Measuring strike/sparge water?

Preppin to do my first AG. Just had a question about measurment of strike/sparge. so to initially measure i was going to follow the method-

Calculate mash water _____lbs x 1qts = __ /4 = ____Gallons

13.5 lbs of grain/4= 3.375 gallons of water

reading from an earlier post i would be losing about 1.375 gallons
3.375-1.375= 2 gallons of wort from first runnings?

should i have a higher strike water?
meaning i should add about 5.375 of sparge water to get a 6 gallon boil?

also, do any of you actually measure the first runnings wort before adding strike water? or measuring all collected wort before boiling? if so, how would you do this? (besides just going off calculations)
i seen one vid on youtube w/ a dude using some kind of pre-measured bamboo stick or something. how would you even make something like that? filling up gallon by gallon in your brew kettle and then marking notches, haha idk. anyway, should i increase my strike water and does my calculating technique seem legit for sparge? also, any ideas to actually measure the wort? thanks yall..

i usually heat about 10-11 gallons to start a brewday. i would say strike with like 1.5 qts/lb of grain. then measure what you get from the first runnings in to a graduated bucket. you'll probably need like 6.5 gallons to boil if you're aiming for a 5 gal finished volume. so, if you get ~2.5 gallons out of the mash, split the remaining 4 gallons of water into (2) 2 gallon sparges, or just do it in one if you need to. hopefully this addresses your question somewhat. i would recommend measuring wort before you add it into the kettle for a few batches to get your boil off rate and some other factors figured out. you could also do the graduated stirring spoon or something. i'm 1 year into brewing AG and i still measure all my runnings into a graduated bucket before pouring it into the boil kettle. it helps with my consistency and hot side aeration is a myth, so i don't see any problem doing it this way other than having to move buckets around, but it's not a big deal.

android said:

i usually heat about 10-11 gallons to start a brewday. i would say strike with like 1.5 qts/lb of grain. then measure what you get from the first runnings in to a graduated bucket. you'll probably need like 6.5 gallons to boil if you're aiming for a 5 gal finished volume. so, if you get ~2.5 gallons out of the mash, split the remaining 4 gallons of water into (2) 2 gallon sparges, or just do it in one if you need to. hopefully this addresses your question somewhat. i would recommend measuring wort before you add it into the kettle for a few batches to get your boil off rate and some other factors figured out. you could also do the graduated stirring spoon or something. i'm 1 year into brewing AG and i still measure all my runnings into a graduated bucket before pouring it into the boil kettle. it helps with my consistency and hot side aeration is a myth, so i don't see any problem doing it this way other than having to move buckets around, but it's not a big deal.

Click to expand...

for a graduated bucket could i just use my ale pail primary bucket? its got the gallon notches on it for measurement. 1.5 qts? ive read 1, 1.1, and 1.25, but not 1.5, any real difference w/ efficiency?

anybody else got advice on this?

zodiak3000 said:

anybody else got advice on this?

Click to expand...

I like to use 1.25 quarts per pound, up to 1.5 quarts per pound. Any less than 1.25 quarts per pound is fairly unusual, and gives a very thick mash. Up to 2 quarts per pound is pretty standard, with most people going in the 1.25-1.5 range.

i used this to calculate water when i first started, takes the math out of it for you. i personally go with a 1.5 qt/lb of grain.

http://brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

as far as measuring wort pre boil, some people use measuring sticks, some do buckets, some use site glasses. i've done all 3 and ended up with a site glass.
figuring out your boil off rate and pre/post boil volumes will help you make drastically more consistent and better beer.:rockin:

Your brew kettle (all your buckets and kettles) are symmetrical. If a 20 qt pot has a height of 10", then each inch is 2 qts. You don't have to stick anything in the wort either, measure from the top to the top of liquid. 4" from the top of our hypothetical pot would be 3 gal.

thanks for the responses. i forget what post i read it on, but is losing 1.375 gallons to grain a general loss amount from both strike and sparge runnings?

zodiak3000 said:

thanks for the responses. i forget what post i read it on, but is losing 1.375 gallons to grain a general loss amount from both strike and sparge runnings?

Click to expand...

its built into that calculator that i posted, i believe the ratio is .1 gallon/lb of grain... which would give you 1.35 gal so yes that is correct. there is not much loss to grain absorbtion with your sparge water, the grain has been saturated during the mash already.

defenestrate said:

its built into that calculator that i posted, i believe the ratio is .1 gallon/lb of grain... which would give you 1.35 gal so yes that is correct. there is not much loss to grain absorbtion with your sparge water, the grain has been saturated during the mash already.

Click to expand...

thanks, that helps alot!

zodiak3000 said:

thanks for the responses. i forget what post i read it on, but is losing 1.375 gallons to grain a general loss amount from both strike and sparge runnings?

Click to expand...

No, it would be only a loss on the strike. Once you do your initial mash, the grain is already saturated with water, there shouldn't be any loss during the sparge. If there is any, it should be minimal.

I did my first AG this weekend and used a new kettle which was not graduated.

My thought is to mark my wooden paddle at 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5 and 7 gallons.

As for measuring my first runnings, I just used a gallon pitcher to collect the wort. 4.2 gallons in, 2.7 gallons out.

I ended up with a total of 7 Gallons in the kettle after sparging. Had to guess how much to boil off before starting the hop additions. I think marking my paddle would help me determine more accurate volumes. I got 5 gallons into primary and was shooting for 5.5.

Thoughts?

Memnoch said:

No, it would be only a loss on the strike. Once you do your initial mash, the grain is already saturated with water, there shouldn't be any loss during the sparge. If there is any, it should be minimal.

Click to expand...

now im all confused. using the calulator on the previous post made sense that losing 1.3 gallons to both each strike/sparge ends up w/ about 6.5gallon wort to boil. based off the calculator, if im only losing that to the strike though it seems i end up w/ close to 8 gallons for boil?

zodiak3000 said:

now im all confused. using the calulator on the previous post made sense that losing 1.3 gallons to both each strike/sparge ends up w/ about 6.5gallon wort to boil. based off the calculator, if im only losing that to the strike though it seems i end up w/ close to 8 gallons for boil?

Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and try brewing software. You can do a free trial of beersmith. Once you correctly enter your brewing equipment in, it's ridiculously accurate. No thinking involved, all calcs and temps are done for you.

zodiak3000 said:

now im all confused. using the calulator on the previous post made sense that losing 1.3 gallons to both each strike/sparge ends up w/ about 6.5gallon wort to boil. based off the calculator, if im only losing that to the strike though it seems i end up w/ close to 8 gallons for boil?

Click to expand...

I spent the majority of last week reading the forums in preparation for my first AG batch that I brewed this weekend.

There is a couple of different schools of thought on the amount of sparge water to use with large grain bills.

Mash with 1 1/4 - Quarts per pound of grain and Sparge with 1/2 Gallon per pound of Grain. This results in higher Efficiency and large amounts of Wort that needs to Boiled Down prior to starting the Hop Additions and the timer.

The other is to measure the first runnings and Sparge with an amount of H2O to bring your total volume to desired level. (I.E. 6.5 Gallons into kettle.) This will result in lower efficiency which will require more grains to start with to hit desired S.G.

Things you will want to determine:

Your Efficiency
Your Evaporation Rate

These are critical in designing a recipe for your system and hitting desired targets.

I think.

There are other losses than just what the grains absorb. There is the empty space in your lauter tun for one.

http://www.brew365.com/technique_calculating_mash_water_volume.php

I drain right into my brewpot and can't really collect more than 6.5 gal. So, I usually just heat up 4.5 gal. of sparge, and keep sparging until I've collected 6.5 gal. If I have extra, and the SG of the runnings is decent, I will keep going and collect some for starters.

thanks for all the responses, between the last 3 posts and everything else i think ive gathered enough info to figure out my strike/sparge. i think ill take pkeeler advice and heat up 4.5 and sparge untill i collect my 6.5.

what do you all recommend I use to mark my paddle. I suppose a sharpie would be simple but would the marker wear off through time or heat? I'd hate to mark up my paddle, put it into my wort and have the marks all dissappear into the wort.

what do you all recommend I use to mark my paddle. I suppose a sharpie would be simple but would the marker wear off through time or heat? I'd hate to mark up my paddle, put it into my wort and have the marks all dissappear into the wort.

Click to expand...

That would suck I use a retractable tape measure and measure from top of kettle to top of wort. Never puts anything in the wort (if you hold it a 1/4" above).

steinsato said:

what do you all recommend I use to mark my paddle. I suppose a sharpie would be simple but would the marker wear off through time or heat? I'd hate to mark up my paddle, put it into my wort and have the marks all dissappear into the wort.

Click to expand...

I was just going to use a razor and put small scratch marks in it.

what about measuring in the ale pail fermenter buckets? are those legit or do they get warped from the heat?

zodiak3000 said:

what about measuring in the ale pail fermenter buckets? are those legit or do they get warped from the heat?

Click to expand...

nah they are fine. thats what i used to do.

pkeeler said:

Your brew kettle (all your buckets and kettles) are symmetrical. If a 20 qt pot has a height of 10", then each inch is 2 qts. You don't have to stick anything in the wort either, measure from the top to the top of liquid. 4" from the top of our hypothetical pot would be 3 gal.

Click to expand...

That assumes that your 20qt pot actually holds 20 qt....

ya know, like a 2"x4" not really being a 2"x4".

zodiak3000 said:

what about measuring in the ale pail fermenter buckets? are those legit or do they get warped from the heat?

Click to expand...

defenestrate said:

nah they are fine. thats what i used to do.

Click to expand...

just check to make sure the stamped markings on the buckets are accurate. I've heard that most are not.