Alright, I am about to stumble into another brew session. I would love some critiquing and tips from the old pros. I still haven't figured out beersmith, so I guess I'll just do what I've been doing and see how the numbers match up later. AHS PM kit- recipe is:
3/4 lb Chocolate
1/4 lb Crystal 40L
1/8 lb Roasted Barley
1/8 lb Black patent
2 1/2 lb Maris Otter Pale Malt
5 lb dark liquid extract
1/2 lb Malto-Dextrin
AHS Alcochol boost
1 oz Galena Bittering hops
1 oz unsweeted Cocoa 5min pre flameout
I have been doing countertop partial mashes, no step mashing keeping around 154 for 45 minutes and then adding first wort to boil. Sparging with 5.5 qts, then adding second wort to boil. I am aiming for about a 4.5 gallon finished boil (26 qt pot). I can't quite figure out (in beersmith or otherwise) how to estimate the volume of water the grain will absorb. for example= 5.5 qts strike+ 5.5 qts sparge = 2.75 gal, but how much will I actually get into the brewpot. If I got 80% (or 2.2 gal) of the volume back, I should have 2.3 gallons of water boiling in the pot to get a 5 gallon boil. How do the other PMers go about figuring this?
3/4 lb Chocolate
1/4 lb Crystal 40L
1/8 lb Roasted Barley
1/8 lb Black patent
2 1/2 lb Maris Otter Pale Malt
5 lb dark liquid extract
1/2 lb Malto-Dextrin
AHS Alcochol boost
1 oz Galena Bittering hops
1 oz unsweeted Cocoa 5min pre flameout
I have been doing countertop partial mashes, no step mashing keeping around 154 for 45 minutes and then adding first wort to boil. Sparging with 5.5 qts, then adding second wort to boil. I am aiming for about a 4.5 gallon finished boil (26 qt pot). I can't quite figure out (in beersmith or otherwise) how to estimate the volume of water the grain will absorb. for example= 5.5 qts strike+ 5.5 qts sparge = 2.75 gal, but how much will I actually get into the brewpot. If I got 80% (or 2.2 gal) of the volume back, I should have 2.3 gallons of water boiling in the pot to get a 5 gallon boil. How do the other PMers go about figuring this?