Mash out water volume considerations?

[whoaru99]

The recipe I'm about to brew suggests a 170-deg. mash out, and I do batch sparge.

Disregarding whether or not mash out is actually necessary, do I figure the mash out water volume against the general 1.25 qt/lb or do I do the mash at 1.25 then mash out volume is above and beyond that and reduce batch sparge volume accordingly?

So, what I have in brewsmith (in round numbers) is 12l @ 164 for the mash, then 6l @ 209 for the mash out, and 13l @ 168 for batch sparge. Sound about right?

 

[eko]

The mash out water is part of the batch sparge. If I bother to mash out, I sparge what's in the tun, then add the next batch of sparge water (3 or 4 gallons depending) at 170F. Maybe I've been doing it wrong. Sometimes I don't get enough wort and I run a third batch of water through. Though I read somewhere recently it's possible to over-sparge and I've been considering just topping off the kettle. Something I've been meaning to look into more but haven't yet.

 

[Yooper]

A mash out is added after the mash is finished, so if you're mashing at 1.5 quarts/pound, then you'd add more water to the MLT for the mash out. Drain that, and then sparge with the remaining water needed to hit your preboil volume.

 

[doug293cz]

The recipe I'm about to brew suggests a 170-deg. mash out, and I do batch sparge.

Disregarding whether or not mash out is actually necessary, do I figure the mash out water volume against the general 1.25 qt/lb or do I do the mash at 1.25 then mash out volume is above and beyond that and reduce batch sparge volume accordingly?

So, what I have in brewsmith (in round numbers) is 12l @ 164 for the mash, then 6l @ 209 for the mash out, and 13l @ 168 for batch sparge. Sound about right?

A mash out is not necessary or desirable when batch sparging. Kai Troester has shown that thinner mashes have faster saccharification rates, so thinner mashes often improve mash efficiency.

You would be better off mashing in with 18 L, stirring well at the end of the mash, vorlaufing, and then running off the wort as fast as your MLT will allow. Then add your 13 L of sparge water, stir aggressively for about 5 minutes, vorlauf, and then run off the sparge wort quickly.

Brew on