Trappist clone 2 by William Hitt

[Xochiquetzal]

Hi all. This is my second beer and I have a question. The recipe just says "sparge", but it doesn't say with how much water. It's in the book "Homebrew favorites" by Lutzen and Stevens.

It starts with 11 qt of water for the mash-in and the recipe yields 4.5 gallons. I've read that you use 1.5x the amount of water for sparge, but that would mean the wort has to boil from around 7 gallons down to 5. It doesn't sound right to me. (Not to mention I don't have a pot that big.)

Has anyone made this recipe? How much water did you use for sparge and how much wort did you get?

 

[MalFet]

Typically, you just sparge until you hit your pre-boil volume. 11 quarts sounds like not much mash in water, though, especially for a high gravity beer. If you post the recipe and the details of your setup, we'll be able to offer more help.

 

[Xochiquetzal]

I usually don't like to post recipes online because of copyrights, but here it goes. The book says:
7 lbs lager malt
3 lbs Munich malt
8 oz pale malt
1 oz black patent malt
11 oz dark brown sugar
1/2 oz Hallertauer leaf hops, in boil 60 mins
1/2 oz Fuggles hop pellets, in boil 60 mins
cultured Chimay Red yeast
1/2 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle, for priming
Mash-in all grains in 11 qt of 122° water and hold for 20 mins. Raise temperature to 145° and hold for 15 minutes. Raise temperature to 158° and hold for 45 minutes, or until starch conversion is complete. Mash-out. Sparge. Bring wort to a boil and add all hops and brown sugar. Boil for 60 minutes and turn off heat. Cool wort and transfer to primary fermenter. Pitch yeast when wort is at room temperature. Ferment for 7 days. Rack to secondary and ferment for another 31 days. Bottle with 1/2 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle.
Yield: 4.25 gallons
Total boiling time: 90 minutes
Starting gravity: 1.065
Ending gravity 1.011

Really, all the numbers are there except for the amount of sparge water (how much should I use?). I'm fly sparging using a big brew bag in a big bucket.

(Disclaimer, I know I am not using the same exact ingredients, but they are very close, thanks to the owner of the brewing supply store)

 

[MalFet]

I usually don't like to post recipes online because of copyrights, but here it goes. The book says:
7 lbs lager malt
3 lbs Munich malt
8 oz pale malt
1 oz black patent malt
11 oz dark brown sugar
1/2 oz Hallertauer leaf hops, in boil 60 mins
1/2 oz Fuggles hop pellets, in boil 60 mins
cultured Chimay Red yeast
1/2 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle, for priming
Mash-in all grains in 11 qt of 122° water and hold for 20 mins. Raise temperature to 145° and hold for 15 minutes. Raise temperature to 158° and hold for 45 minutes, or until starch conversion is complete. Mash-out. Sparge. Bring wort to a boil and add all hops and brown sugar. Boil for 60 minutes and turn off heat. Cool wort and transfer to primary fermenter. Pitch yeast when wort is at room temperature. Ferment for 7 days. Rack to secondary and ferment for another 31 days. Bottle with 1/2 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle.
Yield: 4.25 gallons
Total boiling time: 90 minutes
Starting gravity: 1.065
Ending gravity 1.011

Really, all the numbers are there except for the amount of sparge water (how much should I use?). I'm fly sparging using a big brew bag in a big bucket.

(Disclaimer, I know I am not using the same exact ingredients, but they are very close, thanks to the owner of the brewing supply store)

11qts works for mash in by these numbers. It's a bit stiff, but nothing out of range.

In any case, you just keep fly sparging until you hit your pre-boil volume. For a 90min boil with a 4.5gal final, that means you keep going until you hit 6 gallons or so (depending on your boil-off rate).

 

[Xochiquetzal]

Fantastic! I am starting to heat my water right now and let you know how it goes.