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Author Topic: Recipe Help!  (Read 2851 times)

Offline jdoss03

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Recipe Help!
« on: April 14, 2012, 08:09:40 am »
I'm planning on brewing an ESB tomorrow and I have the grains, hop schedule, and mash temp, but i'm not sure how much water to mash in and sparge with. any suggestions? (here's the bill)



Briess Pale Ale Malt   8 lbs, 0 oz
Briess Victory   1 lbs, 0 oz
Crisp CaraMalt   1 lbs, 0 oz
Challenger,UK Pellets   1 oz @ 60 mins
Bullion Pellets   1 oz @ 20 mins
Brewers Gold Pellets   1 oz @ 10 mins
Fuggles Pellets, UK   1 oz @ 0 mins
SAFALE S-04   1 ea



        OG                    FG               BU          SRM                 ABV
1.048 - 1.060   1.010 - 1.016   30 - 50   6 - 18   4.60 - 6.20
      1.055                1.014             39.3          9.82             5.37

Offline jamminbrew

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2012, 08:29:37 am »
Assuming a single step infusion? 5 gallon batch?  I would use 3.75 gallons water for mash (1.5 qts per pound of grain) and would add 4 gallons for sparge. Assuming you'll lose 1 gallon to grain absorption, +/-, you should collect about 6.5 gallons for boil, but if you typically boil off more than 1 gallon, add some more to the sparge to adjust.
In caelo cerivisiae nil, hic igitur bibimus.

Offline jdoss03

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2012, 08:31:46 am »
Awesome man. Thank you for your help.

Offline svejk

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2012, 08:40:08 am »
Most all grain users have brewing software that helps with these calculations. I use Promash, but there are lots of options. You can also find websites that can help as well:

http://brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

No matter what method you go with, you should take lots of notes on your early sessions so that you can dial in how your own system behaves.  If possible, you might also look to see if there is a homebrew club in your area because other brewers could either come over and show you the ropes on your system, or have you watch them brew on theirs.  If you do a search for all grain brewing on YouTube, you'll get a bunch of helpful videos that will give you lots of help with your early efforts.  Good luck!

Offline denny

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2012, 09:32:27 am »
If you're batch sparging, mash with whatever ratio you like.  I usually use between 1.5-1.75 qt./lb.  After you run off your mash, measure how much you got.  Subtract that from the amount you want to boil.  The answer you get is how much sparge water to use.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline hooter

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2012, 03:15:02 pm »
Most all grain users have brewing software that helps with these calculations. I use Promash, but there are lots of options.

+1.  I use Beersmith.  Either way, it takes the guesswork out of the process.  It's a small investment and well worth it.

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2012, 01:02:24 pm »
I use beertools as well.  But I've found that while brewing I use a handy little app on my iPhone called Sparge Pal.  Cost me $.99 and saves me a ton of time.
Dave Zach

Offline malzig

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2012, 04:14:24 pm »
One of the nice things about BeerTools Pro is that, once you set up a mash schedule completely and save it as a default or a template, it calculates all that automatically whenever you enter a new recipe.  Then it takes virtually no time at all to know exactly how much water to use and what temperature.

To really figure it out for you, though, we would need to know the dead volume of your tun and your boil-off volume.  Denny's system will always give you the right volume, though, if you don't mind measuring your first runnings volume, but you still need to know your boil-off volume.

Offline gmac

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Re: Recipe Help!
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2012, 04:27:32 pm »
I use 2L per lb.  I measure my collected wort and then add whatever I need (+2L) to sparge.
So, if I want 23L total for a 19 gal batch (because I lose a L to and trub and crap so it's really 18L), and I collect 14L, I add 11 more and then sparge.
I add 2L because even though the wort should have absorbed a bunch of water, if I add 9L to the grain, I don't seem to get 9L back.  So I add a bit more.
If I have an extra L, it gets used for starters.