cms
Well-Known Member
So I already have my ingredients and the grains are milled - ready for a brew day on Tuesday. The recipe is an extract recipe that I've made several times, converted for AG. I just looked at the brew sheet from beersmith and there in big bold letters is a warning that my mash tun (5 gal) is too small for the grain and water. Here's a clip of the brew sheet...
Notice this is for 4.08 G of wort - I can only boil that amount in my 5-Gal pot. So this will be a partial boil - not sure if that's significant.
Anyway, I have a couple questions regarding the warning -
1.) This does not seem like a ton of grain to me - Under 12 pounds seems like it should fit. I brewed a wheat beer a few weeks ago in the same mash tun and that had 11 pounds of grain and I had plenty of room to spare. Is BeerSmith wrong about the volumes, somehow?
2.) After converting, I ended up with quite a bit of crystal. If space really is an issue, should I steep those 2.4# separately from the mash (I could steep the crystal for 15-20 minutes and use that tea in my mash water, for example)?
3.) Again, since this has so much crystal, I wonder if I should change the way I mash these - maybe just a single infusion with a batch sparge or something?
4.) Time for a turkey fryer soon - I need a bigger kettle. And a bigger mash tun. And more fermenters. And a lagering fridge. And a trellis for a hop yard. And...
Edit: Just looked at my other brewsheets - I haven't used this mash technique before (double infusion) - that's the problem. That puts a ton of water in there, compared to the single infusion profiles. I think this is my answer...
-- Prepare Ingredients for Mash
Amount Item Type
8.00 lb Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain
2.00 lb Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) Grain
1.25 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain
0.40 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain
-- WARNING: Estimated mash size: 7.90 gal greater than mash tun volume of 5.00 gal
2 min Mash Ingredients
Protein Rest: Add 10.49 qt of water at 133.9 F
30 min - Hold mash at 122.0 F for 30 min
2 min Saccrification: Add 9.32 qt of water at 198.8 F
30 min - Hold mash at 154.0 F for 30 min
2 min Mash Out: Add 8.16 qt of water at 206.4 F
10 min - Hold mash at 168.0 F for 10 min
-- Sparge with 0.00 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 4.08 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.073 SG with all grains/extracts added
Amount Item Type
8.00 lb Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain
2.00 lb Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) Grain
1.25 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain
0.40 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain
-- WARNING: Estimated mash size: 7.90 gal greater than mash tun volume of 5.00 gal
2 min Mash Ingredients
Protein Rest: Add 10.49 qt of water at 133.9 F
30 min - Hold mash at 122.0 F for 30 min
2 min Saccrification: Add 9.32 qt of water at 198.8 F
30 min - Hold mash at 154.0 F for 30 min
2 min Mash Out: Add 8.16 qt of water at 206.4 F
10 min - Hold mash at 168.0 F for 10 min
-- Sparge with 0.00 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 4.08 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.073 SG with all grains/extracts added
Notice this is for 4.08 G of wort - I can only boil that amount in my 5-Gal pot. So this will be a partial boil - not sure if that's significant.
Anyway, I have a couple questions regarding the warning -
1.) This does not seem like a ton of grain to me - Under 12 pounds seems like it should fit. I brewed a wheat beer a few weeks ago in the same mash tun and that had 11 pounds of grain and I had plenty of room to spare. Is BeerSmith wrong about the volumes, somehow?
2.) After converting, I ended up with quite a bit of crystal. If space really is an issue, should I steep those 2.4# separately from the mash (I could steep the crystal for 15-20 minutes and use that tea in my mash water, for example)?
3.) Again, since this has so much crystal, I wonder if I should change the way I mash these - maybe just a single infusion with a batch sparge or something?
4.) Time for a turkey fryer soon - I need a bigger kettle. And a bigger mash tun. And more fermenters. And a lagering fridge. And a trellis for a hop yard. And...
Edit: Just looked at my other brewsheets - I haven't used this mash technique before (double infusion) - that's the problem. That puts a ton of water in there, compared to the single infusion profiles. I think this is my answer...