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Batch Sparge Option

halucin8

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Dec 11, 2003
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Hi,

I have a suggestion for improving the software. 

I just started batch sparging and love it.  It has been recommended to me to make the runoff volumes from the mash and the batch sparge equal.  So what I am having to due manually is calculate how much water the grains soak up, subtract that number from half of your desired boil volume and then I get an amount of hot water to add to the mash tun before the first runoff to end up with equal wort from the two runoffs.  Make any sense?  If not, check out this link: http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/   About a 1/4 of the way down the page you'll see "Formulae and definition of variables" and that is what I am talking about. 

Is this something that I could set up myself in the program or does it sound feasible for the next upgrade?

Thanks,
brian stevens
 
Almost

Subtract the water held by the grain from the TOTAL water added to the sparge,  this represents the total water available to run off,  subtract this from half your boil volume to get the volume to add for your first runoff. 

The second is simply half your boil volume.

Fred
 
I do this a little differently and let the computer do the math (that's what they're for, right?):

I choose "Sparge Using Equal Sized Batches" in the Batch Sparge Options section of the Mash Profile, which automatically selects "Drain the Mash Tun Before Starting to Batch Sparge."

Then I just use the "Preview BrewSheet" function and see how much it says to sparge with in "round 1" (the sparge AFTER the initial draining of the mash tun) compared to the amount of Wort I want in my kettle.  Since the grains are already saturated, and any Lauter Tun Dead Space is already filled, you can assume tht ALL of the "round 1" sparge water will end up in your kettle.  Then I add an Infusion Step to the Mash Profile to add enough water BEFORE the initial drain of the Mash Tun so that the amount BeerSmith says to sparge with for "round 1" in the preview sheet is as close to half of the total kettle volume of wort as possible. Again, you can safely assume that all of this infusion water will end up in your kettle, along with any "free" wort from the mash.

For example, I want 10gal of wort in my kettle.  I have doughed in with 4gal of water.  My grains are saturated and my dead-space is filled.  The BrewSheet says that I should sprage with 7gal of water in "round 1", so I add an infusion step of 8qts to the Mash Profile before I drain the Mash Tun.  Now the BrewSheet says to sparge with 5gal, half of the desired kettle volume.  This is not a real world example, but I wanted whole numbers for ease.

Rob
 
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