Partial Mash Volume

[therealrsr]

If I want to add the specialty grains (in current case crystal 120, eng chocolate, roasted barley) to the mash do I need to adjust the water volume to account for these? I am limited to a 5 gal. team jug for my partial mash so I will steep them instead if necessary in order to minimize the extract %.

Thanks

 

[malkore]

those grains are going to absorb some water, so yes you do want to account for that loss in your mash water volume.

you can figure .2 gal per pound of grain.

 

[therealrsr]

Thanks, is that .2 amount specific to the specialty grains? I was given a rule of thumb of 1.25 qts per # of grain when mashing. Not saying that rule is right, just seems like a pretty big spread so seeking clarification (and hopefully more space!).

 

[slowbie]

Thanks, is that .2 amount specific to the specialty grains? I was given a rule of thumb of 1.25 qts per # of grain when mashing. Not saying that rule is right, just seems like a pretty big spread so seeking clarification (and hopefully more space!).

I do 1.25 qts/pound as well. I don't think I've really heard of anyone using less than one quart per pound, but if malkore does it and it works for him, maybe it's not a bad idea.

Also, if you haven't seen this yet: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

This will help you figure out how much grain you can fit. (Go to the second from the bottom)

 

[Yooper]

I believe Malkore was referring to the absorption amount, not mashing amount.

Anyway, I'd recommending mashing with 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound of grain. Then you can sparge up to your boil volume, or up to .5 gallons per pound of grain.

For example, if you had 5 pounds of grain you'd mash in with 7.5 quarts of strike water (using the 1.5 quart/pound ratio). Mash for the hour, then drain. Grains absorb water, in my system is .1 gallons per pound of grain, for Malkore it's .2 gallons. So, you can split the difference for your guestimate.

1.85 gallons mash water
.75 gallons absorbed
_____
1.10 gallons in the first runnings

Say you wanted to use 3 gallons in the boil. Then you could sparge with 1.90 gallons of sparge water, to bring you to 3 gallons. You won't lose water to absorption this time. If you get more runnings out of the mash, you could use less sparge water. And if you get less, you could use more sparge water. This is probably the easiest way to do a partial mash the first time, and be able to hit your volumes.

 

[slowbie]

I believe Malkore was referring to the absorption amount, not mashing amount.

That makes a lot of sense if I take the time to actually read the whole post.