After some successful initial brews from extracts I am considering to go All Grain.
First of all because it’s fun to try and learn.
Second because I do care about the color of my beer and think a tripel or lager should be blonde
(read about my questions here: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=115732 )
I have been reading a lot about all grain and I get the concept.
My question is that it seems to be unclear whether the recipe’s of the all grain kits from NB are designed for fly sparging or batch sparging. Also the amounts of water are not indicated. Am I missing something? I was thinking to do a batch sparge for my first AG, simply because it seems like a straight forward process, requires less equipment and delivers good results.
if you are just starting i would say do batch sparge, like you said its simple and straight forward. there are a few tools to help you with that, i use Beersmith its a wonderful program check it out at beersmith.com, if you wanna save some money you can use infusion calculators online such as the one on http://www.brewersfriend.com usually for a normal mash you would go 1.5 qts of water per pound of grain.
also i know a few people on here do fly sparge and swear by it but for your average brewer it is not needed. onw more site to check out is http://www.dennybrew.com. hope it helps
The kits from NB, and all the AG recipes you will find from any source, are designed with a certain level of efficiency in mind that the author of the recipe typically gets, or thinks his readers will get. And those will vary, not just based on how you sparge, but also on how finely you grind your grain, your water chemistry, the geometry of your set-up and a million other factors. One of the primary goals for a brewer going to AG should be to understand how he does things impacts efficiency and learn to control factors so you can get consistent efficiency. You don’t need high efficiency, just consistancy so you are able to anticipate and adjust recipes so they will come out properly on your system. You’ll only get to know that by brewing a bunch of batches. The choice of fly or batch sparging is secondary. I’ve tried both, and for what it’s worth, I prefer batch sparging.
There are so many variables with all grain the it would be very difficult to list water amounts, efficiencies, etc. you do a few batches, document each step, look at results and adjust future recipes.
Thanks for all the helpful replies. However you make it sound more daunting than I thought it was
Rest assured, will try regardless, perhaps fail and keep going.
However I was hoping that there was something like : “use 4 gal for first sparge, than 3 gal for 2nd sparge.” Ending up with 6 gal or so (leaving 1 gal in mash tun and wet grains). Boiling will reduce it to 5 gal. To be honest this sounds like quite the plan.
[quote=“pete_brewer”]Thanks for all the helpful replies. However you make it sound more daunting than I thought it was
Rest assured, will try regardless, perhaps fail and keep going.
However I was hoping that there was something like : “use 4 gal for first sparge, than 3 gal for 2nd sparge.” Ending up with 6 gal or so (leaving 1 gal in mash tun and wet grains). Boiling will reduce it to 5 gal. To be honest this sounds like quite the plan.[/quote]
I’m just making the move to AG as well and have decided to try BIAB to get my feet wet as it looks simpler and I won’t need additional equipment. In my research I have seen posts similar to what you were hoping to get. Just search the AG forum for batch sparge and look at dennybrew then take the plunge. That’s my plan. Gotta start somewhere right?
[quote=“pete_brewer”]Thanks for all the helpful replies. However you make it sound more daunting than I thought it was
Rest assured, will try regardless, perhaps fail and keep going.
However I was hoping that there was something like : “use 4 gal for first sparge, than 3 gal for 2nd sparge.” Ending up with 6 gal or so (leaving 1 gal in mash tun and wet grains). Boiling will reduce it to 5 gal. To be honest this sounds like quite the plan.[/quote]
Down load the MashWater 3.3 program JT built you people to use for free. It will tell you how much water you need based on the amount of grain you are using. Plan on .25qt left in the MT and in the boil kettle. Have an extra gallon of water on hand in case you need a little more in the MT to get your preboil volume.
Grains = 10lbs x 1.5qts= 15qts Divided by 4qts= 3.75gal of mash water.
You will lose about .10Gal of water per pound of grain when you mash because of absorption.
-1gal so your first run off will be 2.75gal (depending on your mash tun)
I usaully like to equal half my total preboil volume on the first run off My magic number is 7gal so half of that is 3.5gal on my first runnings so I would add and stir in .75gal at the end of the mash. Wait a minute then start my vorlauf.
After the first runnings I would add the rest of the water 3.5gal make sure that this water is hot so that you get the grain bed up to around 170 deg dont forget to stir it in to get those sugars off the grains then do another vorlauf.
Its just trial and error just like getting your temps right.
Now your on to making beer like you always have. Good luck its not as hard as it seems and no mater what you have still made beer in the end.
Yea, but I am amazed at all of you that start a boil with 6.5 gallons and end up with over 5 in the fermentor. For me, I need just over 7.5 gallons to end up with 5.3. For my average grain bill I need 9.5 gallons to start.
[quote=“pete_brewer”]Thanks for all the helpful replies. However you make it sound more daunting than I thought it was
Rest assured, will try regardless, perhaps fail and keep going.
However I was hoping that there was something like : “use 4 gal for first sparge, than 3 gal for 2nd sparge.” Ending up with 6 gal or so (leaving 1 gal in mash tun and wet grains). Boiling will reduce it to 5 gal. To be honest this sounds like quite the plan.[/quote]Here’s an easy way to batch sparge, I’d recommend keeping your first few batches under 12# of grain until you get the hang of it, larger grain bills get a little more complex.
If you don’t know your boil off rate you’ll have to do a couple batches to get that sorted out. Let’s say your boil off is 1.5 gallons, to end up with 5 gallons you’ll need to start with 6.5 gallons. Take the 6.5 gallons and divide by 2, 3.25 gallons will go into the mash and the other 3.25 gallons will be reserved for the sparge. The grain in the mash will absorb some of the strike water, usually around .1-.12 gallons per pound of grain, on a 10# grain bill that would be roughly 1 gallon, add that to the 3.25 gallons when you’re heating up the strike water for the mash in. Mash in with 4.25 gallons and sparge with 3.25. You’ll also have some dead space in your mash tun, to get an idea of what your dead space is put 2 gallons of water in your mash tun and let it drain, after it stops measure how much water is left, add that amount to your initial strike water too. That’s about it, after a few batches you’ll get your process down and really start to nail it.
Here’s a good calculator to help figure your strike water temperature:
You should just jump in and try a few batches, a lot of the details will make themselves obvious that way. Trying to explain it makes it sound more complicated than it really needs to be.
[quote=“560sdl”]Yea, but I am amazed at all of you that start a boil with 6.5 gallons and end up with over 5 in the fermentor. For me, I need just over 7.5 gallons to end up with 5.3. For my average grain bill I need 9.5 gallons to start.
See how that might change things?[/quote]
Unless you use the same amount of grain for each beer, the water calculations will be different.
As long as you know your boil off rate, you know how much water you need to start with.
Download the free program JT built for anyone to use.
