into my boil with close to 7 gallons, with boil off & what left in the kettle I like to end up with 5.5 to 5.75 in my primary so i can leave some with the trub and have a full 5 gallons in my secondary.


Here is what I am brewing tomorrow, but it only shows 4.75G with both the mash in and out water? Any suggestions?

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Red Headed Step Child
Brewer: SuperiorBrew
Style: Irish Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 10.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 18.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
8 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.09 %
12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.68 %
4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 2.56 %
2.1 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 1.33 %
2.1 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.33 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.8 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (2 min) Hops 1.6 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 9.76 lb
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Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.20 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 6.83 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F


Notes:
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1.1 L starter

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You're not seeing the sparge water because you're not looking at the actual brew sheet, just the recipe. The <5 gallons you're seeing in mash in and out wouldn't even come close, as the grain will absorb a lot.

With the recipe open, you can hit "preview brewsheet" to see that, or you can highlight the recipe in the "my recipes" view and go to the drop-down box at the top, select one of the appropriate formats (like "classic brewsheet") and it'll show the brewsheet in the lower right pane, or you can click the buttons next to the drop-down to save, print, etc.

Now, it seems to me that it would be nice if beersmith simply included sparge water as another item in that list when you are configuring your mash, so you aren't forced to go the brewsheet for it, but oh well...

Right. click on "preview brewsheet" in the menu just above the recipe. It'll give you the whole step by step brewing process. You can also tweak it to get the right amount by clicking on equipment. Then where it says "calculate boil volume automatically", you can look at it and leave it, or change it to suit your needs.

Thanks, there is the missing 2.71 gallons

What they said. I use the software and have found if you have entered the correct data for your system the water calcs are pretty darn close.