Mash and sparge volumes

[tezcatlipoca]

Hey guys,

I decided to convert a German recipe from kg to Lbs and liter to gallons, using a German brewing terms dictionary. It ended up using 14.5 Lbs of grain and the recipe called for 5.5 gallons of mash water and 2.5 gallons of sparge water. The 5.5 is consistent with 1.5 qts/Lbs ration, and I usually try to stick close to that for my equipment's sake. However, I can't help but think that is too much mash water for getting 6 gallons into the brew kettle and not enough sparge water to effectively rinse the grains(as you won't be getting 0.5 gallons of the sparge into the BK). Is there a particular reason why their mash volume is so high and their sparge volume is so low? If I stick to their recipe with these numbers, I'll probably just prepare more sparge water, just in case I need it.

OG should be 1.073 for 5.5 gallons into fermenter. Everything else converted nicely, and my calculated gravity was only 1 point off of their gravity(probably due to rounding).

 

[acidrain]

All brew setups are different. When you see a recipe, it was made by a brewer with different equipment than yours. For example boil-off. That recipe does not seem out of line using my equipment, but if you have less boil-off than I do, it will make a difference.
BTW, don't forget about grain absorption.

 

[BrewDawg79]

I've also heard Kai discuss german beers being mashed very thin. Closer to 2 qt/lb. Did the recipe you converted call for a decoction? Perhaps that is why.

 

[tezcatlipoca]

Well, crap. I guess my last message didn't lost. It said something like, my boil-off rate is 0.5 gallon per hour. Even with 1 gallon per hour, there would only be a gallon of sparge water actually going to the BK and I doubt another 1.5 gallons of sparge water would be necessary to push the rest out.

I might just do 4.5 gallons mash then, since that's worked great for me in the past with other brews.

No decoction, just a 90 min step mash.

 

[ballsy]

All brew setups are different. When you see a recipe, it was made by a brewer with different equipment than yours. For example boil-off. That recipe does not seem out of line using my equipment, but if you have less boil-off than I do, it will make a difference.
BTW, don't forget about grain absorption.

Agree with this, example I do BIAB and am now using 5 gallons mash water with 2 gallon sparge and get about 6.5 gal in the fermenter. My typical ratio is at least 1.5 if not more. Last batch I ended with 4.5 gal after boil off and had to top off to get to my OG so could have easily gone with the 5.5 mash and 2.5 sparge set up you are referring to here.