I have done a few AG recipes so far, but still am not really sure about the whole Mash Out/Sparging step. I basically have just done exactly what it would say in the recipe, but now I am going to do the Dogfish 60 minute AG tomorrow.
Total grain bill is around 13.5 lbs, so if I wanted 1.25 quarts/lbs then I would be looking at 16.875 quarts of water. Now I want to mash at 152, so according to beer smith it is saying to bring the water to around 170 degrees before adding grain. That part I get, but it is when I get to the end that I am confused.
What exactly is the Mash out for? Beer smith is saying I need to add 9.45 quarts at 203 degrees to bring the temp up to 168 total. Then I would imagine I would drain the mash tun for my collection, probably getting around 3.5 gallons or so I guess.
How would I then sparge after that? Do I just add another 1.25 quarts/pound again at a higher temperature? If so, what temperature do I bring it up to. Also if I then collected another 3.5 or so gallons, that would put me at close to 7 in the boil kettle. Should I only collect enough until I hit just over 6 gallons, then do a normal boil to get down to around 5 gallons? Or should I collect all 7 gallons and just run a longer boil to get down to a lower amount close to 5 gallons?
I have looked at a few other posts on mashing and sparging, but I am still a bit confused on exactly what I should do and why I am doing it. Any help would be appreciated.
Total grain bill is around 13.5 lbs, so if I wanted 1.25 quarts/lbs then I would be looking at 16.875 quarts of water. Now I want to mash at 152, so according to beer smith it is saying to bring the water to around 170 degrees before adding grain. That part I get, but it is when I get to the end that I am confused.
What exactly is the Mash out for? Beer smith is saying I need to add 9.45 quarts at 203 degrees to bring the temp up to 168 total. Then I would imagine I would drain the mash tun for my collection, probably getting around 3.5 gallons or so I guess.
How would I then sparge after that? Do I just add another 1.25 quarts/pound again at a higher temperature? If so, what temperature do I bring it up to. Also if I then collected another 3.5 or so gallons, that would put me at close to 7 in the boil kettle. Should I only collect enough until I hit just over 6 gallons, then do a normal boil to get down to around 5 gallons? Or should I collect all 7 gallons and just run a longer boil to get down to a lower amount close to 5 gallons?
I have looked at a few other posts on mashing and sparging, but I am still a bit confused on exactly what I should do and why I am doing it. Any help would be appreciated.