New AG brewer, need some help

[bcray]

Hey everyone, I need a little help here. I'm a long time extract brewer and feel pretty comfortable with that process. I'd like to move to AG now and am having confusion with some aspects. I have my 8 gallon polarware pot for boiling, a 10 gallon rubbermaid mash tun (made using the instructions posted by Flyguy on this site) and a 5 gallon pot for heating water.

My problem comes in knowing how much water to use, at what temperature, and when. I want to keep things simple while I'm still learning the new process here. I have a recipe I want to try for my first attempt. It is as follows:

6lbs. pale 2-row barley
4lbs. Malted Wheat
1lb. Molasses
1.5 oz Kent Goldings @ 60
1 oz Kent Goldings @ 10
1 pkg American Ale Yeast

Now the instructions only say to "mash for 60 to 90 minutes and collect 6 gallons of wort." But from what I have been reading, shouldn't there be a mash and then a sparge? Do I use the standard 1.25 qt / lb ratio? If so, how much do I use for sparging?

I've searched around on the forums but I think there are some fundamental concepts I'm missing when it comes to this part. I'm hoping maybe someone can point me in the right direction or help me figure all this out.

 

[shecky]

Read this: http://www.suebob.com/brew/Bobby_Mallgrainprimer.pdf. It's Bobby M's and has helped quite a few of us in the transition. Extremely detailed and easy to follow.

Good luck.

 

[Priemus]

First of, Im 100% extract, also moving onto AG next month hopefully.

But that said...

I think that the "collect" term refers to the sparge, and from what I understand the 6 gallons you collect epends on how efficent the mash was, there is a magic number that the worts runoff gravity should not get under when sparging something like 1010-1017, and at that point your just collecting tannins and astringent flavors from the grain husks...

@shecky
Great link ¤saves¤

 

[Yooper]

I highly recommend the link Shecky posted.

Generally, if there are no temps posted, it's because you're supposed to "know" for your system. Since it's new to you, we'll be glad to help.

Sparging is generally just understood when you "collect your boil volume". Many of us mash in with the "standard" 1.25 to 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain in the range of 153. When that's drained, the sparge water is the difference between the first runnings and the desired boil volume.

What I mean is this- say it's a 10 pound grain bill. You mash in with 15 quarts for 60 minutes. Drain that off. Grain usually absorbs .1 gallons/pound during the mash, so you can expect that you'll get out 2.75 gallons of first runnings in this example. That would mean your sparge amount would be 4 gallons, if you were starting with a 6.75 gallon boil.

If you want step-by-step directions, we'd be glad to help you with that.

 

[bcray]

Read this: http://www.suebob.com/brew/Bobby_Mallgrainprimer.pdf. It's Bobby M's and has helped quite a few of us in the transition. Extremely detailed and easy to follow.

Good luck.

I just read through this and it seems to be exactly what I was looking for. Thanks very much for posting that.

I appreciate all the replies so quickly! Much appreciated everyone. I will probably have a few more Q's later but this seems to have pointed me in the right direction to get started

 

[shelly_belly]

10 pounds grain * 1.25qts/pound = 12.5 qts water. Calculate strike water temp based on temerature of grain, desired strike temperature and water to grain ratio (1.25).
Mash calculator link: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

For example, if you want to mash at 150F using 1.25qt/lb ratio and your grains are 70F, the mash calculator says..."The temperature of the strike water should be 165F.

Add about 10F that will be absorbed by the cooler. So you would put 12.5 quarts of 175F water in your mash tun, put the lid on. Start checking the temperature of the water in about 5 mins and when the temperature has reached your strike temp (165) then start stirring in the grains. Let the mash sit for 60 mins. At this point you could do a mashout to raise the temperature but I don't because I can't really in a 5gal cooler.

Start draining the mash into a 2 quart pitcher or whatever you have and return this to the top of the mash until it runs clear (Vorlauft). Then drain the mash tun into a pot. I have my mash paddle marked so I can measure the volume in my pot. Whatever you collect, subtract from 6 gals and the result is how much you will need to sparge with. At this point the grains are saturated and won't absorb any more liquid. Add this amount to the mash tun, stir, vorlauft again and drain (single batch sparge) or add 1/2 this amount, stir, vorlauft and drain repeating with the other half amount (double batch sparge).

I assumed you're batch sparging. If fly sparging, then just keep collecting until you hit 6 gals. I use 170F water for sparging.

Be sure to take lots of notes and then you'll be able to adjust based on your equipment.

Good luck!