Mashing water

[Math0]

It might be a stupid question:

Is the amount of water important when you mash? I really dont think it is but just making sure of it. For the same recipe sometimes I put 2 gallons, sometimes 3. Does it make a difference?

 

[unionrdr]

First of all,don't confuse steeping with mashing. The amount of water isn't critical with steeping,as with crystal,some specialty or color grains. They've already been converted from starches to simple sugars. So you're just soaking the sugary malts out of them.
Mashing is different,as you are converting base grains from starches to sugars, generally from 147F or so up to 155F. you also use 1-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. I have a 1G SunnyD jug marked off in quarts for this purpose. Too much water,& the PH can go up. Bad thing to happen.
I mix the crystal,color,etc grains with the base grains when mashing for an hour.

 

[Captain Damage]

Some people insist it's critically important, but I believe it's not that big a deal, though being consistent in your process is. The usual ratio is between 1 and 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. The more water you mash with, the less water you have to mash out and/or sparge with. The amount of water can affect your efficiency, so you're best off picking a ratio and sticking with it to keep your process consistent. Traditional German mashes are on the thin side, nearer to 2 quarts/pound. The Australian method brew-in-a-bag calls for mashing with all of your water, including water that would normally be reserved for sparging.

 

[NTXBrauer]

Yes. It is important in order to hit the optimal efficiency for the grains you use, as well at type of sparge is utilized. Here is a calculator that should help you with the proper amount of water to use. Cheers!

http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/