Ag Mash Volumes

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redbeard

Sth Seas Pirate Brewery
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although i have read lots of threads here & else where on mashing, i havent delved into any 'technical/theoretical' type books on brewing, apart from palmers book occasionaly. hence my (stupid) question:

how accurate does mash volume water need to be ? if i add in a few extra litres and then perhaps boil some of this off, does it change the end result much ? im thinking it more relates to temp rather than volume. the reason im asking is some people keep mentioning effiency and have too shallow a bed for lautering....
 
ok, after hitting submit, my brain decides it might know a bit of the answer. changing the volume will change the og, or will it, if im always aiming for around 20l post boil. (this counts as the same question ok!)
 
The volume and sg will change, but the total dissolved sachaarides (long chain complex sugars extracted from grain) will remain the same.

sg(preboil) x volume(preboil) = sg(postboil) x volume(postboil)

If you add more water, then your sg will hange, but not the total
The amount into the fermenter is ess the amount lost in trub.

As a beginner brewer, do not worry about efficiencies, get the brewing process right. This means nail the mash temp, mash grain:water ratios, evaporation rates, do not oversparge, boil hard, sparge slow and IBU's. Then go for efficiency. Efficiency is low on the priorities of a new brewer.

Do some more reading, do a mash or two, do some more reading. If it hasn't come clear, then do a follow up post.
 
you hit the nail on the head lager

put one down...... if your using promash or other software set it to 70% and go from there.

its more important to get your mash temp right, and sparge slowly as lager said.

if your OG is low, lower your efficiency for your system and use more grain.

If your OG is higher then raise your efficiency and use less grain.

I have found that efficiency is not dependant on the mash volume but the mash conditions. It is more important to have corect pH, and a good drain system in your mash ton to get high efficiency.

the pick up in my esky mash ton is a poor design and i cant do any better than 70 - 75% efficiency

But with my inverted keg mash ton and a big false bottom and recurculating the wort through the mash i can get 83 to 87% efficiency............. no shit.
I have set promash at 80% for a 1.o48 beer and got 1.052.

I aint conplaining.......... hey redbeard, the mill i sent you is set to the same as mine................ put your grain in a big pot or bin.

Pour in 100 mls of water and mix it up till its ll a bit damp. Leave for 15 min to soften the husks. Crack it and you will get high efficiency and good launtening cause the grain is busted up good but the husks are almost still whole.

Not many believe me but try it.

If you dont like it, dry crack. i have converted a few but i think most are too scared.

cheers.

tony.
 
That sounds a bit odd Tony. So u reckon that with damp husks they dont break up as much, therefore you can crush finer? I would like to hear about anyone else doing this and the results and I think I might just give it a crack!

STEVE
 
Sorry Redbeard, I think I said something about low efficiency with a shallow bed in my big esky. Thats only a function of not sparging all the grain efficiently in that type of setup. Like the boys said get the process going first then worry about efficiency. But one thing I will say is "KNOW YOUR WATER VOLUMES" I was getting slightly lower efficiency for a while until I checked my water level marks in my keg and found them to be out by 2 litres. But with that fixed and my new narrow s/s keg mash tun and big false bottom it will make a big dif.

STEPHEN
 

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