First mini "All Grain" Batch, experimenting, I need some help... Options

[Piantini]

Hello guys,

Like always I got tons of questions. I want to try and brew a small batch of all grain for the fun of it (1.75 gallons of wort) but I am having a little bit of difficulty with the amount of water need.

I am planning to use my 3 gallon Brew Pot & my bottle bucket as my mash tun.

Beer Smith tells me that for a 1.75 gallon batch using a 3 gallon brew pot & a single infusion, medium body (154*F) 2 step procedure, I need:

1) A boil volume of -1.26gal (I had the "Set Boil Volume Base on Equipment Box" checked)
2) Mash In w/ 4.22qt (1.06 gallons) of water at 167.8*F
3) Mash Out w/ 2.36qt (0.56 gallons) of water at 197.5*F

I must be doing something wrong with my input numbers because 4.22qt +2.36qt = 1.62 gallons and there is no way I will end up with a final volume of 1.75gal from a 1.62gal of water for the mash process.

My 3 gal brew pot boil off rate per hour for a gallon of water was 0.6 gallons. So if I assume grains when mashing take 0.12gal per # of grain (3.5# x 0.12gal = 0.42gal/#), then, 0.42gal + 0.6gal + 1.75 Final Vol = 2.77gal Total Volume needed.

I am so confuse! (IMG:style_emoticons/brewboard/sorry.gif) I will Relax... and I will have a homebrew as soon as I get home... If I make it sane (IMG:style_emoticons/brewboard/crazy.gif)

This post has been edited by Piantini: Nov 21 2008, 10:36 AM

[Shelly]

change your boil volume to 2.35 gallons and it'll correct the sparge amount

This post has been edited by Shelly: Nov 21 2008, 10:38 AM

[Piantini]

change your boil volume to 2.35 gallons and it'll correct the sparge amount

Where did you get 2.35 gallons?

This post has been edited by Piantini: Nov 21 2008, 10:51 AM

[Shelly]

exactly! you know what you want in the end, and you know your boil off rate, I had this same problem not to long ago

[ThePurpleDino]

Hey...

Just jumped into Beersmith, took a Random 5 gallon recipe and used the SCALE funtion to bring it down to 1.75 gallons. So, Obviously, your grainbill/equipment will produce slightly different volumes..

Here is the MASH info from the generated Brew Sheet:


PREPARE 2.96Gal water for brewing
MASH IN : 4.43QT @ 169.9Deg
MASH OUT : 0.58Gal
SPARGE : 1.27Gal

Starting Boil Vol = 2.28gal

[Piantini]

thank you for explaning the starting boil Vol guys

[BobH]

Not that you need another way. Here is what MashWater 3.3 gives for volumes.

Inputs:
Grain 3.5 Lb.
Boil Off .6 Gal
Recipe Volume 1.75 Gal
Mash Temp 154F
Mash Qts./Lb. 1.14
Boil Time 60 Min
Hops 1/2 Oz.
Mash Tun Loss 0
Pot Loss 0

Output:
No Mash Out
Strike Water 1 Gal at 168F (Bottled spring water) 5-6 PH range
Grain Absorption .42 Gal
1st Runnings .58 Gal
Sparge with 1.8 Gal (I would use 180F) Higher PH water like most municipal water
Total to Boil 2.37 Gal
Hops Absorption .02 Gal
Total to Ferment 1.75 Gal

[Fletch]

(snippage)

Beer Smith tells me that for a 1.75 gallon batch using a 3 gallon brew pot & a single infusion, medium body (154*F) 2 step procedure, I need:

1) A boil volume of -1.26gal (I had the "Set Boil Volume Base on Equipment Box" checked)
2) Mash In w/ 4.22qt (1.06 gallons) of water at 167.8*F
3) Mash Out w/ 2.36qt (0.56 gallons) of water at 197.5*F

I think you missed the sparge amount in the original post.