I'm very much a beginner when it comes to all-grain, and I understand I have a LOT to learn.
And I'd like to say THANK YOU for BeerSmith. It has helped me figure out "how much do I need?" in so many ways. I don't think I'd try all-grain without it. Well, I might, but I'd be flying blind.
There is one topic that still confuses me: Water Volumes. I understand that I'm going to lose a lot of water in the boil, and I understand that even when the mash/lauter tun drains, there will still be water in the grains. Where I'm lost is on sparge volume.
For example, I have a three gallon batch recipe in BeerSmith right now. The "Vol" tab tells me to make this, I need 4.8 gallons. OK, I can do that. I'm assuming that I need 4.8 gallons in the mash, and that when that is fully drained, I may have a little less, but still probably enough for a 60 minute boil. If I'm a little short, I can add some before I start the boil. Where I get lost, however, is the sparge. How much of that 4.8 is sparge water? Do I simply add a gallon or so for the sparge, and stop sparging when I get to 4.8? For BIAB, you still want to stop the mash, but do not sparge. Are the volumes different? How does this all fit in?
As an unrelated question: I understand that typically, we lauter in the mash tun. But larger places have a separate mash tun and lauter tun, and they transfer the mash to the lauter for sparging. How is this done? Is it pumped from one to the other through a reasonably large pipe? Is there another method? How does transferring limit oxygen? I ask through idle curiosity. I don't plan on building a separate lauter tun any time soon, it's just that the question has been bothering me.
And I'd like to say THANK YOU for BeerSmith. It has helped me figure out "how much do I need?" in so many ways. I don't think I'd try all-grain without it. Well, I might, but I'd be flying blind.
There is one topic that still confuses me: Water Volumes. I understand that I'm going to lose a lot of water in the boil, and I understand that even when the mash/lauter tun drains, there will still be water in the grains. Where I'm lost is on sparge volume.
For example, I have a three gallon batch recipe in BeerSmith right now. The "Vol" tab tells me to make this, I need 4.8 gallons. OK, I can do that. I'm assuming that I need 4.8 gallons in the mash, and that when that is fully drained, I may have a little less, but still probably enough for a 60 minute boil. If I'm a little short, I can add some before I start the boil. Where I get lost, however, is the sparge. How much of that 4.8 is sparge water? Do I simply add a gallon or so for the sparge, and stop sparging when I get to 4.8? For BIAB, you still want to stop the mash, but do not sparge. Are the volumes different? How does this all fit in?
As an unrelated question: I understand that typically, we lauter in the mash tun. But larger places have a separate mash tun and lauter tun, and they transfer the mash to the lauter for sparging. How is this done? Is it pumped from one to the other through a reasonably large pipe? Is there another method? How does transferring limit oxygen? I ask through idle curiosity. I don't plan on building a separate lauter tun any time soon, it's just that the question has been bothering me.