Mash Volume Question/Water Amounts

[CoachHirsch]

I am using the Brewer's Edge Mash and Boil system and created an Equipment profile specifically for it.  My question revolves around confusion with water volumes when setting up a Batch Sparge.

On the Mash section, I see two different mentions of volumes and I am not sure which I should be paying attention to for my session:



do I pay attention to the top section and the Sparge amount mentioned in the greyed-out section, or the entire middle section and the sparge amount of 4.49g listed there?  You'll see the top section has different volumes listed than the middle section.

Let me know if this is a better post for another topic form like Equipment.

 

[Oginme]

The box you point to with the grayed out 5.70 gal in the 'Mash Volume Needed' is the total volume which is required for the mash which includes the initial infusion water PLUS the volume displacement of the grains.  This serves as a check for the brewer to make sure that the amount of the grain plus water does not exceed the capacity stated in the equipment profile.  The volume in the dialog box is the amount you need for the strike water and will be the amount listed when you print out or view the brew day sheet.

Another factor that you may want to look at is your sparge volumes.  The reason for the first infusion of 0.55 gallons is that maxes out the volume of the mash tun.  If you edit the mash profile and click on the box next to 'drain mash tun before sparge' the program will give you a single sparge volume.

 

[BOB357]

With the all in one systems, like the Mash & Boil, you aren't batch sparging. You are, for all intents and purposes, fly sparging. If you've set up a proper equipment profile, you entered a figure under "recoverable mash deadspace" that is the volume of water it tales to reach the bottom of the malt pipe.
In the mash profile(s), you need to enter a water/grain ratio of at least 1.2 qts./lb. and uncheck all of the boxes under "Batch Sparge Options". The software will do the calculations and determine the amount of sparge water needed. With larger grain bills you may end up with very little sparge water. In this case, you may benefit by draining off some of the wort and running it back through the suspended malt pipe.

 

[CoachHirsch]

Thanks, guys!  I will check that out and make some adjustments and see where that gets me.  I appreciate the replies!  Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!