2nd All grain batch

Hey guys,
I am pretty new to home brewing. I have brewed only a handful of times but have done research to understand brewing(for the most part). We are planning on brewing an all grain batch Saturday and I have just a couple questions. First we are gonna try to clone pliny . I found a recipe on beersmith and thought it sounded good. I am wondering how you determine amount of grains for the recipe. Also, how can I determine the OG of the recipe since I am not exactly following it ingredient for ingredient(amount of hops). I would like to know OG so I know correct pitch rate. I really appreciate any answers or advice/corrections. Cheers.
Eric

 

IMO, if your new to all grain, try not to worry about OG and pitch rate. You have enough to concern yourself with at this point. If it were me, I would follow this recipe and not worry about gravity readings: http://www.brew365.com/beer_pliny_the_elder.php and pitch it with this:

 

Thanks man, that recipe is almost exactly like the one that I am following. I don't plan on using as many hops as the recipe says( I know why brew Pliny then) I am trying to brew to satisfy my bros taste and mine. I am a hop head he's not. The recipe that you posted says sparge as usual. How do you know sparge water temp and infusion temp. Also I know I have more things to worry about at this time but I would still like to know how you calculate the amount of grains and figuring out gravities if someone can help. Cheers.
Eric

 

Enter the recipe in Beersmith or Mashpro and they will give you a projected original gravity reading and IBU total. From there you can take a measurement with a hydrometer when you're doing your actual transfer into your primary (take wort temp into account when using the hydrometer) and compare the two numbers to see what your efficiency ends up being. Check out John Palmer's book, How to Brew, for a conversion chart with your hydrometer based on the temperature of the wort at the time of the reading. It's easy, but I +1 the don't worry about it early on.

 

This is what I use. Good luck!

http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php