First AG Batch Sparge ?

I picked up an All Grain Kolsch Kit at Austin HBS this afternoon. It has 6.5 lbs of German Pilsener and 2.5 lbs. of Red Wheat. The instructions say to mash with 1.5 quarts of water per lb. of grain which comes to almost about 3.3 gallons.

While my MLT is only a 5 Gallon cooler, do you think this is too much mash water?

Also, since I'm doing a batch sparge, do I just divide the sparge water by 2 and run it through in two batches? How long do I let it rest each time before running a vorlauf and draining it into the kettle? Thanks!

I think the instructions say to mash with 1.5 quarts of water per lb. of grain. There is plenty of room in your cooler for that mash.

I'll let someone else answer the sparge question, as I only fly-sparge.

-a.

Yep, they say mash with 1.5 quarts per lb of grain. It'll be a while till I have a fly sparge setup. Thanks.

I would mash at 1.25 quarts per lb. and run off. Then sparge the exact amount needed to make the batch needed.

You first need to determine how much wort you will be boiling and that would be adjusting for evaporation. You should also make a dry run to determine how much dead space there is in your setup. What are you going to use for a filter? I use a stainless braid which is great.
Lets say you want 7 gallons to start with and will boil off to 5.5. You will need to split the 7 gallons in half for first infusion and then the sparge. I figure .1 quart for absobtion which must be calculated for in the first infusion. You have 9 pounds of grain so:
9*1.5 = 3.375 gallons
then subtract .9 gallon for absorbtion.
I figure about 2.4 gallons left. You will need to add 1.1 gallons to take you to 3.5 on the first running. You can add the 1.1 at the end of the hour mash before the first vorlauf.
The 2nd running is easy at 3.5 gallons.
I mash for 1 hour.
It takes a couple of attempts to determind how your system works. Let me know if there is anything else I may be able to help you with.

Fantastic! Thanks. I'll do the 7 gallon boil off to 5.5.

I have a 5 gallon rubbermaid with a false bottom. I'm going to try this and then try the steel braid idea next time.

Tomorrow's the day. All Grain! I'll then have two beers and a cider cookin for the kegerator. I'm changing out the tower for 3 faucets. Thanks again!