Step mash using Brewmate?

[Droopy Brew]

Well Im taking the plunge and plan on my first AG on the weekend.
I will be mashing in an esky and bucket lautering into a full size kettle as per the Good Lord's instructions in the 2 bucket lauter thread.

I have had a look though some recipes and have settled on Tony's Bullshead Kolsch which requires boiling water additions to step mash.
I have down loaded Brewmate and had a play and for the most part of it, Im comfortable with it.

However... is there anyway I can enter a step mash so the brewday function will give me volumes of water to bring up the step temps? Obviously this will also influence my initial strike water volumes.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,

 

[menoetes]

Brewersfriend is (unsurprisingly) your friend >>here<<

Though I use LRGs 2 bucket system myself, I've never brewed with more than one infusion and mash-out so I'm not sure how adding the extra water will effect your final SG and boil times.

Play around with it and start at the lower end of the water/grain ratio (like 3:1) and see how you go. If you only end up adding an extra 3lts or something like that it shouldn't be a problem. You can play around with the brewday function in Brewmate to compensate for that extra water...

 

[Tahoose]

I use this method and like menoetes said, use the brewers friend calculator for this method.

Normally;
Mash in 64c for example
Infuse with boiling water to 72c
Infuse to 78c
Then sparge with remaining water.

I keep an eye on how much total water I need and have a running tally in the notes section of brewmate.

The calculations will get you close, but really I just infuse/stir/check temp till I'm where I want to be.

Last brew I took It a step further and did 55/64/72/78.

If you are looking at a few steps, I'd day don't go under 2.5ltr per kilo as this can be difficult to mash in.

But honestly for the first go, mash in to temp and single infusion to mash out would be my recommendation.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Thanks Menoetes- that is an awesome website and has other info and calcs I would have been chasing (hydrometer temp calcs etc.)

Thanks Tahoose, yes I know a single step mash would be the sensible thing to do for my first AG but Im kinda adventurous like that.
Ok so basically the volumes you need to step would be subtracted from the final sparge volume? I think my strike volume was about 14l and sparge volume was 17L. To do my 3 step mash ( 54/64/71) I would need about 8 L leaving me 9L for sparge.
Would that likely reduce my efficiency ?

Cheers,

 

[going down a hill]

It wont effect efficiency one bit if you ratio starts at 2.5l/1kg. I use brewers friend infusion calc and it gets close enough with my biab 40l urn.

 

[Tahoose]

Ok so basically the volumes you need to step would be subtracted from the final sparge volume?

On the right hand side in brew day mode there is a water top up to kettle box or something like that, add your infusion water here and it will subtract from your sparge.

As far as efficiency goes, you should be sweet having a bit of a sparge there, and the 71c rest will help too.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Thanks mate.
For my first I have decided to err on the side of caution and brew a basic Pale Ale at 65C and mash out.
I figure I dont know my system so better to get to know the efficiency and temp changes with something simple that I know before delving into a beer like a Kolsch that does need to be quite controlled to strike the balance that they need.
Also I would like to make a fair comparison with my first AG to previous Extracts so I am keeping the hop schedule similar to past beers and using US05 so I can make a comparison of the process with limited change of variables.
Im keen to do the Kolsch but will probably learn more by changing less so when I do do it I can get a good result.

 

[menoetes]

Thanks mate.
For my first I have decided to err on the side of caution and brew a basic Pale Ale at 65C and mash out.
I figure I dont know my system so better to get to know the efficiency and temp changes with something simple that I know before delving into a beer like a Kolsch that does need to be quite controlled to strike the balance that they need.

A very good idea.

I've used this esky + lauter bucket AG method four times now so I'm slowly getting faster and more familiar with it but my first brew day was a long and arduous one. I think I would have been lucky to get 60% efficiency and it took about 5 hours filled with uncertainty and second guessing my process.

A tip that might help, if you're using over 5kgs of grain in your mash, lauter and sparge in batches ie; drain the wort from half the mashed grains first, set them aside and then do the other half. Too much grain in the Lauter bucket compacts the grain bed and getting clear wort out becomes a painfully slow process (as I discovered on my first try). Having a grain bag in the top bucket helps too but isn't essential.

 

[Droopy Brew]

I am mashing exactly 5kg so will take that into consideration. I have some swiss voile used for extract brewing and am thinking of laying it down on the bottom- the crushed grain does have a bit of dust.

talking to a bloke in the brew shop yesterday who has used the bucket method. He says the trick is to get your water.level over the bed at the correct height- which is around 2 inches. So basically once you have the water sitting at that level, try to maintain the same amount of sparge going in as is coming out. This prevents the grainbed compacting too much or on the other side of the coin- refloating.

Should be an interesting day on Sunday.