Trouble Calculating Water Levels

[Stushimi]

Hi Everyone and Merry Christmas!!

I'm new to all grain but I plan on doing a 5 gallon batch this weekend and after going through several recipes online I wanted to ask how everyone calculates their mash and boil sizes as I"m having trouble calculating my own. I'll have a 10 gallon kettle and MLT to play with and plan to batch sparge, but maybe try the no sparge method?

I've been following this post: https://byo.com/article/calculating-water-usage-advanced-brewing/ to guide me through but it seems like there is a lot of variance and a lot is left to interpretation by the brewer .

Specifically, and this is from the article, " The mash thickness can vary with the recipe, the mash tun configuration, the volume of any additional mash water infusions, the sparge water volume and individual brewer preferences, but a value in the range of 1.0–1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain (2.1–3.1 liters per kilogram) is typical for homebrewers." -- At 1.0-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain in the mash that seems to me like quite a bit of variation but maybe its largely indifferent in the end since it all ends up in the same kettle...

My question to you is - How do you calculate? Does it differ per mash method? what is most ideal for efficiency? is amount of water in the mash (as long as its not over the recipe amount) really all that critical?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Dgallo]

Hi Everyone and Merry Christmas!!

I'm new to all grain but I plan on doing a 5 gallon batch this weekend and after going through several recipes online I wanted to ask how everyone calculates their mash and boil sizes as I"m having trouble calculating my own. I'll have a 10 gallon kettle and MLT to play with and plan to batch sparge, but maybe try the no sparge method?

I've been following this post: https://byo.com/article/calculating-water-usage-advanced-brewing/ to guide me through but it seems like there is a lot of variance and a lot is left to interpretation by the brewer .

Specifically, and this is from the article, " The mash thickness can vary with the recipe, the mash tun configuration, the volume of any additional mash water infusions, the sparge water volume and individual brewer preferences, but a value in the range of 1.0–1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain (2.1–3.1 liters per kilogram) is typical for homebrewers." -- At 1.0-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain in the mash that seems to me like quite a bit of variation but maybe its largely indifferent in the end since it all ends up in the same kettle...

My question to you is - How do you calculate? Does it differ per mash method? what is most ideal for efficiency? is amount of water in the mash (as long as its not over the recipe amount) really all that critical?

Thanks everyone!

Merry Christmas Brewing brother. Mash and sparge water is directly linked to the amount of grain used and final intended volume. If your new to all grain brewing and you don’t feel like learning that math formulas to calculate the water volumes yourself, download Brewing software such as beer smith. In the mean time you can always use this link. It’s simple and easy.
http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php
Good luck

 

[bracconiere]

i believe looser mashes are better for efficiency? i shoot for 1.3-1.4 quarts a pound...I fly sparge and just keep it going till my run-off measures pretty low on sugar....

here's what google found here for a quick search on the topic....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/mash-thickness-and-efficiency.239284/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/thick-mash-to-gain-better-efficiency.632297/

(And Welcome, Merry Christmas...And honestly if it has alcohol you've beat them! 1.2? 1.5? next thing you know you'll be worrying about ph and 5.2 or 5.3, lol...at mash temp or room temp?)

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am far from an expert on this topic. For many years I have done fly sparging and used 1.3 qt/lb. I would plug that into whatever brew software to calc my mash water, strike temps and sparge volume. Everything I read says that as long as you have at least 1 qt/lb there is not much difference.

If you are doing a no-sparge then you don't have to worry, since it all goes in the mash. If you are doing a batch/fly/dunk/pour-over sparge you can tune the ratio to make sure you have a reasonable split between mash and sparge. With a standard gravity beer using 9-12 lbs of grain for 5 gallons, you should end up with a reasonable split with a 1.3 or 1.5 value. AFAIK, you would only drop down to a 1.0 ratio if you were brewing a big beer with lots of grain.

 

[Stushimi]

Thanks everyone this is helping and frankly is solidifying my thought that it "doesn't matter too much" as long as things are in the right ballpark and that everything is getting into the boil kettle.

I also stumbled across this blog post that helps prove things out a bit http://brulosophy.com/2016/02/15/th...in-liquor-to-grist-ratio-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Dgallo]

To an extent, but I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. You want to be pretty exact so you truly end up making what you intend to make. If your within 2-3 points on your gravities then youre alright but you don’t want to be off anymore than that

 

[Lefou]

I do a modified sparge method and mash right in the kettle.
I calculate about 1.5qt/lb of grain, add .125qt/lb for grain absorption, then keep a bit of water on the side to rinse the grains to get my 3-4 gallon boil. I typically underestimate my mash efficiency by 5% to make my numbers, then it's off to the races.
This generally works for my session beers in the lower gravity ranges. Higher ABV beers might get a dose of honey or extract, if needed.

 

[Dgallo]

I do a modified sparge method and mash right in the kettle.
I calculate about 1.5qt/lb of grain, add .125qt/lb for grain absorption, then keep a bit of water on the side to rinse the grains to get my 3-4 gallon boil. I typically underestimate my mash efficiency by 5% to make my numbers, then it's off to the races.
This generally works for my session beers in the lower gravity ranges. Higher ABV beers might get a dose of honey or extract, if needed.

If youre Brewing all-grain why wouldn't you just up your grains if you're trying to build a higher OG for a bigger abv

 

[Lefou]

My kettle is a more conservative 7.5gal, not a bigger 10gal. This particular kettle was sized for stovetop mashing/boiling, and the majority of my beers are 4-6% scaled to kettle volume. I never really brew "big" beers at home - the biggest was just over 6.5%, which was just fine with me.

 

[Wally martin]

I'm new to all grain myself but of the brews I have done I've used 1.33qts/lb of grains.. Seems to work and I fly sparge and always have more water than is needed and just fly sparge til I get about 6.25 gallons of wart which for my system yields about 5.25 gallons in the boil kettle after an hour boil.. Seems to work ok for me..

 

[wepeeler]

Get yourself a Brew in a Bag and some brewing software. The Brew bag simplifies mashing and cleaning and doesn't require sparging. And Beersmith is amazing, once you set an accurate equipment profile. Mash and boil in 1 vessel. Just a suggestion.

 

[Dgallo]

Get yourself a Brew in a Bag and some brewing software. The Brew bag simplifies mashing and cleaning and doesn't require sparging. And Beersmith is amazing, once you set an accurate equipment profile. Mash and boil in 1 vessel. Just a suggestion.

What is your efficiency with a BIAB system? I’m a igloo cooler mashtun guy, curious what BIAB will yield in comparisons

 

[wepeeler]

What is your efficiency with a BIAB system?

72% for 5.5 gallon batches up to 1.073 OG. 79% for 11 gallon batches up to 1.065ish. Never made anything stronger in 11 gallon batches...yet...

 

[Dgallo]

72% for 5.5 gallon batches up to 1.073 OG. 79% for 11 gallon batches up to 1.065ish. Never made anything stronger in 11 gallon batches...yet...

That’s really not much different than mine. I thought it was far off

 

[kh54s10]

If you are doing a batch sparge the only calculation you need is approximately 1.3 quarts per pound of grain. You then need to know your boil off rate and a way to measure your wort volume. I have a ten gallon pot on an SP10 propane burner. I get 2 gallons per hour boil off so I know that I need 7.25 gallons to put 5.25 gallons into the fermenter. I made a dip stick by adding one gallon of water to the pot and marking my stick. I then added another gallon and another mark etc. I double sparge to get as accurate as I can without leaving a lot of water in the grain. (lighter weight for disposal) If I get 2.25 gallons from the mash I know I still need 5 more gallons. I add about half, vorlauf and drain. Then measure again so I know how much more I need accurately.