Strike Water Question

How many quarts of water per pound of grain is typical for all grain mashing?

1.2 to 2 quarts per pound is pretty normal.

I use between 1.0-1.5 qt/lb usually.

J

lately I’ve been upping mine to at least 1.5:1 if possible so I can get a really good and easy stir in. Before that I was using about 1.25:1.

when I first started AG I used 1.2 as that was the most common info I found. I use 1.5 to 2 most times now, on average probably 1.75

I use 1.5 qts/lb usually. If you are trying to do a step mash and use the heat from additional water infusions to raise the temperature you would want to start with less water. I have a mash water calculator on my web site in the beer section that is easy to use.

John

Thanks for the advice! One more question, How much sparge water?

depends on your system and what you use to mash in, grain abosrption, dead space, etc put your stuff into a calculator to give a round about figure and keep good notes

For batch sparging most people just shoot for equal runnings. So if you put 4.5 gallons in the mash and drain out 3.25 gallons, you should add 3.25 gallons of sparge water. Your measurements don’t need to be perfect, just close.

My mash water calculator also calculates the sparge water needed. It is pretty basic math once you account for grain absorption and losses in your equipment. Say your looking for 6.5 gallons pre boil, just subtract what you drain from the mash tun from the 6.5 and that is your strike water volume. I usually have the fire going as soon as the mash is in the boil pot while I batch sparge so my boil off is a bit more but I get to a boil faster after the sparge.

John

I figure mine like below, which is about 1.6 quarts per lb of grain. Works for me.

The rule of thumb in batch sparging is that you want runoffs to be equal in volume. So to start, take your pre-boil volume and divide by two. Then add your mash losses, which are the grain absorption (0.13 gal/lb,) and and any dead space (which depends on your mash tun design). That’s your strike water volume. Your sparge volume is then just the second half of the pre-boil volume.

For example:

SNPA: 11 lbs. Grain
I need 6 gallons pre boil
6 divided by 2 = 3 (2 means 1 for strike water, 1 for sparge water)
.13 x 11 lbs of grain=1.43 gallons grain absorption
3 + 1.43=
4.43 gallons Strike Water
4.43 gallons Sparge Water

John’s calculator is great, I’ve given up on trying to massage BeerSmith for my volumes. Thanks for sharing.

Your welcome.

John

[quote=“Norman”]
For example:

SNPA: 11 lbs. Grain
I need 6 gallons pre boil
6 divided by 2 = 3 (2 means 1 for strike water, 1 for sparge water)
.13 x 11 lbs of grain=1.43 gallons grain absorption
3 + 1.43=
4.43 gallons Strike Water
4.43 gallons Sparge Water[/quote]

You only need to count the grain absorption once.

SNPA: 11 lbs. Grain
I need 6 gallons pre boil
6 + 1.43 = 7.43 divided by 2 = 3.715(2 means 1 for strike water, 1 for sparge water)
.13 x 11 lbs of grain=1.43 gallons grain absorption

3.715 gallons Strike Water
3.715 gallons Sparge Water

Thats not counting the loss from the mash tun dead space. But those numbers would seem to work better.

Maybe so. That’s just something I read and use it every batch. I do end up with 6 gallons pre-boil and no dead space in the tun. So it’s close enough that it’s working for me. Others may need to adjust.

It’s pretty much the same amounts if I just say I use 1.6 qts. per lb. That results in 4.4 gallons per strike and sparge. My first few AG I hardly knew what I was doing. I don’t recall my ratio but I just sparged with whatever I needed to make 6 gallons and I thought the beers turned out great. Then I started using the above formula and it works good. But I guess I am counting the loss twice again there too. Now I’m confused, but going to stick with the plan. Losses can vary with the grind, how determined I am too tilt the tun and collect the wort, so I’m leaving well enough alone, lol.

Crack open a beer, sit back and have a read: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/attenti … ers-30466/

I use 1.25 qts per lb.