New to all grain brewing, water to grain ratio question

[PBeach80]

I've been slowly putting together a three tier Keggle system made up of a HLT @ 13.5 GL, MT 15.5, BK 15.5. Sadly I wasn't able to locate a 15.5 for my HLT but I figured after adding my strike water I could just top off and bring the HLT up to strike temp.

So here is my question based on all the reading I have been doing lately. Below is a Peanut Butter Cup stout recipe ....ya ya. I have an addiction to peanut butter and oddly enough to beer as well so if figured why not.

The standard from what I have read is 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain for strike water and 1.5 to 2x the strike water to sparge with. The recipe calls for a total of roughly 29 pounds of grain.

29x1.5= 43.5quarts

4 quarts equals 1 Gal 43.5/4 = 10.875 Gallons

So if I am understanding the all grain process correctly I should be sparging with 21.75 gallons giving me a total water volume of 32.65...and now I am lost. that seems like an enormous amount of water not to mention my system can not support it.

20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1
4 lbs oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 2
2 LBS Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3
2 LBS oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4
15 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5
2 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] - Boil 60 min Hops 6
2 oz Willamette [5.5%] - Boil 20 min Hops 7
2 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15 min) Misc 8
4.00 lbs PB2 (Boil 10 min) Misc 9
4.00 oz Caco Nibs (Boil 0 min) Misc 10
1 pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast 11

Any clarification to the process would be greatly appreciated. I have watched nearly all the youtube videos on how to all grain brew but none really get into the math.

 

[brewmeister13]

The amount you sparge will be tied to what your pre boil volume is supposed to be. I'm assuming this is a 10 gallon batch (if not it is one hell of a 5 gallon batch). For me my pre boil volume would be 15.52 gallons for a 75 minute boil and a post boil volume of 13.5 gallons to hopefully net 12 gallons into a fermentor (I use a lot of hops). For this particular example my grain weight is 29.25 lbs and I am mashing with 38.25 quarts water and sparging with 9.49 gallons. I hope this helps.

 

[PBeach80]

Thank you, yes its for a 10 gallon batch. I did a little more digging in the forums and managed to find an All grain for beginners post below that corrected an error in my math.

It suggests 1 to 1.25 quarts per pound and 1/2 of the total volume for sparge which makes my numbers perfect at:

29 LBS of grain x 1.25 quarts of water = 9 Galons of strike water

1/2 of the strike water volume to sparge with = 4.5

Total volume = 13.5

13.5 gallon with a 60 min boil should bring me down to around ~12 gallons which I should be able to manage with my new system.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/attention-new-all-grain-brewers-30466/

 

[brewmeister13]

Very nice. Looks like it should work out nicely for you.

 

[chickypad]

29 LBS of grain x 1.25 quarts of water = 9 Galons of strike water

1/2 of the strike water volume to sparge with = 4.5

Total volume = 13.5

13.5 gallon with a 60 min boil should bring me down to around ~12 gallons which I should be able to manage with my new system.

You're forgetting losses to grain absorption. You'll lose about 3.5 gal with 29 lbs of grain (about .12 gal per lb) so you need to sparge with more like 8 gal. I find that my sparge and mash vols are about even on my 10 gal system for similar boil volume to yours, and in the range of 8-9 gal each.

 

[brewkinger]

You're forgetting losses to grain absorption. You'll lose about 3.5 gal with 29 lbs of grain (about .12 gal per lb) so you need to sparge with more like 8 gal. I find that my sparge and mash vols are about even on my 10 gal system for similar boil volume to yours, and in the range of 8-9 gal each.

Agreed. Losses to grain.

Like others have mentioned, sparge amounts are tied to pre boil volume.

My suggestion:

Use the 1.25 qt/# for strike and mash for an hour as is the norm.

Collect ALL your runnings and measure the volume.

Lets say for example that you get 6 gallons of runnings.
Subtract that from your preboil volume of 14 gallons and that means you will sparge with 8 gallons.
After the initial loss to the grain, it will not absorb anymore water, so the sparge water volume IN should equal the amount OUT.

If it does not, then there may be a problem........

 

[BrewerinBR]

The fat from the peanut butter is going to impact the head you get. So do not expect much foam if any at all.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1
4 lbs oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 2
2 LBS Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3
2 LBS oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4
15 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5
2 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] - Boil 60 min Hops 6
2 oz Willamette [5.5%] - Boil 20 min Hops 7
2 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15 min) Misc 8
4.00 lbs PB2 (Boil 10 min) Misc 9
4.00 oz Caco Nibs (Boil 0 min) Misc 10
1 pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast 11

OP is using PB2, which is a defatted peanut butter powder. I have used it in the past in a peanut butter stout with great success, great foam formation and stability even with the PB2

 

[BrewerinBR]

OP is using PB2, which is a defatted peanut butter powder. I have used it in the past in a peanut butter stout with great success, great foam formation and stability even with the PB2

I had no idea such things existed, defatted peanut butter powder. I make a cranberry walnut Christmas Ale every year (my sisters love it) and I have head issues due to the fat in the walnuts ... I have tried many things to remove the fat but without success. I wonder if I can find a defatted walnuts. I have never thought to look for such things. Thanks for the information.

-George

 

[BrewerBrad82]

Find it here!

http://www.bellplantation.com/

 

[helibrewer]

I've been slowly putting together a three tier Keggle system made up of a HLT @ 13.5 GL, MT 15.5, BK 15.5. Sadly I wasn't able to locate a 15.5 for my HLT but I figured after adding my strike water I could just top off and bring the HLT up to strike temp.

So here is my question based on all the reading I have been doing lately. Below is a Peanut Butter Cup stout recipe ....ya ya. I have an addiction to peanut butter and oddly enough to beer as well so if figured why not.

The standard from what I have read is 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain for strike water and 1.5 to 2x the strike water to sparge with. The recipe calls for a total of roughly 29 pounds of grain.

29x1.5= 43.5quarts

4 quarts equals 1 Gal 43.5/4 = 10.875 Gallons

So if I am understanding the all grain process correctly I should be sparging with 21.75 gallons giving me a total water volume of 32.65...and now I am lost. that seems like an enormous amount of water not to mention my system can not support it.

20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1
4 lbs oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 2
2 LBS Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3
2 LBS oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4
15 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5
2 oz Northern Brewer [8.5%] - Boil 60 min Hops 6
2 oz Willamette [5.5%] - Boil 20 min Hops 7
2 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15 min) Misc 8
4.00 lbs PB2 (Boil 10 min) Misc 9
4.00 oz Caco Nibs (Boil 0 min) Misc 10
1 pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast 11

Any clarification to the process would be greatly appreciated. I have watched nearly all the youtube videos on how to all grain brew but none really get into the math.

Your sparge water volume should be pretty close to your batch size, so if you heat 10 gallons of sparge water you should be fine. Lauter until you hit pre-boil volume.

 

[PBeach80]

Ahhh, thank you all for the insight. Now knowing the absorption ratio of .12 per pound and the utilizing of sparge water to hit the pre-boil volume I feel far more confident moving forward with my first attempt at all grain. These where the things I was afraid of, basically not knowing some of the variables that I wasn't accounting for and should be. Thanks again.