Recipe converstion question

[jrc64]

I found an oatmeal stout recipe I wanted to try. It was an extract recipe for 5 gallons. Since I wanted to experiment with it, I asked Beersmith to convert it to "all grain", then scale it down to 2 gallons.

It's telling me that my mash in should be 5.91 quarts and mash out with 3.31 quarts, resulting in a boil size of .79 gallons!! Once the boil is done, it says I should have .52 gallons, and to top off with water up to the wanted 2 gallons.

Could these numbers be right? Why not simply mash in and hot to gather enough wort to do a full 2 gallon plus boil??

Need som help o this.

 

[CadillacAndy]

It sounds like maybe one of your volumes is off in the profile that you're using - check under the equipment profile > Boiler > Top Up Water for Kettle.

 

[Yooper]

I found an oatmeal stout recipe I wanted to try. It was an extract recipe for 5 gallons. Since I wanted to experiment with it, I asked Beersmith to convert it to "all grain", then scale it down to 2 gallons.

It's telling me that my mash in should be 5.91 quarts and mash out with 3.31 quarts, resulting in a boil size of .79 gallons!! Once the boil is done, it says I should have .52 gallons, and to top off with water up to the wanted 2 gallons.

Could these numbers be right? Why not simply mash in and hot to gather enough wort to do a full 2 gallon plus boil??

Need som help o this.

Generally, you want to mash with 1.25-2 quarts per pound of grain, then you can sparge up to your boil volume (forget the mash out).

If you post your recipe, we can help you figure it out. Also, what your boil off is with your pot, as that impacts the volume you start with. Then we could look and see what's going on with beersmith.

 

[ACbrewer]

It sounds like you put the extract recipe in as a partial boil, which beer smith converted to a partial boil all grain. I suppose a person might do that if they were creating more beer then they had kettle *, but I'm guessing you have atleast 4 gallon pot and don't need to worry about.

Anyhow, take a look and see if you are converting partial boil, I don't think beersmith handles that element of conversion, just the recomendations on grains.


* Comercial brewers sometimes make wort 120% OG of what is the OG of the fermentor. Saves a LOT on boil energy cost, Although if you are going to get all the sugars out, they probably end up making the low alcohol/light beers this way. I'm guessing that add the water in pre ferment, although they could do it post.

 

[jrc64]

Generally, you want to mash with 1.25-2 quarts per pound of grain, then you can sparge up to your boil volume (forget the mash out).

If you post your recipe, we can help you figure it out. Also, what your boil off is with your pot, as that impacts the volume you start with. Then we could look and see what's going on with beersmith.

Based on the ratio you listed, it does appear that Beersmith has the mash in and mash out quarts correct. I can't how mashing with nearly 2 gallons of water will only yield .79 of a gallon of wort. I'm guessing that I can always sparge to get the pre boil volume up to around 2.25 gallons to allow for boil off.

 

[Yooper]

Based on the ratio you listed, it does appear that Beersmith has the mash in and mash out quarts correct. I can't how mashing with nearly 2 gallons of water will only yield .79 of a gallon of wort. I'm guessing that I can always sparge to get the pre boil volume up to around 2.25 gallons to allow for boil off.

Normally, grain absorbs about .125 gallons per pound in the mash. So, if you have 2 gallons in the mash, you can plan on "losing" only about .5 gallon of water in the mash. (Assuming 4-5 pounds of grain.) So your beersmith giving you .79 gallon seems a bit low, as I"d expect you to get out about 1 gallon in first runnings.

I'd skip the mash out (no need), and then sparge up to your boil volume- probably about 3 gallons if you want to end up with a 2 gallon batch. I boil off over a gallon an hour, in my stove top pot.

 

[jrc64]

Normally, grain absorbs about .125 gallons per pound in the mash. So, if you have 2 gallons in the mash, you can plan on "losing" only about .5 gallon of water in the mash. (Assuming 4-5 pounds of grain.) So your beersmith giving you .79 gallon seems a bit low, as I"d expect you to get out about 1 gallon in first runnings.

I'd skip the mash out (no need), and then sparge up to your boil volume- probably about 3 gallons if you want to end up with a 2 gallon batch. I boil off over a gallon an hour, in my stove top pot.

Problem solved. I had the wrong equipment profile set up for the recipe. My equipment is an 8 gallon brew pot and 10 gallon mash tun. I found a profile that comes close to mine. Can I actually make it exact? I's love to have my profile as 8 gallon pot and 10 gallon tun.

 

[Yooper]

Problem solved. I had the wrong equipment profile set up for the recipe. My equipment is an 8 gallon brew pot and 10 gallon mash tun. I found a profile that comes close to mine. Can I actually make it exact? I's love to have my profile as 8 gallon pot and 10 gallon tun.

Sure you can. It takes some tweaking in the equipment profile, but once you have it set up, it will be perfect for you!