Strike and Sparge Water Volumes for Ontario Beer Kegs' "Summer Ale" Recipe

[StandTallGuy]

Good morning,

I am very new to all grain brewing recipes (as I have only done extract brews in the past - topping up in the fermenter to a 5 gallon post-boil volume).

With that introduction and with the help and support of the gurus and experts on this site,

what would be the suggested Strike and Sparge water volumes using the variables found in the Ontario Beer Kegs' recipe for their Summer Ale (5.25 gal)?

Link to the recipe can be found here: Summer Ale

Much thanks and appreciation for everyone's help and support.

Cheers!

Jay

 

[rburrelli]

Strike and sparge volumes are dependent upon your equipment profile and performance. Also the method you use to sparge. also the type of system you use to brew. Tell us more.

 

[grampamark]

Since you haven’t done any all grain brewing, you really don’t have a “system” yet. I would suggest the following as a starting point, assuming a typical 3 vessel system-

Mash at 1.5 quarts/lb. 8 x 1.5 = 12 quarts or 3 gallons. That is your strike volume. The grain will absorb about a pint per pound so, after the mash is complete and the mash tun has been drained you will end up with +/- 2 gallons. Assume a gallon of boil off for a 60 min. boil, and a half gallon of trub in both the kettle and the fermenter. That means you will need to sparge with 5 gal to achieve a preboil volume of 7 gal. Divide that by 2 and sparge in 2 infusions of 2.5 gal each. The grain won’t absorb much more, if any, water, but you may have to add an additional half gallon to reach 7 gal in the boil kettle. If you do a “dry run” using water you should be able to determine your boil off rate; as you gain experience you will be able to fine tune your system to the point that there won’t be any surprises when it comes to determining how much water you need to end up with a desired finished volume.

A word about volume measurements. It’s a good idea to actually measure, as opposed to eyeballing or relying on kettle markings ( if any). I use an 18” stainless steel ruler, about 5-6 bucks at home improvement or craft stores, to measure volumes. It’s pretty easy to calculate the interior volume of a kettle, in cubic inches, and divide that by 231 to get the exact capacity of the kettle if filled to the rim. Most kettles vary from the nominal capacity by a few ounces, +/-, but the point is to determine the volume per inch, by dividing the actual volume by the interior height of the kettle. Once this is known it’s easy to determine how much to start with by dividing the desired amount by GPI (gallons per inch) and how much has been collected by multiplying the inches collected by GPI. This won’t give you laboratory accuracy, but the point is to be consistent in how volumes are determined.

Good luck with your excellent adventures in all grain brewing. Keep asking questions. You will get a variety of opinions but will get good advice. There’s more than one way to skin the homebrewing cat, and you will hear about all of them, and more, from this group.