How to calculate the amount of water I need for the mash-tun & sparging?

[Elysium]

I am brewing all-grain for the 1st time...using 8.00 lb UK Maris Otter (2 Row) UK. It is going to be a 5 gallon batch...and I have everything ready....but I dont know how to calculate the amount of water I need for the mash-tun (for the 60 min-conversion part) and then the amount of water for the sparging.......can anyone tell me how to start calculating them?
At this stage...is it important to know the temperature of the striking water? I guess not....but I hope you guys can tell me more.

Ah....and I guess I will need to calculate the amount of water that will be absord and the water that will evaporate later.....any ideas on those?

Thanks

 

[unionrdr]

1.25-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. I do PB/PM BIAB with 5lbs of grains in 2 gallons of water. I sparge with 1.5 gallons at 165-168F to get a total boil volume of 3.5 gallons. Since you're doing AG,are you doing a full boil or partial?
8lbs of grain would be mashed in 3.5-4 gallons of water,so maybe sparge with 2 gallons for full boil volume of 6 gallons?...

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

You will loose water to absorb tion and to dead space in the mash tun. You need to figure those numbers out.

 

[Yooper]

In general, you want to use 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. So, with your 8 pound grainbill, that's 12 quarts (3 gallons). Water temperature is crucial, as that is what creates your mash temperature. A good quality accurate thermometer is imperative.

How are you sparging? If you're fly sparging or batch sparging, there are some differences.

Either way, you then sparge up to your boil volume.

8 pounds of grain will absorb approximately 1 gallon of wort, so you can plan on 2 gallons of runnings from the mash.

If your boil volume is, say, 6.5 gallons, that means you'd need 4.5 gallons of sparge water. That's alot of sparge water for 8 pounds of grain, though.

An 8 pound grainbill is a very low amount of grain for a 5 gallon batch and unless you're planning on a very low alcohol batch, I'd look at the grainbill again. With a small grainbill like that, you risk oversparging to get to your volume.

What is your projected beer's OG and ABV?

 

[Atonk]

I cheat ... I don't have the mind to make all the calculations my fellow homebrewers can!

http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

 

[rgarry]

I cheat ... I don't have the mind to make all the calculations my fellow homebrewers can!

http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

That's what I do. Wouldn't say it's cheating, just getting some help

 

[Malticulous]

I just strike with half the batch size+half the boil off+1 qt per pound grain absorption. I sparge with the other half of the batch size and boil off. This makes both of my two runnings the same size (I single batch sparge.) I will mash with over 2 qt per pound sometimes. I'd get 5.2 gallons of around 1.048 wort from 8 lbs of base malt.

 

[Elysium]

1.25-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. I do PB/PM BIAB with 5lbs of grains in 2 gallons of water. I sparge with 1.5 gallons at 165-168F to get a total boil volume of 3.5 gallons. Since you're doing AG,are you doing a full boil or partial?
8lbs of grain would be mashed in 3.5-4 gallons of water,so maybe sparge with 2 gallons for full boil volume of 6 gallons?...

Thanks for the answer. I'll do all-grain.

 

[dfc]

I cheat ... I don't have the mind to make all the calculations my fellow homebrewers can!

http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php

That's exactly what I use.

 

[Elysium]

In general, you want to use 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. So, with your 8 pound grainbill, that's 12 quarts (3 gallons). Water temperature is crucial, as that is what creates your mash temperature. A good quality accurate thermometer is imperative.

How are you sparging? If you're fly sparging or batch sparging, there are some differences.

Either way, you then sparge up to your boil volume.

8 pounds of grain will absorb approximately 1 gallon of wort, so you can plan on 2 gallons of runnings from the mash.

If your boil volume is, say, 6.5 gallons, that means you'd need 4.5 gallons of sparge water. That's alot of sparge water for 8 pounds of grain, though.

An 8 pound grainbill is a very low amount of grain for a 5 gallon batch and unless you're planning on a very low alcohol batch, I'd look at the grainbill again. With a small grainbill like that, you risk oversparging to get to your volume.

What is your projected beer's OG and ABV?

Hey Yooper...thanks for the info...I can see I have to look into tons of things. 1st of all.....can you tell me one thing? If I use 7.5 gallons of water in the mash, 1 gallon gets absorbed and I will have 6.5 gallons of wort for the boiling. Where do I calculate/or how/...the amount that will evaporate from that 6.5 gallons of wort? I want to end up with a 5-gallon batch.

Thanks.

 

[Yooper]

Hey Yooper...thanks for the info...I can see I have to look into tons of things. 1st of all.....can you tell me one thing? If I use 7.5 gallons of water in the mash, 1 gallon gets absorbed and I will have 6.5 gallons of wort for the boiling. Where do I calculate/or how/...the amount that will evaporate from that 6.5 gallons of wort? I want to end up with a 5-gallon batch.

Thanks.

Are you doing BIAB? The reason I ask is that in my system, using 7.5 gallons of water in the mash with an 8 pound grainbill would give me a very high mash pH and I wouldn't like the results. Normally, I mash with 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain which helps me get the correct mash pH, and then I sparge up to my boil volume.

BIAB'ers do things a bit differently, as they might mash with the full volume and do a no-sparge, but I'm not sure how they compensate for the rise in pH as I've never done BIAB.

 

[Elysium]

Are you doing BIAB? The reason I ask is that in my system, using 7.5 gallons of water in the mash with an 8 pound grainbill would give me a very high mash pH and I wouldn't like the results. Normally, I mash with 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain which helps me get the correct mash pH, and then I sparge up to my boil volume.

BIAB'ers do things a bit differently, as they might mash with the full volume and do a no-sparge, but I'm not sure how they compensate for the rise in pH as I've never done BIAB.

I'll do an all-grain brew. Mashing in a cooler 1st and then boiling in 2 different pots.

there is one more thing I don't really know: are we talking about US or UK quarts?

 

[Yooper]

I'll do an all-grain brew. Mashing in a cooler 1st and then boiling in 2 different pots.

there is one more thing I don't really know: are we talking about US or UK quarts?

Ok, if you're mashing in a cooler, I can be specific on volumes.

US quarts/gallons is what we normally use.

How many pounds of grain are you using?

When you mash in, you'll use 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain. So, for a 10 pound grain bill (as an example), you'll use 15 quarts of water in the mash. Call it 16 quarts (4 gallons) to make my life better. :cross:

10 pounds of grain should absorb 1 (plus or minus a tad) gallons of liquid.

That means you'll get about three gallons of runnings out of the mash.

If you want to end up with 6.5 gallons for your boil volume, that means you need to sparge with 3.5 gallons of water.

To determine you actual boil volume, first boil 6 gallons of water in your system, for 1 hour, and then cool it. Then measure it. Whatever you lose is the amount you'll lose when you boil your wort also. That amount is important, so measure everything carefully the first time.

When you can tell us your actual recipe, and your actual boil volume, we can give you specific step by steps and water volumes.