First AG on Labor day

[kenpotf]

I'm doing my first AG this Labor day and had a question about sparging. How much do I need and when do I know when to stop? I'll be batch sparging in a 10gal round cooler MLT. The recipe is 11.5 lbs of grain. I think I'm shooting for 1.33 qts/lb of grain but I'm totally unsure about sparge volumes.

Thanks!

 

[ruffdeezy]

here's a simple calculator
http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

 

[passedpawn]

You sorta need to calculate it backwards, like this:

How much do you want to end up with after the boil?
Add to that how much you'll boil off in an hour.
So this is how much you need to end up with in your boil pot.

Get your first runnings, subtract that from what you need (above). That's your sparge volume.

I.e., if you're doing a 5g batch, and you boil off 1g in an hour, you need 6g into the boil pot. Say you get 2g from your first runnings. You need to sparge with 4 more gallons.

 

[passedpawn]

Oh, and good luck Monday.

 

[huge1s]

You sorta need to calculate it backwards, like this:

How much do you want to end up with after the boil?
Add to that how much you'll boil off in an hour.
So this is how much you need to end up with in your boil pot.

Get your first runnings, subtract that from what you need (above). That's your sparge volume.

I.e., if you're doing a 5g batch, and you boil off 1g in an hour, you need 6g into the boil pot. Say you get 2g from your first runnings. You need to sparge with 4 more gallons.

doesn't this method forget about grain absorption, dead space, shrinkage...?

 

[kds1398]

doesn't this method forget about grain absorption, dead space, shrinkage...?

All of the dead space & grain absorption will be accounted for when your first runnings are pulled.

For simplicities sake, lets say you have 10lbs of grain @ 1.5qt/lb.

Dough in with 15quarts of water (3.75 gallons). When you drain your first runnings you won't get 3.75 gallons of wort out because of dead space, absorption, etc. Lets say you get 2 gallons out... after the initial draining, you don't have to worry about more absorption or more dead space. It's all handled with the initial runnings. Again, for the sake of simplicity, say you expect to lose 1 gallon to boil off, dead space in your bk, shrinkage, etc. If you want to end up with 5 gallons in your primary you'll need 4 gallons of sparge water. If you are double batch sparging you need to use 2 gallons for each sparge.

Summary:

Dough in @ whatever thickness you want (often 1-1.5qt/lb)
Measure first runnings.
For a 5 gallon batch, though it varies system to system for boil off, shrinkage, dead space... you want somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 gallons going into your bk. You can dial it in after you brew.
6 gallons - first runnings = sparge volume... divide by 2 if double batch sparging.

 

[passedpawn]

All of the dead space & grain absorption will be accounted for when your first runnings are pulled.

For simplicities sake, lets say you have 10lbs of grain @ 1.5qt/lb.

Dough in with 15quarts of water (3.75 gallons). When you drain your first runnings you won't get 3.75 gallons of wort out because of dead space, absorption, etc. Lets say you get 2 gallons out... after the initial draining, you don't have to worry about more absorption or more dead space. It's all handled with the initial runnings. Again, for the sake of simplicity, say you expect to lose 1 gallon to boil off, dead space in your bk, shrinkage, etc. If you want to end up with 5 gallons in your primary you'll need 4 gallons of sparge water. If you are double batch sparging you need to use 2 gallons for each sparge.

Summary:

Dough in @ whatever thickness you want (often 1-1.5qt/lb)
Measure first runnings.
For a 5 gallon batch, though it varies system to system for boil off, shrinkage, dead space... you want somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 gallons going into your bk. You can dial it in after you brew.
6 gallons - first runnings = sparge volume... divide by 2 if double batch sparging.

Bingo.

BTW, if you want to increase your efficiency, split your sparges up into 2 or 3 smaller batches. Don't do more than that or you risk rising pH levels, which will cause astringency from tannins extracted from grain. I could tell you that chasing efficiency is a waste of effort, but I believe every brewer needs to come to that realization on his/her own.

 

[gtwarren1966]

Just sparge until you get your boil volume. I usually for a 60 min boil sparge until I get around 6.5 gallons and a 90 minute boil(when using pilsner malt) I sparge to 7 gallons

 

[Jklinden]

My first too omg lol... Kidding it's like my tenth or something unremarkable... New enough to find something new to screw up or get frustrated over

 

[kenpotf]

Thanks everyone for the replies! So, on average, should I expect to lose 1-1.5 gallons for a 60 minute boil?

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks everyone for the replies! So, on average, should I expect to lose 1-1.5 gallons for a 60 minute boil?

Yes.