Scaling a recipe to 4 gallons

[Boobajoob]

Hey guys. I've got 5 brews in now and am now trying to make a high abv brew.

My 10.5 foundry doesn't recommend going over 16lbs grain so I scaled down from a 5gal batch to 4gal. My question is this: the manual says to use 8.2gal water (no sparge) for 16lbs grain. Since I've scaled down to 4gal final, should I subtract a gallon from this and mash with 7.2gal? Since I'd still have 16lbs grain, would the absorption of water by the high volume grain throw me off? I'm thinking of mashing with 7.5gal but I'd like to know what others recommend. Am I on the right track?

Thanks!

 

[rburrelli]

Hey guys. I've got 5 brews in now and am now trying to make a high abv brew.

My 10.5 foundry doesn't recommend going over 16lbs grain so I scaled down from a 5gal batch to 4gal. My question is this: the manual says to use 8.2gal water (no sparge) for 16lbs grain. Since I've scaled down to 4gal final, should I subtract a gallon from this and mash with 7.2gal? Since I'd still have 16lbs grain, would the absorption of water by the high volume grain throw me off? I'm thinking of mashing with 7.5gal but I'd like to know what others recommend. Am I on the right track?

Thanks!

The Anvil tables are set up for 5 gallons. So do 80% of whatever figure they recommend.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Since I've scaled down to 4gal final, should I subtract a gallon from this and mash with 7.2gal?

This seems like a decent approach. I would have a little extra water handy that you could use to sparge with if you need a little more volume.