mash initial volume

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orion7144

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So I have done 10 ag batches so far and have messed with initial mash water added. I typically have ~17lbs of grain and use the Coleman extreme 70ct cooler. My first couple of mash's I used the recommended 1.25/1.3qt per lb. There was a lot of dead space in the tun so the last few times I have used half my total water needed pre boil then added the rest for the sparge after draining into boil kettle. So usually ~8 gallons mash then 8 gallons for the sparge gets me just over 14 gallons in the kettle.

Does anyone else use more water for the mash in step? I read this http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ but would think that the way I am doing it would lead to a lower efficiency but I am consistently in the 80-85% range now that I dialed in my crush.
 
I always start my mash thicker and slightly colder than desired. This way, I could thin it out and heat up to my exact mash temp... That is, working up to the target mash temp instead of working down. This eliminates the risk of thinning out the mash too much as well as the hit-or-miss method of relying on calculators to hit your target mash temp.

Here is another guy who has a lot of insight on the process.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/do-not-fear-all-grain-brewing-primer-247631/
 
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