step mashing and fly sparging! help!

I'm kind of new to AG and need a little help.

I am trying to brew a wheat beer using the Fly sparging technique and a 2 step infusion.

Here is the grain bill:

7lbs Domestic 2-row barley
5lbs Wheat malt
1lb Dark Wheat malt
.5lb Carapils
.5lb Caramel 40L
2oz of Roasted Barley

so slightly over 14lbs.

Target OG 1.076 for a 5 gallon batch.

I want to do a protein rest(let's assume this rest is necessary) at about 122F and then a sacc rest at about 152F

I have a 10 gallon mash tun with a false bottom.

I went to Tastybrew.com and used the Mash infusion calculator and got these results:

For 1qt per pound of grain

protein rest 68 °F(start temp) 122 °F(target rest temp) 132.8 °F(infusion tmp) @ 14.0 qts

sacc rest 122 °F(start temp) 152 °F(target rest temp) 210.0°F(infusion tmp) @ 8.7 qts

so we already used 5.7 gallons of water am i done here? should I fly sparge another Gallon?

Should I lower my Qt to grain ratio to .75 or even .50qts? this way i am left with more water to sparge with?

Doing the 2 step method obviously doesn’t leave you with enough sparge water. Let's just assume the protein rest in this recipe is necessary, so even if it isn't i'm still curious to know what the answer is.


Thanks!


-klamz

I think you're forgetting about grain absorption. 14 pounds of grain will retain about 1.75 gallons of liquid. Even after your two rest infusions, you'll only have about 4 gallons of running if you don't add any more. In other words, you'll still sparge with about 2.5 gallons.

Another alternative is to reach your sacc rest by draining off about 1.5 gallons of wort, heat to boiling, then add back into the mash.

And I'll break your rule and still suggest that a protein rest doesn't make sense with malted wheat.

ahhh that sounds better! thanks. Is it ok to lower the qt:lb to .75 to get even more sparge? Should I fear a stuck mash with that ratio?

Thanks for the protein rest advice!! Much appreciated.

Bobby_M said:

Another alternative is to reach your sacc rest by draining off about 1.5 gallons of wort, heat to boiling, then add back into the mash.

Click to expand...

Would that negatively impact enzyme activity?