Grain to water ratio

[owentp]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been discussed out there many times but dont have the time to search hundreds if threads........what is the standard 3 vessel all grain ration of grains to total gallons of water. I see & hear all kinds of things.

 

[RM-MN]

The reason you see and hear all kinds of things about the ratio is...it doesn't matter a whole lot. You need at least enough water to get the grains thoroughly wet and not so much that you have nothing to sparge with unless you are planning a no-sparge batch. Nobody but you knows what your boil off will be so we can't even give you a total volume to shoot for. I can guess that you will boil off a gallon but that is only a "middle of the road" guess.

 

[Araknaphob1c]

I believe the proper ratio is 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, if you are sparging make sure you account for grain absorption and dead space so you don't end up short on your boil volume.

Sent from my LG-P769 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[cgg]

+1 on the "not that important" idea. I have used between 1.25qt/lb and 2.25qt/lb and not noticed an appreciable difference in mash efficiency. I've settled on ~2qt mark because the thinner mash is easier to stir and offers more even temperature distribution throughout the mash tun.

 

[owentp]

Planning a no sparge batch & going 3 lbs per gallon. After I try that for a while & save up for a larger pot, will try fly sparging.

 

[smyrnaquince]

Planning a no sparge batch & going 3 lbs per gallon. After I try that for a while & save up for a larger pot, will try fly sparging.

If you are doing no-sparge, then the amount of water you want to mash with is your (beginning of) boil volume + volume lost to grain absorption + mash tun deadspace. If you BIAB and do a good bag squeeze, then mash tun deadspace = 0.

 

[owentp]

Grain to water ratio......is this calculated by finished volume or preboil.....total water?

 

[BigEd]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been discussed out there​

many times but dont have the time to search hundreds if threads.

So...you want us to do it instead????

.......what is the standard 3 vessel all grain ration of grains to total gallons of water. I see & hear all kinds of things.

There is no "standard" or a simple definitive answer. It all works depending on the beer, brewer and equipment. Anything from 1 to 1.5 qts per pound will work just fine.

 

[plankbr]

Grain to water ratio......is this calculated by finished volume or preboil.....total water?

No. It's based on the ratio for how much water you want to mash with vs. how much your grain bill is.

Example:
If I have a recipe that is 10 lbs of grain, I mash with the ratio 1.5 qt (water)/lb (grain). So I would mash with 15 quarts of water, converted to just shy of 4 gallons of mash water. Usually my mash yields me 2.5-3 gallons of 1st runnings. Since I need 7 gallons total pre-boil, I will sparge with ~4.5 gallons of water to reach my desired pre-boil volume.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

A lot of places say settle for 1.33 quarts per pound of grain. That's not too thin and not too thick usually. Then you want to sparge with enough water that mixed with the water not absorbed will give you enough for your boil. Grains absorb water and the math for it is

#grain x 0.2 = gallons of water retained.

So if you have 10 pounds of grain, you want to add roughly 13.3 quarts( about 3.5 gallons of mash water) and realize that 2 gallons will be absorbed into the grains and you won't get it back. So you want to make sure you sparge with enough sparge water to make up your boil volume. I'm pretty sure that's the right math and way to explain it. Hopefully someone will chime in if I'm off! Good luck.

 

[owentp]

For anyone trying no sparge method, 46 lbs grain for 15.5 g recipe & total volume of 25.5 & boil volume of 18.5....thoughts on outcome? Too weak?

 

[Spartangreen]

I brew both BIAB and with a Mash Tun.
BIAB ratio is 2.5qt to 1lb.
Mash Tun is 1.5qt to 1lb.
They tasted the same.