Brewing a robust porter this weekend and need some advice!

[Washington_Brewologist]

According to beersmith, for the 13.81 Lbs of grain I need for my recipe, I would need 10.13 gallons of available space in my Kettle/Mashtun. I'm currently brewing with a 10-gallon kettle so I know that something needs to be adjusted. Also should mention that this is the first recipe I'm doing that calls for a 90-minute boil and I'm doing no-sparge BIAB. My question is:

Is it safe to just use the kettle top-up feature on beersmith to adjust for this? I currently have the kettle top up water set to 1.25 gallons and it seems to have put all of my volumes within a reasonable range. Mash Volume @8.82 with the adjustment.
(seems too easy)

Also, how should I go about adding brewing salt additions to the kettle top up water? My previous brewdays had me adding my salt additions directly to the mash. My mind is telling me that simply adding the brewing salts to the full strike water volume
(8.99 gallons) then just pouring off 1.25 gallons to save for the boil should work. What do you guys think?


Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
11 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 1 79.6 % 0.86 gal
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.2 % 0.08 gal
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.2 % 0.08 gal
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 % 0.04 gal
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.8 % 0.02 gal
1.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6 0.5 % 0.00 gal

1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 27.5 IBUs -
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 8.9 IBUs -
1.10 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 9 - -
0.28 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 10 - -

 

[FunkedOut]

Everything looks good, volume-wise.

I’d do exactly as you describe for the salts, as far as flavor goes.
If you’re keeping track of mash ph, that will not work exactly.
Decrease the mash water by the 1.25 gallons and add it like sparge water.
You could even pour it over your grain bag when it’s hanging over your kettle.
I’ve placed the bag in a 5 gallon bucket before with 2 gallons of room temp water before.
Pull the bag again and add that ‘batch sparge’ to your kettle.

 

[Washington_Brewologist]

Everything looks good, volume-wise.

I’d do exactly as you describe for the salts, as far as flavor goes.
If you’re keeping track of mash ph, that will not work exactly.
Decrease the mash water by the 1.25 gallons and add it like sparge water.
You could even pour it over your grain bag when it’s hanging over your kettle.
I’ve placed the bag in a 5 gallon bucket before with 2 gallons of room temp water before.
Pull the bag again and add that ‘batch sparge’ to your kettle.

Great to hear! Thanks for your response!