Water/grain Ratio(again)

[Mr Bond]

Ladies and gentlemen,

As a keen new masher(a dozen or so) I have been reading up on all the variables involved in an effort to keep improving and learning.

The water to grain ratio has been my latest avenue of research and I've read thisInformative thread and this Equally as informative thread,from the archives(searching this place is a great time killer).The one thing that I want to see is everbody's preferences charted in one of those "graphy things" as it seems to be an even race between 2.5 kg and 3kg per litre.

Vote away and indulge my whimsy. :lol:

Dave

 

[dreamboat]

I run about 2.4 l/kg, plus another 4.0 litres which is lost under the false bottom which would get me up around the 3 mark.... however, that which is under the false bottom does not really affect the mash itself, so I voted 2.5



dreamboat

 

[johnno]

I use 3L/k.


Seems to be ok for me.

cheers
johnno

 

[Tony]

2.5 here

I have mashed at 2l/kg and its good if you are doing a decoction. It makes it easy to get thick mash out of the ton and leave the thin mash which holds all the enzymes in the ton but its a bitch to stir.

like tryong to mix a 50 liter keg full of icecream.

2.5 works well for me.

cheers

 

[razz]

Brauluver old chap, one or the other it doesn't really matter. But you should pick one and stick to it. That way when you want to vary the fermentability you just change the temp.
Regards, John
PS. I use 3lts/kg

 

[Mr Bond]

Brauluver old chap, one or the other it doesn't really matter. But you should pick one and stick to it. That way when you want to vary the fermentability you just change the temp.
Regards, John
PS. I use 3lts/kg

[post="121871"][/post]​

Yeah thats the conclusion I've come to as well.

3 litres per kg with a strike of 66c with a 1 degree loss over 75 min is my standard so far.
I am however thinking of giving a 2.5 kg ratio a crack .

 

[JasonY]

3L/kg unless I can't fit it in the tun. Works for me so why mess with it

 

[razz]

Brauluver old chap, one or the other it doesn't really matter. But you should pick one and stick to it. That way when you want to vary the fermentability you just change the temp.
Regards, John
PS. I use 3lts/kg

[post="121871"][/post]​

Yeah thats the conclusion I've come to as well.

3 litres per kg with a strike of 66c with a 1 degree loss over 75 min is my standard so far.
I am however thinking of giving a 2.5 kg ratio a crack .

[post="121883"][/post]​

May I ask why you want to change the ratio ?

 

[Doc]

3 to 3.2 litres/kg for me. For a 40 litre batch I have to go that high otherwise I won't have enough liquor for the sparge from a 30 litre urn.
Get 80%+ efficiency too.

Beers,
Doc

 

[warrenlw63]

3 Litres per kg usually. :beerbang:

Though ATM I'm using Powells malts with a 40 degree rest for 30 mins. at 1 litre per kg and infusing up to sacc rest of 2.5 litres per kg.

Being a batch sparger I just thin the mash after this and run it off.

Warren -

 

[Mr Bond]

Brauluver old chap, one or the other it doesn't really matter. But you should pick one and stick to it. That way when you want to vary the fermentability you just change the temp.
Regards, John
PS. I use 3lts/kg

[post="121871"][/post]​

Yeah thats the conclusion I've come to as well.

3 litres per kg with a strike of 66c with a 1 degree loss over 75 min is my standard so far.
I am however thinking of giving a 2.5 kg ratio a crack .

[post="121883"][/post]​

May I ask why you want to change the ratio ?

[post="121887"][/post]​

I am doing mini(12 litre) all grains ,as well as the odd partial @ the mo,and with a limited space in my lauter tun( bucket with s/s mesh manifold),dropping from 3 litres to 2.5 litres means that i can add another 500 gms of grain to the grist and pull off another couple of litres of sweet wort.
Small fry I know ,but I'm loving doing small batches of AG beer and having a variety on hand.

Putting the "micro" into micro brewing
Dave

 

[razz]

Well done bloke !
:beerbang:

 

[Duff]

3L/kg for me.

Cheers.

 

[bindi]

3 Litres per kg usually. :beerbang:

Though ATM I'm using Powells malts with a 40 degree rest for 30 mins. at 1 litre per kg and infusing up to sacc rest of 2.5 litres per kg.

Being a batch sparger I just thin the mash after this and run it off.

Warren -

[post="121890"][/post]​

This what I do except I rest at 50-53c with powells malts read it here awhile back and works for me.

 

[Aaron]

At the moment I am using a gas hlt, though I intend to change to an electric urn soon, so I never quite hit my strike temps exactly. Though I am installing a good thermometer into the hlt for better monitoring.

Due to this I normally aim for 2.5l/kg. However, I always keep a couple of litres of recently boiled water and a couple of litres of cool water on hand. This way if I do miss my strike temp I can adjust the temp and stay in the 2.5-3l/kg range.

 

[Jazzafish]

I only have a 25 litre mash tun at the moment... so I'm doing the 2.5 ratio. When I have grain bills between 5 and 6 kilos, it is almost overflowing!!!

I English Sparge or Batch Sparge depending on mood to start, then fly sparge the rest when there is about an inch above the grain bed.

With powels malts my best efficiency is 75% (protien rest helped these)
With Joe White Malts my best efficiency is 85%

Makes some good beer! :beerbang:

I will probally make a bigger mash tun one day, may as well make double the size for the same amount of time! I'll probally move up the ratio then to make it easier in the water/kettle/sparge department

 

[Linz]

Ive upped to 3.5l/kg so that I get better heat transfer thru the thinner mash with the HERMS system....

 

[tangent]

to be honest i still haven't measured it. Math was taking all the fun out of brewing for me.
i use about 33L of water to start with, then mix until it looks like a good wet porridge.
if i want a more dexy beer, i make it a thicker mash and for pilsner style - thinner (as well as altering the mash temps to suit) I'm loving the beers I'm making, so i figured, why bother complicating it?

 

[Mr Bond]

to be honest i still haven't measured it. Math was taking all the fun out of brewing for me.
i use about 33L of water to start with, then mix until it looks like a good wet porridge.
if i want a more dexy beer, i make it a thicker mash and for pilsner style - thinner (as well as altering the mash temps to suit) I'm loving the beers I'm making, so i figured, why bother complicating it?

[post="121944"][/post]​

Wow,I thought i was keepin it simple with my rudimentary setup ,but youv'e just laid it back even further.Good on ya.As long as you are making the beers you like its a case of easier is better.

 

[tangent]

my luck with AG has been a rocky road like most people, but after a disasterous large partial mash, i spat it, grabbed some buckets and did my 1st AG. It was sooo sweet and soooo bitter and soooo alcoholic and sooo much better than anything I'd ever made before. So i've generally been doing the same thing all along with a few variations here and there.
my mac brewing software is really handy but all the estimated FGs are way off and my numbers never did add up when i tried the old fashioned way, so i just thought, OK i'll just keep brewing basic tasty beer. it seems a bit more like cooking than brewing to me. the brewing starts when i add the yeast.