Water Profile, Water Additions, and Volumes

I am confused about volumes and water profiles, including additions.  Granted I am brand new to BeerSmith and will be brewing my very first batch next weekend.  I have chosen Prairie Oatmeal Stout.

I have entered and saved my filtered tap water profile (Ward Labs test results).  I want to treat my water to match Dublin for this recipe, so I used the Water Profile to do so and saved the results to a new profile titled "Apopka to Dublin".  It shows the additions to achieve the water: 2 gm gypsum, 0.6 gm CaCl, and 2.4 g chalk. It says this is for a water volume of 5 gallons.  That all seems straight forward so far.

Next - looking at the recipe for Prairie Oatmeal Stout, I really start getting confused. The recipe says it is a 5 Gal batch, which is what I want.  When I choose my equipment profile (Brew-Boss 15 Gal, 5 gal batch - this is a BIAB system), the batch volume goes up to 6 Gal.  Isn't the batch volume the desired finished volume?  Why did it go up?

Also, the Estimated Pre-Boil Volume goes to 8 gal.  OK, I understand that - there will be 2 gallons lost through the process.

Looking at the Brew Steps, I see all these volumes.  I am listing them in chronological order:
1. Under Mash Steps - add 35.52 quarts of water (8.88 gal as noted under Prepare for Brewing).  I realize there will be 0.88 gallons lost to grain absorption.
2. Boil size (the pre-boil, post mash volume previously mentioned) is 8.0 gallons.  If it is less, then I am to add water to achieve 8 gallons for the boil.
3. End of boil volume is estimated to be 7.0 gallons, so 1 gallon lost to boil-off.
4. Under Cool and Transfer wort, after cooling and transferring to the fermenter, it says "Add water to achieve final volume of 6 gallons".  If the post boil volume was 7 gallons, will I really lose a gallon or more in transferring the wort to the fermenter to the point I would have to add water to reach 6 gallons?  Is that the volume left in the chilling assembly?  I certainly wouldn't want to add water and lower my OG I wouldn't think.

So there is now 6 gallons in the fermenter when this is supposed to be a 5 gallon batch.  I don't understand that.  Will I be losing a gallon with trub removal, gravity samples, etc.?  I am using a FastFerment and have added a sampling port.  I will mostly be using a refractometer, but may use a hydrometer for an initial and final comparison.

What about the additions to the water (gypsum, chalk, CaCl)?  The amounts are based on the water profile (5 gallons) and were automatically adjusted up to the batch size (6 gallons).  Why is the adjustment not based on the 8.88 gallons starting volume?

Thank you in advance for any clarification and guidance here.

The PDF doesn't show your equipment profile, but there is where you'd change the batch size to 5 gallons. It appears that you have set the bottling volume for 5 gallons and have added your bottling and trub losses back from there.

In looking at the default profile for your equipment, the batch size is indeed 6 gallons and the default loss to trub is 1 gallon. The default loss to fermentation is 1 gallon, which is twice the 0.5 gallons most people experience.

Given that this is both your first batch and your first time using this equipment, if you have a 6 or 6.5 gallon fermenter, then leave the recipe and equipment as-is.

If you have a smaller fermenter, for now, you can just change the batch size to match your fermenter. The beer will show less water use and a higher gravity. As you get more familiar with your equipment and BeerSmith you can explore the scale recipe function to allow more precision.

Thank you, brewfun. My FastFerment conical fermenters hold 7.9 gallons, so I'll stick with the 6 gallon batch.

I'm still wondering how much gypsum, chalk, and CaCl should be added - do I base it on the 6 gallons the brew steps call for or adjust to 8.88 gallons beginning volume?

Fr5ed said:

I'm still wondering how much gypsum, chalk, and CaCl should be added - do I base it on the 6 gallons the brew steps call for or adjust to 8.88 gallons beginning volume?

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Old school advice is to add for the entire volume of water used in a batch. There are multiple methods for this, like mineralizing for the mash, then adding the rest to the kettle.

Newer trends are to simply mineralize for the mash and use a bit of acid buffer for the sparge.

There is little need to mineralize for a specific city profile since these are not typically reflective of what brewers are actually using, in those areas. Mineralizing for proper mash pH and perhaps a small adjustment for flavor is the easiest and most reliable method.

I won't be sparging since it is a BIAB system.  So, one approach would be to forego any water treatment and let it be an indigenous version of the brew Another would be to go with the smaller amounts of additions (calculated for the 6 gallons) then acid buffer the wort pre-boil...?  I do have a pH meter (haven't unpacked it and calibrated it yet). 

With a stout, acidification shouldn't be necessary.