All grain water amounts

I just bought my first all grain kit. SMASH american session ale. Instructions didnt have the amount of water needed for mashing or sparging. Can anyone tell me where to find out how much water to use. I have seen something about quarts per pound of grain but not for sure.

I use 1 1/2 qts per pound of grain for the mash and then enough for the sparge to get to about 7 gallons pre boil volume. I seem to lose a lot in the boil.

I try to do this too. ^^^^ Seems to be optimum for my system/process.

:cheers:

I shoot for equal runnings. If I’m aiming for 7 gallons pre-boil the sparge will be 3.5 gallons and so will the first run off of the mash. I generally lose ~.12 gallons per pound to absorption and dead space in the MT on the first runnings, on a batch with a 10# grain bill I’d mash in with a little over 4.5 gallons to come out around 3.5 gallons on the first pull. This works pretty well for me on beers up to 1.070 or so, on bigger brews I’ll mash in with less, do an extra sparge, collect a little more and boil longer.

I agree with Glug. I try to equal out the first runnings and sparge as close as possible, but prefer to mash at at least 1.5 quarts per pound. I then use the .125 gallons per pound absorption to calculate what the sparge should be to get at my desired total volume, which for most of my batches is 7 gallons. I don’t like to sparge with less than three gallons, and will reduce my water to grain ratio to as low as 1.25 to 1 for bigger beers to make sure I can get a good sparge. Lastly, I don’t decide how much to sparge with until I finish my first run off. If I am aiming for seven gallons and get 4 gallons in first runnings, I sparge with 3.

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

Are you batch sparging or fly sparging? If you’re batch sparging, the easiest thing to do is mash with 1.6-1.75 qt./lb. After you run off your mash, measure how much you get from it. Subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much sparge water to use. After you do it that way a few times, you’ll have a handle on your system and will be able to calculate volumes in the future.

Are you batch sparging or fly sparging? If you’re batch sparging, the easiest thing to do is mash with 1.6-1.75 qt./lb. After you run off your mash, measure how much you get from it. Subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much sparge water to use. After you do it that way a few times, you’ll have a handle on your system and will be able to calculate volumes in the future.[/quote]

This is exactly what I’ve done on my first few all-grain batches, and it works great. Try not to stress too much. Once you do it you’ll find its less confusing than it sounds.

Are you batch sparging or fly sparging? If you’re batch sparging, the easiest thing to do is mash with 1.6-1.75 qt./lb. After you run off your mash, measure how much you get from it. Subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much sparge water to use. After you do it that way a few times, you’ll have a handle on your system and will be able to calculate volumes in the future.[/quote]

This is exactly what I’ve done on my first few all-grain batches, and it works great. Try not to stress too much. Once you do it you’ll find its less confusing than it sounds.[/quote]

Are you batch sparging or fly sparging? If you’re batch sparging, the easiest thing to do is mash with 1.6-1.75 qt./lb. After you run off your mash, measure how much you get from it. Subtract that from the amount you want to boil. The answer you get is how much sparge water to use. After you do it that way a few times, you’ll have a handle on your system and will be able to calculate volumes in the future.[/quote]

Same here. I also use this same method.

Total grain weight x 1.75 - absorption = post mash volume.

Total wort needed before boil - post mash volume = water needed for sparge.

Depending on the grist I’m usually around 5gals mash, 3gals sparge. This fluctuates slightly with each recipe, but I don’t fuss over a little less or more water/wort at either end.