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Switching over to AG (BIAB) - need help setting up equipment profile

dtotheatothevtothee

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Hi, I bought BeerSmith the other day.  I'm upgrading from extract and recently bought a 15 gal Megapot (15.7" dia x 18.3" high) for 5 or 10 gallon BIAB and I was looking for some help.  I've been reading through the help file, but still had a couple of questions.

"Mash Tun Addition - This number represents water that is below the mash screen but is recoverable during the lauter process.  When calculating volumes, this water is automatically added in the first mash step so you will get sufficient water in the mash tun.  Many BIAB style systems have large recoverable volumes below the mash tun so it is important that you set this number."

1) So I have a "false bottom" from BrewHardware that's a screen with some bolts that lift it 2" off the bottom.  I got this just to keep the bag off the bottom.  What would I use for the Mash Tun Addition setting?

2) What's a good starting point to plug in for "Loss to Trub and Chiller" and "Fermentation Loss"?  I use a hop spider with a bag in that for (usually) pellet hops...not sure if that factors in to trub loss.

I'm sure I'll have more questions.  Been trying to find answers but the amount of stuff to look through is a little staggering!
 
Since you're mashing in your boil kettle there's no Mash/Lauter tun loss. As for loss to trub, I set a 6 gallon batch size to get 5.5 gallons into the fermentor and enter 1 gallon as loss to trub/chiller. If you use a CF or plate chiller you need to add more for that. It will take a few batches to get things dialed in. Just measure actual losses and work from there.
 
Just to add to what BOB357 has said, if you are doing a BIAB with full volume, then the factor for 'mash tun addition' is meaningless if you are doing your mashing and boiling in the same kettle.  So you can set this value to zero.  Follow Bob357's advice for trub loss and make your first few brews simple recipes so that it will be easier for your to figure out your system and the software.  Most importantly, don't sweat it: take good volume and gravity readings, plug them back into BeerSmith and slowly adjust your losses to reflect your actual numbers.

 
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