ohiodad
Well-Known Member
I've got a couple of questions for you pro brewers out there. I've read countless posts that say you can brew all but the biggest brews with a 30qt pot as long as you are doing 5 gallon batches but I just can't figure it out... I have an 8.5 gallon brewpot and a 48qt rectangular MLT. O.k. let's say I'm brewing a beer that takes around 16 pounds of grain..
16 pounds of grain at 1.25 qts of water per pound is 5 gallons. That should go in my cooler immediately to mash.
I've read that 10lbs of grain absorbs 1 gallon of water. So I should be able to drain 4 gallons of wort here. So do you all just adjust your sparge water then based upon what your equipment can handle? In this case around 3 gallons so I start with 7 gallons as usual? And if the beer is bigger does that just mean less sparge water? I'm really confused how to make all of this workout. Also if there is a mashout step in there does that count as a sparge? or do you still batch sparge after it which would give you even less sparge water.
It just seems if I use 1.25 to mash and 1.25 to sparge in this case I'm collecting 10 gallons which I can't handle in my pot... If anyone can explain all this to me I'd really appreciate it.
16 pounds of grain at 1.25 qts of water per pound is 5 gallons. That should go in my cooler immediately to mash.
I've read that 10lbs of grain absorbs 1 gallon of water. So I should be able to drain 4 gallons of wort here. So do you all just adjust your sparge water then based upon what your equipment can handle? In this case around 3 gallons so I start with 7 gallons as usual? And if the beer is bigger does that just mean less sparge water? I'm really confused how to make all of this workout. Also if there is a mashout step in there does that count as a sparge? or do you still batch sparge after it which would give you even less sparge water.
It just seems if I use 1.25 to mash and 1.25 to sparge in this case I'm collecting 10 gallons which I can't handle in my pot... If anyone can explain all this to me I'd really appreciate it.