Sparge Water Displacement?

Currently mashing 5.5 lbs of grains in 2 gallons of water in my 20qt brew pot....

My 2nd pot is only 8 quarts. How much water can i put in there for the sparge so that it doesn't overflow? Hoping to do 1.5 gallons, is that too much with the 5.5lbs of grains?

Alternatively, after I move the grains out of the mash, can I pour the wort temporarily into a sanitized brew bucket and then bring my sparge water to temp in the 20qt pot?

You're going to sparge in the 8 quart pot?

I'm not sure how much the grains will displace, as the grain will have already absorbed water so any calculators will be off. Can you put the water in another container, and just add the water to the sparging pot to fill it up, and then keep track of how much you add for next time?

yes I think i'll just move the wort over temporarily, and use the 20qt pot for the sparge.

glanville said:

yes I think i'll just move the wort over temporarily, and use the 20qt pot for the sparge.

Click to expand...

That's what I would do.

When I sparge, do i drop the grains in at 170* ? Or do i maintain 170* for the 10 minutes or so?

When i put the grains in, the water was 170* and it immediately dropped to 150*

You're usually trying to maintain a temp of 168-170F, so you would want to start with 185-190F water depending on the size of your grain bill..