water v.s. grains

[brewbeginner]

how much water would I need for an 11 lbs grain bill. what is a good per lbs formula to figure out water to grain ratios.

 

[brewkinger]

The usual is between 1 to 3 qts per pound of grain.
Normally people stick to between 1.25 and 1.75 due to space constraints.
So 11# x 1.5 qts/# = 16.5 quarts
4 q in a gallon so 4 gallons plus a half quart


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[aryoung1980]

1.5 qt/lb is my go to ratio.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mrdauber64]

I normally add 1 quart of 166 degree water per pound of grains to my mash tun, then add my grains, then add water until I reach my mash temp. This normally ends up being about 1.25 quarts per pound to 1.5 quarts per pound. I think as long as you are over the 1 quart per pound ratio that your mash temp is the more important than water ratio. My goal is always 1.25 quarts per pound though.

 

[brewkinger]

I normally add 1 quart of 166 degree water per pound of grains to my mash tun, then add my grains, then add water until I reach my mash temp. This normally ends up being about 1.25 quarts per pound to 1.5 quarts per pound. I think as long as you are over the 1 quart per pound ratio that your mash temp is the more important than water ratio. My goal is always 1.25 quarts per pound though.

Temp is very important, but never discount the effect of grist ratio.

Depending on the grain types in your mash, the ratio plays a role in the mash pH and that can be argued to be almost as important as temperature.

 

[brewbeginner]

thanx for the formula

 

[iBrewR]

.... can be argued to be almost as important as temperature.

but you would loose. Anywhere from 1 to 2 quarts per pound will give you pretty much the same results. Heck, BIAB guys are sometimes using full volume and making damn good beer.

 

[opiate82]

I start at 1.5 qts per pound and either tweak up or down just enough to get a nice even water measurement. So for 11 pounds of grain I'd probably use 1.45 qts per pound as that would make my strike water measurement a nice round 4 gallons.

Then for calculating my grain absorbtion I use one pint per pound (16 oz). So for 11 lbs of grain I would expect to lose 176 oz, or 1.375 gallons. I would probably round that up to 1.5 gallons for calculating the amount of sparge water I need. I don't like measuring out water in increments smaller than .25 gallons (or 1 qt). Also my dead space is minimal.

Sparge water is obviously going to depend on your desired final volume and boil off rate, but typically I need to start my boil with 7 gallons of wort, so:

4.0 gallons of strike
-1.5 gallons of grain absorption
2.5 gallons of first runnings.

7.0 total volume needed
-2.5 gallons of first runnings
4.5 gallons of sparge water needed.