Formula Questions: Please Help

[goudaphunk]

Hi,

I just wanted to run my formulas by you kind folks here to check to ensure I am on the right track. I am using the formulas that I've read about online and from Northern Brewer.

This weekend, I am brewing an AG 5 gallon batch of Porter. The recipe is 16 pounds of grains. And yes, I have beer smith, but it's slightly overwhelming for me at this point.

Formulas

Mash Water Formula --
_____lbsx1.25 OR 1.5 qts=__/4=____Gallons

Mash Out:
1.5 gallons of water, with temp raised to 204 degrees to achieve 170 degree mash out.

Sparge Water Formula:
Sparge with 2 quarts water per pound of grain. <---This formula seems high.

Anyway, any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Have a great day.

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[RM-MN]

Batch sparging? Want it simpler?

Mash in at 1.25 to 1.5 qts per pound of grain. Use the calculator to determine the temperature of the strike water and make sure the mash tun is pre-heated. Mash as normal and drain the tun. See how much wort you have collected. Look at how much more you need to get to your pre-boil amount. Dump that much water into the tun and stir like mad, then drain. Still short a little, do another small amount for a second sparge. Don't worry about mash out, with batch sparging it isn't necessary and is just another complication. Don't even worry about the temperature of the sparge water, it won't matter if it is warm or boiling, you'll get about the same amount of sugars out anyway.

Now, was that simpler?

 

[goudaphunk]

Ummmm, yep. Thanks RM-MN! That is much easier.

 

[goudaphunk]

Hypothetically speaking, I could still fly sparge and just add a little extra water (over my estimated amount of calculated sparge water) to my HLT and stop fly sparging once I hit my pre-boil amount?

Batch sparging? Want it simpler?

Mash in at 1.25 to 1.5 qts per pound of grain. Use the calculator to determine the temperature of the strike water and make sure the mash tun is pre-heated. Mash as normal and drain the tun. See how much wort you have collected. Look at how much more you need to get to your pre-boil amount. Dump that much water into the tun and stir like mad, then drain. Still short a little, do another small amount for a second sparge. Don't worry about mash out, with batch sparging it isn't necessary and is just another complication. Don't even worry about the temperature of the sparge water, it won't matter if it is warm or boiling, you'll get about the same amount of sugars out anyway.

Now, was that simpler?

 

[duboman]

Hypothetically speaking, I could still fly sparge and just add a little extra water (over my estimated amount of calculated sparge water) to my HLT and stop fly sparging once I hit my pre-boil amount?

Yes, but with fly sparge you will want to do a mash out to stop/halt further conversion since it's a slower process, otherwise conversion can continue throughout the sparge process.

 

[goudaphunk]

so, no mash out when you batch sparge?
[
QUOTE=duboman;5749549]Yes, but with fly sparge you will want to do a mash out to stop/halt further conversion since it's a slower process, otherwise conversion can continue throughout the sparge process.[/QUOTE]

 

[afr0byte]

I would go with what RM-MN said to start. However, ideally you want to work on getting your runnings roughly equal in volume.

 

[pelipen]

so, no mash out when you batch sparge?
[
QUOTE=duboman;5749549]Yes, but with fly sparge you will want to do a mash out to stop/halt further conversion since it's a slower process, otherwise conversion can continue throughout the sparge process.

[/QUOTE]

In my experience, it makes little if any difference by taste or numbers. Coincidentally, my water sits at about that temperature when I leave it on low heat, so I just sparge with it, and never properly mash out.

When you read things like, modern well modified grain fully converts in as little as 15 - 30 minutes with a decent crush; it kind of makes you start questioning the "halt conversion" aspect of mash out after a 60 minute mash, particularly when we drain it in a few minutes.