Mash Water Volume - Do You Round Off?

[Jiffster]

Curious if anyone rounds off your mash water volume?

For example, recipe states to dough in with 3.70 gallons of water. Do you convert the .70 to ounces and dough in as exact as possible or round up/down?

 

[z-bob]

Do you convert the .70 to ounces and dough in as exact as possible or round up/down?

No. I ignore the mash and sparge water volumes. I mash with the full volume that's going in the fermenter (usually 4 gallons) and sparge with what I think the boil-off and grain absorption will be.

 

[NeoBrew]

I typically convert to the nearest quart. However, I'm measuring most of the water in a bucket with graduations drawn in sharpie on the outside. So my accuracy is probably not much better than a quart anyway.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I round up to the nearest half gallon, because that's how I marked my HLT sight glass. Honestly, anywhere from thin enough to stir, to full volume will give good results.

 

[Jiffster]

I’m batch sparging, in case that makes any difference.

 

[IslandLizard]

I "measure" to around the nearest quart, using a gallon plastic mayonnaise container and a quart take-out container for measuring water volumes. No more precise than what those give me.

I’m batch sparging, in case that makes any difference.

With batch sparging you could measure the volume in your boil kettle after the first sparge, then adjust your 2nd sparge volume based on that.

 

[Smellyglove]

I round off to nearest deciliter.

 

[Rev2010]

Nearest quart There's zero reason to ounce accurate with the mash.


Rev

 

[day_trippr]

Nearest quart on strike volume, but as I fly-sparge the only other volume that's important is the pre-boil volume in the bk which I try to hit on the dot.
I always have a couple of gallons of left-over sparge liquor as I need 11 gallons to cover the hex but typically only use 9 of it...

Cheers!

 

[VTX1300]

I round everything up to the next quart. And I do a single batch sparge. A little extra won't hurt. I use an online mash and sparge water calculator and I know my equipment and process losses so is am usually within a cup of my predicted volume. I never worry about hitting volume numbers or gravity exactly. Just not that important to me as long as I am close to the recipe.

 

[Danny2fresh]

Nearest quart on strike volume, but as I fly-sparge the only other volume that's important is the pre-boil volume in the bk which I try to hit on the dot.
I always have a couple of gallons of left-over sparge liquor as I need 11 gallons to cover the hex but typically only use 9 of it...

Cheers!

This. I try to hit my strike volume as close as possible, usually to the nearest .25 gal. I as well fly sparge so I use as many gallons as my HLT holds and use the rest for clean up.

 

[BitterSweetBrews]

I usually strike within a quart and sparge a little more if pre-boil isn't enough. If I boil off too much, I add water to the fermenter to top it off.

 

[Lefou]

No. I ignore the mash and sparge water volumes. I mash with the full volume that's going in the fermenter (usually 4 gallons) and sparge with what I think the boil-off and grain absorption will be.

I do this, too, but with a variation.
I will choose my water-to-grain ratio(1.5qt/lb -2.0qt/lb), then add in the losses after estimating a base 70-75% efficiency. That becomes my treated mash water volume. If it ends up as an odd number like 3.70, the volume just gets rounded up to 3.75. It's no big deal because I can typically get a few points of gravity above the estimated efficiency, so it evens out.
If my pre-boil gravity is higher than expected, I sparge, dilute with some second runnings, and away we go.
Whatever raw wort is left gets used for a yeast starter or put in the fridge as grain tea. I'm not able to do a full boil of more than 3-4 gallons on my stovetop, so my wort typically gets diluted and added to the primary ....

 

[NitrogenWidget]

biab.
so i go with 7-7.5 gallons because I don't want to try and estimate grain bill to loss in water after i pull the bag.
but as long as i got at least 7 i'm good to hit 5.5 with an hr of boiling.
sometimes I top off if need be.
sometimes i have to add water when i'm done. but usually not much to hit 5.5

 

[brewbama]

I never worry about hitting volume numbers or gravity exactly. Just not that important to me as long as I am close to the recipe.

Couldn’t agree more.

 

[ms701]

Lllpploool l.p.

 

[Danny2fresh]

I do this, too, but with a variation.
I will choose my water-to-grain ratio(1.5qt/lb -2.0qt/lb), then add in the losses after estimating a base 70-75% efficiency. That becomes my treated mash water volume. If it ends up as an odd number like 3.70, the volume just gets rounded up to 3.75. It's no big deal because I can typically get a few points of gravity above the estimated efficiency, so it evens out.
If my pre-boil gravity is higher than expected, I sparge, dilute with some second runnings, and away we go.
Whatever raw wort is left gets used for a yeast starter or put in the fridge as grain tea. I'm not able to do a full boil of more than 3-4 gallons on my stovetop, so my wort typically gets diluted and added to the primary ....

Off topic but I like the idea of using the leftover wort to be used in a starter. How would you store it until needed?

 

[Lefou]

Good question ... I was just in that thread. Here's a link...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...-wort-to-use-for-starter.651358/#post-8320822