On info overload! Question about 1st AG batch

[yimmyyames]

After about a year of extract brewing, tomorrow I am making the leap into all grain brewing. However, after reading the HBT forums, blog posts, online calculators, youtube videos, downloading beersmith, etc, I seem to be on information overload and have managed to overcomplicate the process and I am totally confused.

My main source of confusion is with the amount of water I will need to add to sparge. I am brewing a 5.5 gallon batch of APA. I plan on mashing at 155 so I plan on heating approximately 3.5 gallons (1.25 * 11 pounds of grain to equal 13.75 litters or 3.43 gallons) to 168 and then starting the mash. I seem to be good at this point…I’ll vorlauf and then drain my wort from my mash tun into the boil kettle.

Now this is where I get lost. I know I have to add 170 degree water back into my mash tun to sparge and get the remaining about of wort. But how much do I add? I want to yield about 6.5 gallons of wort. I read that I should do ½ gallon per pound of grain. So that means I would add 5.5 gallons of water to sparge? That plus the 3.5 from the mash would total almost 9 gallons which seems like too much.

Like I said I probably am overcomplicating it but if someone could give me a simple answer it would be much appreciated.

 

[45_70sharps]

Check how much water you get after your first sparge, you know how much you need and the grain is already saturated, the loss below the point where it drains is accounted for, you need to add the amount you are short of 5.5 gallons.
I have marks on my mash paddle that tell me how much is in the boil pot. Not exactly scientific accuracy but I'm just making beer.
Beersmith can calc it for you, but it's also pretty easy to just see what you got and figure out what you need.

Simple is best. You can work out more details and calculated amounts later if you want after you are comfortable with the process.

 

[BobbiLynn]

I don't understand all the complicated math either, but if you have 3.5 gallons and need 6.5 gallons, that's 3 gallons of sparge water, plus a little for what doesn't make it through, right.? I'm sure someone will be along quickly to correct me.

 

[BobbiLynn]

Check how much water you get after your first sparge, you know how much you need and the grain is already saturated, the loss below the point where it drains is accounted for, you need to add the amount you are short of 5.5 gallons.
I have marks on my mash paddle that tell me how much is in the boil pot. Not exactly scientific accuracy but I'm just making beer.
Beersmith can calc it for you, but it's also pretty easy to just see what you got and figure out what you need.

Simple is best. You can work out more details and calculated amounts later if you want after you are comfortable with the process.

Okay, sure what he said. But I understand about the information overload....

 

[45_70sharps]

I don't understand all the complicated math either, but if you have 3.5 gallons and need 6.5 gallons, that's 3 gallons of sparge water, plus a little for what doesn't make it through, right.? I'm sure someone will be along quickly to correct me.

You have the basic. Grain is going to absorb more than you expect maybe and most people don't have a sink for a mash tun so there is wort left in the bottom when it's done draining!

Keep it simple though. If you can get pretty close to the amount that comes out of the mash tun and makes it to the boil kettle, you know about what you are going to need for additional wort.

There are times when that is overly simple, but for now that is more than good enough for whatever you are probably brewing.

 

[ArkieBrewer]

Download Sparge Pal. It is a free smart phone app. Takes all of the thinking out of it, gives you the right temps and volumes for mash/sparge water after you enter your grain bill and mash temp. Also, if it is your first AG batch, don't freak out about the amount of water you use. It will seem like way too much, but you will be surprised at how much the grain absorbs/boils off. Good Luck!!!

 

[Conan]

Roughly, if you strike your mash with 3.5 gallons you can expect to lose 1.43 gallons to absorption (11 lbs x .13 gal/ lb). So, you'll yield 2.07 gallons (3.5-1.43) in a perfect world. However, there will be wort left in the tun- an average seems around a quart, so now you net 1.82 gallons (2.07-.25) in your first runnings. So, for a 6.5 gallon pre-boil, batch with 4.43 gallons (6.5-1.82-.25). That is, (desired volume)-(first runnings)-(loss to tun). That's a large addition and if it were me I'd consider doing a double-batch sparge of equal volume (4.43/2=2.215). When I started AG I did double batch sparges. Now I'm lazy and most often do singles- in this case, 4.43 gallons.

As others have said, though, you'll have to note the losses in your first runnings and adjust accordingly. If you net 2.0 gallons into the kettle, you can probably hold grain absorption constant and figure you drained your tun extremely well, leaving only ~.04 behind. Therefore, use this value in subsequent calculations. If you leave behind a half-gallon, use a half gallon.

I almost always over estimate my water requirements. Today I brewed a 3 gallon wheat and, with a 3 gallon strike got 1.8 in the kettle (7.8 gallon grain bill). Doing a single batch sparge I added 2.5 gallons, targeting a pre-boil volume of 3.9. I ended up leaving some of my second runnings behind and sacrificing a couple gravity points, but I also didn't risk needing to emergency-add water to either my kettle or my tun. That's my compromise and not necessarily the best way to go about things, but it works. Kyle

 

[Kayos]

Follow beersmith exactly. Solved.

 

[45_70sharps]

So how did brew day go?
Not as bad as you thought was it!

 

[acidrain]

Follow beersmith exactly. Solved.

Beersmith doesn't know his equipment and boil-off rate yet.

OP- Sparging is the easy part, but you need to know your boil-off rate to get it exact.

Mash: 1 gallon per 3 lbs of grain.

Vorlauf: Collect some first running to clear the wort, pour this back into the mash, then begin draining first running.

First running: Collect and measure first running into your boil kettle.

Math: Work backwards from your batch size. Batch size + boil off volume = what you need. Take this number and - what you've collected. The remaining number is your sparge volume.

Example:
5 gallon batch + 2 gallons boil off = 7 gallons needed.
7 gallons needed - 3 gallons first running = 4 gallons sparge.

When you sparge, vorlauf that as well.

 

[TrubDog]

Keep it simple. I also shoot for 6.5 gallons per boil (and hit it every time). I have a mark on my boil kettle that is 6.5 gallons. It's pretty easy to figure out when I'm done sparging.

 

[Clonefan94]

I put gradation marks on a dowel rod in gallon increments. That works really well at giving me an idea about how much sparge water I need. Remember, your initial mash water is the only water that will be absorbed. What you put in to sparge with, you will get back out.