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Water Volume Questions

Zmonster

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Jun 10, 2018
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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.
 
Zmonster said:
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.

Tackling your first question, the 'vols' tab gives you a rundown of the water volumes at different stages in the process.  It does not break apart the mash and sparge volumes, that is done on the 'mash' tab.  There you will see in the mash steps design box the step to 'mash in with xxx gal/qt/l of water'.  The remaining water required would be in the sparge step which you will see just below the mash steps box.  BeerSmith automatically calculates the amounts for mash infusion and sparge based upon the mash profile and equipment profile you give it to work with.  So if your mash profile has an infusion step of mashing in with 1.50 qts/lb, the program will calculate the infusion volume given those parameters.  It will then fit the rest of the volume requirement into the sparge steps to fit the limits set by the equipment profile and parameters set in the mash profile (i.e. 'drain mash tun before sparging', or 'batch sparge using batches that fill xxx%').  If you fly sparge, then the usual procedure is to use ample water and sparge until you reach your intended volume in the boil vessel.

For the second question, commercial breweries use a lauter tun to be able to free up the mash tank quicker and fill it up with another batch.  They can then whirlpool and lauter without slowing up their process and increasing turns on their mash tanks.
 
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