Amount of beer

[nmcjudo]

I purchased a recipe kit (Cluster Fuggle IPA) from AHS. It states that there is a total grain bill of 11.25lbs and that it will make 5 gallons. When I use the formula of 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, my converter is telling me I will only receive about 3.5 gallons. Am I doing something wrong? What am I not understanding? Will the missing 1.5 gallons be made up when I sparge?

I am using the converter in Beersmith.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

The 1.25 quarts per pound is the rough amount of strike water for mash. You will want to sparge until your boil volume is somewhat larger than your desired batch volume, as there will be a portion of volume which will be boiled off during the brewing process. BSmith has a calculator to give you that estimate.

11.25 lbs of malt should yield an OG of roughly 1.056 given reasonable brew house efficiency in a 5 gallon batch. That a solid 6% beer. Sounds right on for a basic IPA.

 

[nmcjudo]

I see....Thank you, that helps.

It's gonna be my first brew. I ordered the Deluxe Brew kit, along with the recipe kit and some irish moss.

I'm very excited.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

First brew and your going all-grain? Impressive. I didn't do an all-grain batch until I had 4 or 5 extract brews under my belt (literally)

 

[nmcjudo]

I've done a lot of homework on this. (several months worth of reading, watching videos) Having the freedom of changing the recipe and the taste of the beer intrigues me.

My equipment should be here by the end of the week. All I left to do is buy some propane and finish building my mash tun. I plan on taking notes and pictures and posting them on here. I enjoy constructive criticism.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Very cool. Have fun, take your time and let biology do the heavy lifting. I'll look for the follow up post.

 

[MBasile]

I've done a lot of homework on this. (several months worth of reading, watching videos) Having the freedom of changing the recipe and the taste of the beer intrigues me.

My equipment should be here by the end of the week. All I left to do is buy some propane and finish building my mash tun. I plan on taking notes and pictures and posting them on here. I enjoy constructive criticism.

In my experience, reading concretes experience. You have a lot of information floating around in your head most likely, but the best piece of information is "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew." Don't overthink the process until you're comfortable.

 

[nmcjudo]

In my experience, reading concretes experience. You have a lot of information floating around in your head most likely, but the best piece of information is "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew." Don't overthink the process until you're comfortable.

I've read similar posts. I really want me brew to be good but I'm willing to suffer some losses. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. I'm just really looking forward to it. My final decision to be made before I brew will be what beer to drink while I'm brewing. Thank you for the advice.