1st AG Batch -Please help with water amounts

[VAShooter]

Hi all,
Getting ready for my first AG batch.

Doing Ed's - Stone IPA clone:
10.5# Pale
1# Munich
1#Crystal 20

mash at 153 for 60 minutes

With 12.5 lbs of grain I know that I need to strike with about 3.90 gallons of water to mash. (If this is wrong please tell me)

My question is
1. how much water do I need to sparge with?
2. how much water should I start my boil with in my kettle?

Ohh, and I am doing a 5 gallon batch.

I have beer smith but not comfortable using it just yet.

 

[coypoo]

Your questions all depend on how much you boil off. Usually around 1-1.5 gal/hr. So, if you go with 1.5 gal/hr then you need to start with 6.5 gallons (to get an even 5 in the fermenter). After you strike though you will lose about 10% of the water to grain absorption (this number can change depending on your system/dead space). If it is 10%, then you 0.39 gal's from your strike so your first runnings will be ~3.5 (3.9-0.39). So you'll need to sparge with 3 gallons to get to 6.5

Take good notes as these number will vary based on your system. After 3-4 brews you will have your numbers figured out and it will be much easier. Good luck

 

[VAShooter]

Ok - so if I mash with 3.9 gallons and sparge with 3 gallons I should collect about 6.5 in the BK? Sounds fair. Just incase ( being this is my first AG attempt) should I sparge with 3.5 gallons just incase and cut it off once the Bk hits the 6.5 gallon mark?

 

[Chad]

Nope. If you mash with 3.9 gallons and sparge with 3 gallons you'll end up with 5.4 gallons of wort in the kettle.

Grain absorbs approximately .125 gallons of water per pound. For your 12.5 pounds of grain you can expect it to absorb about 1.5 gallons of your strike water. Personally I'd mash in with a full 4 gallons/16 quarts. You'll drain 2.5 gallons of first runnings into your kettle.

Once the grain has absorbed all it is going to, what you get out pretty much equals what you put in, so you can determine your sparge by how much more you need in the kettle to end up with a full five gallons in the fermentor. To do that you have to calculate the various losses that occur along the way. I tend to lose about a gallon an hour in the boil. I also leave several quarts of hop sludge and hot break in the bottom of my kettle. I like to have my wort as clean as possible, so I sacrifice getting everything out of the kettle for having cleaner wort. I build that into my recipes. You can assume, however, that you are going to lose at least a half gallon and up to a gallon of wort trapped in at the bottom of the kettle.

Assuming you'll lose a gallon to boiloff and another gallon to trub loss and shrinkage (about 4% once the wort cools), you'll want to batch sparge twice with about 2.25 gallons of 168º water. That'll give you 7 gallons in the kettle total (2.5 from the first runnings and 4.5 from the sparges). If you aren't using a kettle with a false bottom and plan on getting as much wort out as possible, just sparge with 4 gallons, though you'll probably have to do it in two batches, giving you 6.5 gallons in the kettle.

If you go with the more conservative numbers, i.e. 7 gallons in the kettle, you may end up with 5.5 gallons in the fermentor rather than 5. This is not a bad thing.

On my system, I brew 5.5 gallon batches to account for further testing & tasting losses later on. I shoot for 7.5 to 7.75 gallons in the kettle. After losing a gallon to boiloff and another gallon to trub loss and a quart to cooling losses, that gives me 5.5 gallons in the bucket or carboy.

 

[VAShooter]

Assuming you'll lose a gallon to boiloff and another gallon to trub loss and shrinkage (about 4% once the wort cools), you'll want to batch sparge twice with about 2.25 gallons of 168º water.

Thanks! Brand new to AG so question? Why sparge twice vs. just once with 4.5 gallons?

 

[coypoo]

Grain absorbs approximately .125 gallons of water per pound.

Yeah, my bad. Someone was talking to me when I wrote my post. For the grain absorption/dead space is use 0.14 gal/lb lost.

 

[Chad]

Thanks! Brand new to AG so question? Why sparge twice vs. just once with 4.5 gallons?

If you have a 5 gallon round cooler, 4.5 gallons won't fit. Remember that your grain has absorbed 1.5 gallons of water, filling a lot more space in the mash tun than the dry grain did. About the most you'll be able to use in one sparge is 2.5 gallons, possibly 3 depending on your grain bill. If you have a 10 gallon round cooler or a big (32qt to 52qt) rectangular cooler, then by all means use the full 4.5 gallons for your sparge.

I have a 5 gallon round cooler with a false bottom. It's easier for me to use equal sized sparges so I can keep track of how much goes in and how much comes out. Two 2.25 gallon sparges is much easier to deal with than one 3.04 gallon sparge and one 1.46 gallon sparge, especially if you're having a beer while brewing

 

[VAShooter]

Thanks guys. I mashed with 4 gallons and sparged with 4.5. My boil ended right at 5 gallons....a little less. However, I boiled a little harder that I typically do so maybe next time I can back off the heat a bit and end up with a bit more than 5 gallons.

Appreciate the help!

 

[JLW]

Sounds like all went well? How did your wort chiller work for you?