Do these batch sparge calculations appear correct? / Recipe question

[thegame310]

Hi all,

So, dipping my toe back into the all grain game tomorrow. Already have my yeast starter going.

So, I'm brewing with 11 pounds of grain.

5.5 lbs Pilsner Malt
5.5 lbs of German Wheat malt

I'm shooting for a target end volume of 5.5 which I assume I'll lose .5 to fermentation to end with the traditional 5 gallons.

So, I used Brewtoad's mash water calculator and received these results (note: I used a few different calculators and each has been a bit different)

1. Strike grains with 3.94 gal of water at 167.6 °F.
2. Mash at 155 °F for 60 min.
3. Vorlauf and lauter 2.34 gal in your first runnings.
4. Add 4.41 gal of sparge water at 168 °F.
5. Vorlauf and lauter 4.41 gal in your second runnings.
6. Your combined runnings should be 6.75 gal.

If it makes and difference, I'll be using a 10 gallon igloo cooler with a bazooka tube.



So, for the recipe portion, I'm just dipping my toe back into the all grain world, I have 1 all grain batch under my belt from a few years ago and I would like to make the full time switch.

So, my grain bill is above and the end goal of this is to be a blueberry type beer.

I picked up 1 ounce of Hallertau and was going to use .5 at 60 minutes and .5 at 10 minutes and then ferment with WLP 001 California Ale Yeast

And I also picked up some blueberry extract and I'm seeing a whole bunch of different opinions on this. From adding 2 oz halfway through the boil, to adding 2-3 oz in the bottling bucket. Any insight ya'll can share would be great.

Okay...I'll stop bugging all ya'll.

 

[doug293cz]

Your total water (strike + sparge) seems a little on the high side for 6.75 gal pre-boil volume. What did you tell the calculator for:

• Grain absorption rate (gal/lb)?
• Undrainable MLT volume (gal)?
• Hop absorption rate (gal/oz)?

Also, you will maximize your lauter efficiency by targeting equal volumes for first runnings and sparge runnings. Doing so will also give you a thinner mash, which could help your conversion efficiency (thinner mashes have faster conversion rates.)

Brew on

 

[thegame310]

Your total water (strike + sparge) seems a little on the high side for 6.75 gal pre-boil volume. What did you tell the calculator for:

• Grain absorption rate (gal/lb)?
• Undrainable MLT volume (gal)?
• Hop absorption rate (gal/oz)?

Also, you will maximize your lauter efficiency by targeting equal volumes for first runnings and sparge runnings. Doing so will also give you a thinner mash, which could help your conversion efficiency (thinner mashes have faster conversion rates.)

Brew on

Here, I grabbed a screen shot of the info.

 

[doug293cz]

Ok, the 0.5 gal undrainable MLT volume takes care of the discrepancy. This is a fairly large undrainable volume, and will drop you lauter efficiency by about 3 percentage points vs. an undrainable volume of 0.125 gal.

Brew on

 

[brewkinger]

Ok, the 0.5 gal undrainable MLT volume takes care of the discrepancy. This is a fairly large undrainable volume, and will drop you lauter efficiency by about 3 percentage points vs. an undrainable volume of 0.125 gal.

Brew on

In agreement thus far in the thread. The mash tun loss (un-drainable amount) is a bit high.
I also prefer 0.125 gal per # for grain absorption.

My advice to you is this:

Since this is your "toe dipping" and your objective from the start (and each subsequent brew) will be to dial in your setup so that you can get to a point where you can brew with consistency, Keep It Simple!

Instead of focusing on the "expected" numbers that your program is predicting, focus instead on sticking with the basics and RECORDING the data to help you tweak your setup and figure out the specifics (like mash tun loss, grain absorption, evaporation loss, fermenter loss)

11# of grain with 1.25 qt/# mash ratio is gonna be 13.75 qts (3.43 gallons) of strike water.
I would mash with a nice even 3.5 gallons.
Mash for the 60 min and then vorlauf and drain.
RECORD the exact amount of first runnings.

(* using your 0.1 gal per pound and MY 0.125 gal/#, you should expect to lose between 1.1 and 1.375 gallons of water to grain absorption *)
Whatever the loss is, record the data.

Subtract the 1st runnings from the 6.75 gallons of pre-boil volume and that is the amount of sparge water you need. After the mash, the grains will not absorb any more water (they shouldn't) so
SPARGE WATER IN = SPARGE WATER OUT

Boil for the 60 minutes and take and RECORD the amount of post boil into the fermenter.

On bottling / kegging day, measure and record whatever volume you have after fermentation.
There is only 1oz of hops in your recipe, so you wont lose a lot to hop absorption.

The key here is to stick to the basics

 

[thegame310]

Thanks for all the advice guys! About to head out for the morning and pick up my brew water from the local spring and then get started somewhere around 11 or 12 today.

 

[brewkinger]

Thanks for all the advice guys! About to head out for the morning and pick up my brew water from the local spring and then get started somewhere around 11 or 12 today.

Feel free to report back and let us know how it all went or if you have questions along the way today.

 

[thegame310]

Hey!

Just mashed in at 12 and hit target temp of 152.

Now I'm taking a tiny break for some lunch before the vorlauf and sparge.

So far, so good!

 

[brewkinger]

Sounds good so far

 

[IslandLizard]

Good to hear you're mashing already. Next time increase the temp of your strike water by 3-5°F to compensate for heat loss while you're stirring. NO calculator takes that into consideration! Which is kind of strange, knowing everyone has that issue.

If you can, sparge 2x with equal volume. It increases your efficiency, more so when your mash tun's deadspace is considerable. Tipping the tun toward the end of the lauter may help drain it more. As always, stir well right before lautering your first runnings and each time after adding the sparge water, let rest a minute or 2, vorlauf and drain.

With that much wheat (50%) you may have a slow lauter. If you haven't added some rice hulls already, you can mix those in if need be at any point after the mash is done.

 

[thegame310]

Totally had a bit of a stuck sparge, but I stirred it and did a 2 quart runoff and all is well. Have about 30 minutes left in the boil. So, I'm treating myself to a Tröegs Perpetual IPA.

Maybe I should start cleaning this mash tun.

 

[brewkinger]

Totally had a bit of a stuck sparge, but I stirred it and did a 2 quart runoff and all is well. Have about 30 minutes left in the boil. So, I'm treating myself to a Tröegs Perpetual IPA.

Maybe I should start cleaning this mash tun.

Wheat is definitely capable of slowing down the sparge for sure.

Glad it all worked out though.

If it is of any value, I combine my chilling with my cleaning.
Put a little PBW or oxyclean in the mash tun / dirty vessels and then fill with the hot water coming from the chiller

 

[thegame310]

That's a solid idea! Since I just have the water go down the drain currently.

 

[brewkinger]

Glad I could help