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Mash in volume seems low?

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Dan Holmes

Hi Brad-

I just put together a recipie for an American Pale Ale. I want to do a single infusion, batch sparge. When I choose this option in BeerSmith it tells me to mash in with 2.12 gallons. This number seems kind of low to me, especially if I want to have to equal runoffs. Is something wrong? You can download the recipe file at http://www.danielholmes.net/download/
 
Dan,
 You might want to check your mash database.  It appears that your mash profile is off (perhaps modified).  If you open up the details of the mash in, it will show you that you are only using 0.77 quarts per lb of grain, which is considerably lower than the default of 1.25 that comes with BeerSmith.

 Go to the Mash profiles database and verify that this mash profile (single infusion, medium body, no mash out) has a single infusion step (double click on it) with a 1.25 qt/lb water to grain ratio.  Once you have done that you can go back and apply that mash profile to the recipe.

 I'm not sure what happened here - most likely you accidentally modified the profile either in the database or recipe.

Cheers!
Brad
 
Thanks Brad, that seemed to help. I must have accidentally changed those numbers. Good thing I checked with you before I made the recipe! Now my mash in volume is to 3.41 gallons. Why is the sparge volume usually so much more than the mash in amount if you want to have equal runoffs?

Also, should all of the mash profiles be set to 1.25 qt water/grain ratio? Even double infusion and others, because my water/grain ratios are all over the place on those.

BTW, your quick response to my questions has promted me to go buy BeerSmith right now.
 
Dan,
 The water/grain rations may vary.  Generally they are around 1.25-1.75 qts/lb for the "conversion" step which is around 155 F.  Steps at lower temperatures are often done at slightly lower water/grain ratios so the conversion can be done at higher ratio.  Multi step mashes often require more water to achieve all of the desired steps.

 Decoction is a special beast.  Traditional decoctions were done at a high water grain ratio (2 or 3.0 qts/lb).   However, many modern brewers use much lower (1.5 or so) ratios.  It depends on your equipment and what kind of beer style you are shooting for.

Cheers!
Brad
 
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