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First Brew Help

Caledonia112

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Hi guys.
After a lot of research i am about to do my first brew.
I decided to go for a pre-selected kit (see link)
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/american-ipa/
I bought the book but im a bit confused about two things.
1- How much water should i used. It says 27L in the book under the section for brew steps (not recipe specific) for a 19L batch. This seems a bit much even with boil down considered.
2- It doesnt mention sparging. Whats the thoughts on not doing it.
I am using a AHB mash tun with pump and controller etc.
 
That amount of water seems reasonable to me. The grain will absorb some (roughly 1 liter per kg of grain) in addition to the boiloff. I do BIAB so I have no opinion on sparging.

--GF
 
Thankyou for your response.
Should i not sparge or put in a little less water the  sparge at the end?
 
The first thing you should do is customize an equipment profile to fit your set up.  There are a few things that you may need to guess at, but there are other parameters included that you can measure to get both the strike temperature near correct and the water volumes close to accurate for your system.  Since this will be your first brew, don't fret over small deviations from the specs or volumes of the recipe you have in hand -- you will still make beer!

Here are a couple of video tutorials on setting up your equipment profile that may help you: 


https://youtu.be/QmW7pwQP5mQ

https://youtu.be/HwEbjOt8OR8

Once you have the equipment profile in your system, the program will compute the water needed (both initial strike and sparge volumes) for your process in order to end up with the target volume of wort into the fermenter.  It will also give you water temperatures for both initial strike and sparge water.

Like GF, I do mostly BIAB but I also have two systems set up with a sparge step.  I've always found it best with a sparge to get close to the same amount of wort collected from the initial mash and the sparge run off.  You can do this within the recipe by editing the mash profile and setting the initial infusion volume to match the following equation: 

[total water volume - grain absorption]  / 2 + grain absorption + mash tun dead space = initial infusion volume.  Once you do this, the program will calculate the amount of water needed for the sparge step. 

Doing a no-sparge infusion is pretty well accepted these days and is not an issue.  It is essentially the same as doing a full volume BIAB, except with a mash tun.  In this case, you can either edit the mash profile and change the infusion volume to match the total water needed, or use a BIAB profile.  If you opt to use the BIAB profile with your mash tun, be aware that you will need to set the grain absorption rate (which can be found by clicking on 'options' > 'advanced') to match the standard setting of 0.96 fl oz/oz as a starting point.  Since you are not using a bag, you will not be able to drain as much wort from the grains as with a BIAB set up.

Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions as you set up for your brew!
 
Glad to see another addict to the rolls. Though my suggestion is to keep it simple and experiment. Your equipment and grains as well as everything else you use has an effect on how your brew will turn out. I found that getting my equipment together and brewing a basic recipe then "tweaking" both ingredients and equipment as I progressed, made my life much more enjoyable.
People I have spoken to that have gotten all technical and overly specific in their quest in the beginning get over their skiis quickly and end up frustrated. Just grab some grain and stuff, add some water and get at it. Eventually you will quit worrying about recipes and just "know" what you need.
Take your time, have patience, enjoy the smells, and for God's sake,HAVE A HOME BREW!
 
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