Beginning my first all grain batch as we speak

[37OliveStBrews]

Very excited to try this method of homebrewing. I will be doing a Black IPA from NB. Until this point I have always done partial/mini-mash. I am curious as to the process. A bit worried about all the math necessary to get my final boil volume but I guess practice makes perfect. Cheers to any and all who are brewing on St. Patrick's Day.

 

[wilserbrewer]

.... A bit worried about all the math necessary to get my final boil volume ....

What math? Sparge to acquire required pre-boil volume. While all the maths usually work great, don't lose track of the objective...sparge to fill the kettle, boil to batch size....happy St. Pats.

 

[njschmidt]

sparge to fill the kettle, boil to batch size....

I have to say that this, too, was my experience during my first brew day yesterday. I ended up with 5 gallons of wort just from the first runnings (had to add more water than expected to get the right temperature), so only sparged 1.5 gallons to get my boil volume. Then I boiled it down for an hour (had 6 gallons left), which let me put 5.5 gallons in the fermenter (my goal all along! ).

Good luck and let us know how it goes (with pictures!).

 

[starrfish]

there are some great online free calculators too, if you want to know a starting point.

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

TastyBrew (I don't like their sparge calculator)
http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/

Bonnie Blue Brew (for BIAB)
http://www.bonniebluebrew.com/brewcalc/pmbiab.php

This one I've never used but looks pretty complete:
http://www.brewheads.com/calc.php

 

[37OliveStBrews]

Thanks Starfish,
I found this one real helpful http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
Turned out I was spot on 5.5 gallons of wort. My SG was 1.063 which I think is well off the expected 1.079 but I can't get hung up on that after all it was my first try.