Don't sweat it too much. Just aim for 6.5 gal pre boil and start your timer when it starts to boil. After that first batch you'll have an idea of how much boils off. It will prob be in the 1 to 1.5 gal per hour range.
but for me the proble is how to maintain my mash temperature for 60 minutes???
I preheat my cooler mash tun, hit my temps exactly (using this calculator) and then wrap it around the sides with blankets and bungee cords and throw a pillow on top. I can leave it for hours without a single degree drop in temp.
Simplicity is elegant to me. I've only done partial mashes so far and have used bath towels to wrap a small stock pot on the counter-top with great success. Lately I've been turning on the oven for a few minutes and just throwing the pot in there after heating the water on the stove and mixing in the grain and then shutting it off. Honestly, when going to all grain I think that holding temperature is probably one of the easiest things to figure out. There are so many insulators in our homes.
For calculating volumes needed, I take first runnings, and measure with a dipstick, then I know exactly how much more water I need. At that point grain is saturated, so what goes in = what comes out. Don't over think it. Hope that helps.
Emgesp1: I make my 5 gal batches (6.5 pre boil) in a 10 gal kettle. The hot break has boiled over once when I was not paying attention, but it usually gets up there pretty high. An 8 gallon pot you will have to watch very closely. Get some fermcap to kill the foam and you should be fine.
For calculating volumes needed, I take first runnings, and measure with a dipstick, then I know exactly how much more water I need. At that point grain is saturated, so what goes in = what comes out. Don't over think it. Hope that helps.
Your approach makes more sense but it would mean you had to wait for the first running to finish before starting to heat the second batch of water. You could guess but then we're back to trying to figure it out ahead of time and worrying about kettle size. But if I start going down this path I need to look into a dipstick to measure volume in the kettle - seems like a very handy thing to have.
Just looked thru the whole thred and still didn't really awnser my question. So, Ill ask, I am still having trouble figuring how much sparge water is needed when I brew. I do 5 gal batches using a Gott cooler w/ false bottom and a sparge arm. Typical grain bills are 8-12 lbs. I normally heat 5 gal to sparge with but stop when im at 6.5-7 gal collected. But some times I feel I oversparge and then the next time feel like not enough. What can I do?
Is there any way of figuring.. Ok in this batch I will need exactly 4.3gal to sparge with and when the 4.3 has filtered thu and now is in the pot your done?
I am confused now. Is it gallons or quarts. THe sticky reads 1-1.25 QUARTS for mash and .5 GALLONS for sparge. Is this correct? Colorado seems to think it is not...
Thanks for the shout-out. I actually moved the directions/calculator to here and corrected some errors. I had a problem printing from the geocities site, because of their advertisement scheme.
Mike
For peak sparging efficiency, yes. Lately, I've been mashing thinner (like 2 qt/lb mash thickness) and sparging less. I'm only losing around 3% in brewhouse efficiency this way, but the thinner mash is easier to work with.
You have to remember, these numbers aren't carved in stone anywhere. You can adjust up or down as you wish, and you'll still be in the right neighborhood. I personally don't like to mash with less than 1 qt/lb, because it makes the mash hard to stir and slow to drain -- but again, it's a question of preferences. A big part of the art of brewing is figuring out how the process works FOR YOU, and then tweaking it as you need to. Frankly, I'd rather have a consistent 75% brewhouse efficiency with less hassle.
That is exactly what it's all about -- getting the results YOU want, not the results a book or a podcast host or another HBT poster says you should be getting. Brew what you like, how you like, and you'll always have good beer to drink.Thanks JDS for articulating this. I feel like using more water in the mash has given me the results I prefer. Though, this is just a gut feeling, nothing I have observed empirically.
I am new to all grain. It seems like topping off if you come up short is not an option in all grain like it is in extract. Is this right? What is the difference?
Thinner mash/less sparge will also lead to less PH issues for those of you with hard water.For peak sparging efficiency, yes. Lately, I've been mashing thinner (like 2 qt/lb mash thickness) and sparging less. I'm only losing around 3% in brewhouse efficiency this way, but the thinner mash is easier to work with.
You have to remember, these numbers aren't carved in stone anywhere. You can adjust up or down as you wish, and you'll still be in the right neighborhood. I personally don't like to mash with less than 1 qt/lb, because it makes the mash hard to stir and slow to drain -- but again, it's a question of preferences. A big part of the art of brewing is figuring out how the process works FOR YOU, and then tweaking it as you need to. Frankly, I'd rather have a consistent 75% brewhouse efficiency with less hassle.
I have to ask, is anyone considering the starting temperature of the grain?
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