Ok I know this is going to sound pretty dumb but I'm getting prepared to jump into all grain brewing. I have bought myself a Brewzilla system and I'm getting close to attempting my first brew. Now in going through recipes on this site, all amounts of grain and hops etc are given... Is the amount of water the same for every recipe? It might be the early morning brain farts but I appreciate replies.
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No it will vary. The amount of water will be influenced by the batch size, gravity (the amount of grain used), and boil time among other things. While the water needed for your standard batch size will always be in the same neighborhood a run of high gravity Imperial Stout is going to need more water than the same sized batch of low gravity style like English Mild for instance.
Dgallo
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So to answer the direct question, no it’s not. The amount of water can increase or decrease because of the amount of grains, hops, and differences in each brewers equipment/ process. Liquid volume loss is inevitable and occurs throughout the brewing process. All of the things mentioned above have an effect on how much loss with occurs for the individual brew and brewer. The amount of time people choose to boil their beer will also effect the starting volumes of water needed.
For example to put 5 gallons of beer in to a keg with a 5% Pilsner, I will only need 8.5 to start. But when I brewed a 10.4% triple ipa recently with a huge whirlpool and dryhop charge. I had to use over 10.25 gallons of water to account for the bigger grain bill and excess losses
That being said, as long as you learn your loss amounts at all stages, are using and similar amounts of grains and hops in the recipes, and boiling for at the same ferocity and time from brew to brew, your starting volumes can be the similar each time.
Lefou
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It's ASSUMED all recipes are typically brewed to a scale of 5gal batches, but with homebrewing, you never know because a lot of the recipes are done for personal tastes, too. Not everyone will have the same equipment or method so your best bet when using a new setup is to find people who tend to use the same kind of brewing gear and tap their experience.
I use varying methods of stovetop all grain brewing and depending on my priorities or style choice, I can change up mash and sparge water volumes.
I use varying methods of stovetop all grain brewing and depending on my priorities or style choice, I can change up mash and sparge water volumes.
Excellent points, above. ^
It also depends on where the recipe comes from. Most commercial kit recipes and recipes in brew books, AHA, etc. are typically based on 5 gallons in the fermenter, trub and all. All grain recipes of such are or should be standardized at 75% mash efficiency, but beware of unmarked outliers, I've seen many of them.
Most, if not all recipes posted in forums, on websites (e.g., Brewer's Friend, BeerSmith), blogs, etc., are typically what the homebrewer brewed on his/her system. So mash efficiency (thus amount of grain used), trub volume left behind in kettle (left out of fermenter) can vary largely.
I'd say best is to run recipes through a recipe formulator (BeerSmith, Brewer's Friend, etc.) using your equipment and process variables.
Try to keep the ingredients proportional (percentages of ingredients the same or close).
Hops themselves vary, their oil content and Alpha Acid percentage as well as aging effects due to extended storage in non-frozen state.
So use the %AA of your hops, not theirs, and try to match IBUs.
That will get you in the ballpark, but there will be process variables that will make your brew unique from the brewer who posted it.
It also depends on where the recipe comes from. Most commercial kit recipes and recipes in brew books, AHA, etc. are typically based on 5 gallons in the fermenter, trub and all. All grain recipes of such are or should be standardized at 75% mash efficiency, but beware of unmarked outliers, I've seen many of them.
Most, if not all recipes posted in forums, on websites (e.g., Brewer's Friend, BeerSmith), blogs, etc., are typically what the homebrewer brewed on his/her system. So mash efficiency (thus amount of grain used), trub volume left behind in kettle (left out of fermenter) can vary largely.
I'd say best is to run recipes through a recipe formulator (BeerSmith, Brewer's Friend, etc.) using your equipment and process variables.
Try to keep the ingredients proportional (percentages of ingredients the same or close).
Hops themselves vary, their oil content and Alpha Acid percentage as well as aging effects due to extended storage in non-frozen state.
So use the %AA of your hops, not theirs, and try to match IBUs.
That will get you in the ballpark, but there will be process variables that will make your brew unique from the brewer who posted it.
Let me rephrase that:
Your late, late boil hops, such as 5', FlameOut (FO), whirlpool/hopstand hops, as well as (fermenter) dry hops, should remain at the same original recipe quantities (for the same volume) as they contribute mostly to flavor and aroma, not as much to bittering. If their bittering contribution is indeed substantially different, change the timing and/or the temperature somewhat at which they are added.
... and try to match IBUs for bittering additions.
Your late, late boil hops, such as 5', FlameOut (FO), whirlpool/hopstand hops, as well as (fermenter) dry hops, should remain at the same original recipe quantities (for the same volume) as they contribute mostly to flavor and aroma, not as much to bittering. If their bittering contribution is indeed substantially different, change the timing and/or the temperature somewhat at which they are added.
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