Newbie question on recipes

[ssparks]

Hi,

This is probably going to be an absolute beginners question (which is not surprising as I am a complete beginner). I am trying to get my head around taking the information within the brewed recipes section and turn it into useable numbers that I can understand.

So, what I am trying to get my head around is the water quantity. Looking at the information in a lot of the posts it gives me the batch size and the grain bill; what I am looking to confirm is

(1) batch size: this does mean the volume of liquid going into the fermenter? is this correct?

(2) If the above is correct would the following assumptions on the water volumes be reasonable?

Batch size going into Fermenter = 10L
Boil off (based on a 1 hour boil) = 4L
Grain absorption (based on 4kg grain bill) = 4L

So the total volume of water required is 18L, with say 12L for mash and 6L as a rough number? or am I off by a country mile?


Thanks
Simon.

 

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

Yes, batch size is what you pretty much put into the FV, depending on how much trub goes in with it. I do all grain BIAB and usually loose 2-3L due to trub.

On your second point I think people worry way too much. Just follow whatever recipe you have found, it should tell you the strike water temp and volume and then your sparge volume. Whether you are a little out either way is not a problem as you can always boil a little longer to get a higher OG and reduce volume, add water to lower your OG and increase volume, or even sparge a bit more if both your volume and OG is low. Its all fixable.

There are also loads of calculators to help. Home Brewed Beer Calculators - Brewer's Friend

 

[ssparks]

Thanks for that Charles, learning something new and overthinking is not a good combination.

 

[cushyno]

Batch size going into Fermenter = 10L
Boil off (based on a 1 hour boil) = 4L
Grain absorption (based on 4kg grain bill) = 4L

So the total volume of water required is 18L, with say 12L for mash and 6L as a rough number? or am I off by a country mile?

I think you've got the basic ideas correct. Not sure about your boil off rate, but then everyone's is different depending on vigour of boil, dimensions of kettle/pot/pan, ambient temperature and humidity, density of wort.

 

[Session]

I would recommend using some brewing software from the start as it helps you think about your recipe more clearly, tweak it for your brewing system and makes it easier to log data. This may seem like a faff now but when you come to brew the recipe a second time, you can look back and change it more easily. Too bitter? Reduce the hops. Less beer to bottle than you expected? Increase the amount of strike water or sparge.
The one I like is BrewFather, which is free if you have less than 10 recipes, so you can try it out without it costing you anything.