new member first ag brew

[johnluc]

hi all, ready to do my first AG brew tues, am a little confused about batch sparge calcullations, get the bit about total water 35.75ltr ,wort volume 28.3ltr , water reqd batch1 21.5ltr water reqd batch 2 14.2ltr,do i add 21.5ltr to mashh tun and runoff after 1 hour and then add another 14.2ltr,total 35.7ltr what about losses, what is batch vol. mash vol,and top up vol.
brew 23ltr
loss to evaporation 10%
loss to hops 2.5 ltr
grain weight 4.5kg
dead space 2.8ltr mash tun & boiler
water/grain ratio 2.5ltr/kg

total vol of water 35.75ltr
wort vol 28.3ltr
batch vol 14.2ltr ?
water regd batch 1 21.5ltr
mash vol 11.25ltr ?
top up vol 10.3ltr ?
water regd batch 2 14.2ltr
hope someone can explain i am feeling stupid

johnluc

 

[bigdave]

If you're using a recipe calculator such as Beer Engine or Beer Smith etc, it should calculate your hop and evap losses for you (there's normally preference pane that will allow you to set the dead space etc for your set up), so if youve told it you want 23 ltrs it will tell you how much to put in the boiler to get that. Ive only ever used Beer Engine so cant speak for the others but that figure doesn't account for losses to grain during mashing and so you should allow 1.25ltrs per Kg for grain loss.

For example. Beer Engine says you require 39ltrs but your grain bill is 5.5kg you need to allow an additional 6.8-6.9ltrs for grain losses (5.5x1.25=6.875ltrs) which would give you a total liquor requirement of almost 46 ltrs.

I have also found that with my setup, I dont need to allow much for dead space as wet hops settle into that space during draining.

After your first brew things will become more clear and you'll get you a better idea of how your setup works ready for next time.

 

[robsan77]

you can download for free "beer mate".

 

[robsan77]

sorry, brew mate http://www.brewmate.net/

 

[evanvine]

Welcome to the Forum.
I personally find it far simpler and easier to "Fly" sparge to a volume.
No calcs needed!

 

[broadfordbrewer]

Welcome to the forum Johnluc, I hope you have a great brewday today! :thumb:

sorry, brew mate http://www.brewmate.net/

Cheers Robsan, I'm going to use this and may try the recipe on there for the
'Little B@stard IPA' :lol:

 

[highwayman]

Have a Good One... :thumb:

 

[Cussword]

Welcome to the Forum.
I personally find it far simpler and easier to "Fly" sparge to a volume.
No calcs needed!

I would go with that :thumb:

 

[bigdave]

but you need to keep an eye on the SG while fly sparging and its more time consuming... Much rather spend that time slurping coffee and eating bacon butties. especially in this weather.

 

[Sean_Mc]

Hi and welcome to the forum :

Easy to check the SG with a refractometer when fly sparging, I still keep an eye on the liquid volumes as according to the recipe calculator and there always pretty accurate.

 

[evanvine]

but you need to keep an eye on the SG while fly sparging

I don't take SG readings whilst sparging, it's probably near 1.000 at the end.
Never had a "tannin" taste yet.

 

[robsan77]

me too. I check sometimes but its always fine. My try not to use water over 70c for sparging towards to end. High sparge temps are likely to extract tannins.

 

[Aleman]

I personally find it far simpler and easier to "Fly" sparge to a volume.
No calcs needed!

I would go with that :thumb:

Yeah . . . but that's because you let me do them in my head :twisted:

I use the refractometer while sparging, takes 30 seconds or so, but as I know my kit, it is only something I do as a check not as a requirement. I tend to sparge to get the total amount of sugar I want, and then stop.

 

[evanvine]

but that's because you let me do them in my head

Must be a nice feeling, being useful :whistle:

 

[johnluc]

Hi all, thanks for the welcome and advice, had a great day today inspite of the freezing temps and snow,have brewed a clone of fullers
london pride hope it tastes like it, i think it all went well had a sg of 1052 after boil is that ok, well pleased with my new home made boiler,mash tun and warming cupboard ( old fridge light bulb and room stat) which i got ideas from this forum,thanks to everyone. great forum. one question from the recipie it says to keg can i bottle it (no not scared) if so how long from now,how much sugar per bottle and when can i drink it.
johnluc :
PS just need the hammers to win tonight to complete a good day, yeh well i can dream.

 

[Sean_Mc]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Welcome to the darkside. The maiden brew should be around 5% and no problems about bottling. I tend to use 1/2 a teaspoon for priming bottles :thumb: