Need advice on mashing (2nd brew)

[GQT]

Hi,
I bought an American Pale Ale whole grain kit and will brew some day next week. However the leaflet included in the kit reads: mash at so-and-so temperature, in 12L of water, then sparge at so-and-so with 18L of water.
(total brewing volume should be 25L, and about 20L to ferment)

The problem is, I constantly recirculate rather than sparge. Now, what should I do? Should I pour all 30L into the tun and recirculate (doesn't feel right to me; too little grain for so much water), or should I recirculate 12L and then still sparge with 18?

Thanks!

 

[Bellybuster]

Post the instructions including weights and we may be able to help you out

 

[GQT]

Post the instructions including weights and we may be able to help you out

They're in Chinese as China is where I am (expat).
Anyway, let me have a try. (and Thank you for reply!)
-
Boil size - 25L
Boil time - 90 min
Batch size - 21L
Expected efficiency - 75%
OG - 1055
FG - 1014
ABV - 5.37%
IBU - 24.89
SRM - 6.67

Grain - total 4.7kg
Australian 2-row barley malt - 4.5kg
Australian crystal malt 150EBC - 0.2kg

Hops - Cascade - 12g at 60, 12g at 30, 26g at 5

Mashing - 1 step, 18L at 66C - 60 min;
Sparging - 12L at 80C - 15 min
(my mistake, I wrote the opposite 12 and 18 liters)

As it is a kit, it comes with dried Safale US-05 (which I will of course start up on a magnetic plate for at least 24 hrs to make a 1.5-2L starter).

That's pretty much it.

 

[lumpher]

Mash with the 12 L for an hour, then add the 18 at the end of the mash and recirc. Don't create a starter for dry yeast. It's already got the necessary nutrients in it, and contains a higher cell count than liquid yeast already. Some people rehydrate dry yeast, some don't; it's an ongoing discussion. I just pitch my dry yeast right into the wort, and it has worked well for me for years.

 

[GQT]

Mash with the 12 L for an hour, then add the 18 at the end of the mash and recirc.

Great, will do this way. Thanks!
Talking starters, I do it for a few reasons, and will have to do it.
The main reason is that I have a thing for microbiology and I'm planning to build up a lab and start cultivating my own yeasts. So making a starter is not a dull routine to me but a bit of practice.

 

[chickypad]

Most all grain brewers take a recipe and apply it to their own system - procedure, volumes, efficiency, etc. - rather than modifying their technique to someone else's system. You can certainly do it the way above, but you can also just do it your usual way using the technique and volumes that you usually use to hit your target boil size (adjusting for your own efficiency though if needed). Sounds like you like to do a full volume mash and recirc during the mash to hold temps?

 

[GQT]

Most all grain brewers take a recipe and apply it to their own system.... rather than modifying their technique to someone else's system. ..... Sounds like you like to do a full volume mash and recirc during the mash to hold temps?

True. I just don't feel enough steady on my feet to override the recipe settings. Will come with experience but for now I am, you know, haha, sorta timid, and don't "challenge the authority"

I would imagine though that I'd rather poured something like ~27-28 liters in, do the full-size recirc mashing while letting my PID controller take care of the temps, and after losing about 5L to the grain come down to ~22-23L. I'd boil it down to whatever it boils down to, and pump it into fermenter where it would happily meet the starter that I make on DME. Starter would add 1.5-2L to the volume, so I believe the final batch size would stay within the same range, might be a liter smaller than the recipe says. I wouldn't see it as a trouble.

 

[chickypad]

I guess my point is the mash water and volumes are not part of the recipe - that is going to vary system to system. For example if you boil off more/less than the recipe author does then it will throw off the end result. Those who brew BIAB have less water lost to grain, so it would alter the end volume and thus the recipe if they don't adjust for their method. If you know you get 20 L finished starting with 27-28 L then you're better off going with your own numbers. If you've been brewing on your system for a while then it's actually easier then trying to make your numbers match someone else's. You do have to keep notes to figure your efficiency so you can adjust for that.

 

[RM-MN]

Hi,
I bought an American Pale Ale whole grain kit and will brew some day next week. However the leaflet included in the kit reads: mash at so-and-so temperature, in 12L of water, then sparge at so-and-so with 18L of water.
(total brewing volume should be 25L, and about 20L to ferment)

The problem is, I constantly recirculate rather than sparge. Now, what should I do? Should I pour all 30L into the tun and recirculate (doesn't feel right to me; too little grain for so much water), or should I recirculate 12L and then still sparge with 18?

Thanks!

The main reason not to use all 30L and recirculating is that the grain can't pull the pH of the mash down far enough. A simple addition of acid (acid malt, phosphoric or lactic acid, mineral additions are all ways to do this) that brings your mash pH into the 5.2 to 5.5 range and your full volume mash will be just fine. You will gain a little bit on the efficiency if you do at least a small amount for sparge as your grains will be at equilibrium with the wort and the sparge will rinse off more sugars.

 

[IslandLizard]

Everyone has their own system and I agree with @chickypad to adapt the recipe to your methods instead of the other way around. Instructions are included as a guideline, because it's a kit, follow steps 1, 2, 3. You have outgrown that.

Recirculating mash is good, but without a sparge you're likely taking a 5-10% hit on your mash efficiency as a considerable amount of high gravity wort remains in the grain. If you can, save around 6-10 liters for a single batch sparge. You may have to add a small amount (2-4 ml) of 85% phosphoric or lactic acid to that to keep the pH under 5.8, depending on your water composition.