beersmith question

Can anyone tell me why im getting weird numbers? Made this with beersmith. I was also wondering how much water I should mash with and at what temperature. As well as sparge

Amber Ale
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 07/11/2010
Style: American Amber Ale Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 5.72 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 % Equipment: My Equipment
Actual Efficiency: 11.2 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.3 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 8.0 %
0.63 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.1 %
0.45 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3.6 %
0.33 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
0.05 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 0.4 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (60 min) Hops 15.3 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (10 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
1 Pkgs Northwest Ale (Wyeast Labs #1332) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.067 SG (1.045-1.060 SG)
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.020 SG (1.010-1.015 SG)
Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 15.3 SRM (10.0-17.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 20.8 IBU (25.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 1.0 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.2 % (4.5-6.0 %)
Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.6 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: My Mash Mash Tun Weight: 0.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 12.46 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 7.22 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

You need to fill in the actual Original Gravity (I'm guessing it wasn't 1.010). Fill in that number and the rest of your numbers in red will work out a bit better.

ok that fixed that, thanks! I see it says Mash In with 15.58 qt of water at 170.5 F. How do I get it to tell me how much to sparge with and temp?


Amber Ale
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 07/11/2010
Style: American Amber Ale Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.34 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 % Equipment: Brew Pot (12.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 74.7 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.3 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 8.0 %
0.63 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.1 %
0.45 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3.6 %
0.33 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.6 %
0.05 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 0.4 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (60 min) Hops 16.1 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80%] (10 min) Hops 5.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Northwest Ale (Wyeast Labs #1332) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.067 SG (1.045-1.060 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.020 SG (1.010-1.015 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.020 SG
Estimated Color: 15.3 SRM (10.0-17.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 21.9 IBU (25.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 1.0 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.2 % (4.5-6.0 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.1 %
Actual Calories: 305 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 12.46 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.19 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 15.58 qt of water at 170.5 F 158.0 F 45 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.3-2.8 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 3.8 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

The last two lines of your post show the amount and temperature of sparge water. If you use two sparges, just cut the amount in half for each. I set the Mash profile to Batch sparge using batches that fill 50% of the tun so that Beersmith shows two sparges at 1/2 the amount each.

So total amount of water, works out to be around 8 gallons. Just seems like alot, but I'll giver a go and see what happens. Thanks guys for the help!

It seems like a lot, but you have to account for grain absorption (I normally get about a pint lost per pound of grain), plus deadspace in the cooler and what gets boiled off. After all that you should be at about the right spot.

Plus, I always get better efficiency with a little more water and a longer boil (say 7 gallons into boil kettle and a little over 2 hour boil).

Have you changed the view to "classic brewsheet"? It's what I use for a step by step view of how things should go.

Regarding the amount of water, the key is how much you want to start your boil (which is a factor of the data you enter). For example, for me it's generally 6.4 gallons. So when I'm draining into my boil kettle I keep a careful eye on the amount and I stop when I get to 6.4 gallons. You don't want to collect too much.