I have been brewing extract w/ seeping grains for about 2 years now, all my brews have came out tasting good. I'm ready to step it up to alll-grain. I have been looking at recipes and have a few questions. They say to mash grains at 1.1 to 1.5 quarts of water per lbs of grain and then spare with 1/2 gallon per lbs of grain, in an example of using 11 lbs. of grain that would equal about 8.5 to 10 gallons of wort (depending on amount used during mash) in brew kettle. Is that correct for a 5 gallon batch? Will that much boil off? Is fly or batch sparging recommend for just starting out?
New to all-grain
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OswaldvW
Well-Known Member
Let's see. Where to start...
I would think backwards. How large is your brew pot, and what is your boil off rate? How much liquid evaporates in your brew pot per one hour boil?
For me, I can lose up to 1.3 gallons per hour (depending how crazy my boil is). So, if I am going for a 5.5 gallon batch, I need at least 7 gallons of wort in the boil kettle (some wort will stay behind in the kettle along with the hot/cold break material and hops).
Second, you also need to account for the amount of water your grains will absorb. An 11 pound grist will absorb about 1.32 gallons of water.
So, now you need to think about your 7 gallons (for boil) plus the 1.32 gallons (for absorption). Round it up and you are talking 8.5 gallons of mash/sparge water to prepare.
I generally prepare 10 gallons for each 5.5 gallon batch I brew, just because it is nice to have a little extra water ready for sparging, rinsing, temperature adjustments and so on.
I would think backwards. How large is your brew pot, and what is your boil off rate? How much liquid evaporates in your brew pot per one hour boil?
For me, I can lose up to 1.3 gallons per hour (depending how crazy my boil is). So, if I am going for a 5.5 gallon batch, I need at least 7 gallons of wort in the boil kettle (some wort will stay behind in the kettle along with the hot/cold break material and hops).
Second, you also need to account for the amount of water your grains will absorb. An 11 pound grist will absorb about 1.32 gallons of water.
So, now you need to think about your 7 gallons (for boil) plus the 1.32 gallons (for absorption). Round it up and you are talking 8.5 gallons of mash/sparge water to prepare.
I generally prepare 10 gallons for each 5.5 gallon batch I brew, just because it is nice to have a little extra water ready for sparging, rinsing, temperature adjustments and so on.
With fly sparging, most brewers sparge until they reach their pre-boil volume, or the run-off reaches some pre-determined low value (usually around 1.010.) That means a lot of water is left in the mash tun with the grain (more than 1.32 gal for 11 lbs.)
You might want to consider BIAB or batch sparging for your first all grain batch(es), as it is easier to get things right with those methods.
Brew on
You might want to consider BIAB or batch sparging for your first all grain batch(es), as it is easier to get things right with those methods.
Brew on
I'd agree. If you want to brew 5 and even 10 gallon batches, I would use BIAB, along with software (like Brewsmith) to brew. It just makes the brewing so much less complicated with no downsides as far as I can tell.
I would do a batch sparge for your first one. Work out the kinks first and it's much easier. Typically I have around 6.5-7g of wort pre boil for a 90min boil and a 5g batch. typically we deal in liters here as in Canada the metric and imperial gallon always confuses us as there different sizes. The liter never changes. (18.9l = 5g). Pre boil is around 25l. When I batch sparge I typically figure out my grain absorption and know I lose around 2l of wort in my dead space. Add these two numbers to my 25l then subtract my mash water amount. What's left is how much batch sparge water to use to reach my 25l of collected pre boil wort (no grain absorption for the sparge).
