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When to check the, "Adjust mash for dead space volume" box?

Hibs06

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I have a gallon of dead space under my mash tun false bottom.  This gallon of dead space does get fully drained by my pickup tub once I'm done mashing and I've fly sparged into my boil kettle.  My question is, do you normally check the "adjust mash for dead space volume" only if the space would not be picked up by your pickup tube?  Since my gallon is picked up, should I not check this box?  I notice that if I uncheck it, it takes that gallon out of my mash tun calculation and adds it to my hot liquor tank for sparging.
 
To me, and the way I use it, the dead space volume is any dead space (or unpicked up volume) that stays in the mash ton after you are done sparging.  Since your pickup tube will draw off all the volume, I would not call it dead space.  Therefore I would leave that box unchecked.

Cheers!
 
The problem arises when calculating grain to water ratio. Only the volume above the false bottom is used. However, when calculating strike temperature, the entire volume is used or your strike temp will be too high. It would be nice to have an extra button that allows the total volume to be utilized for strike calculations as well as the dead space button which is an efficiency calculation.
 
Cheers for that!

glienhard said:
To me, and the way I use it, the dead space volume is any dead space (or unpicked up volume) that stays in the mash ton after you are done sparging.  Since your pickup tube will draw off all the volume, I would not call it dead space.  Therefore I would leave that box unchecked.

Cheers!
 
Hi,
  Yes - this one is on my "to-do" list - several people have requested this change.

Brad
 
Brad,

I'd like to add my vote to this feature.  I must have the same polar ware false bottom that has 2 gals under the mash tun and a dip tube.  It took me about 4 or 5 batches to get the volume dialed in.  I switched to step mash and I adjusted the initial strike temp by "feel" using the Beersmith number as a guide.  But I always worry about the liquid to grain ratio as it doesn't seem right.

Please add.

Thanks!
-Steve
 
Brad,

I'm new to AG brewing and have just started poking around in BeerSmith trying to figure out how to characterize my homemade mash/lauder tun.  I have about 1.5 gal of deadspace below the false bottom, but in my case the pickup leaves about 5 cups in the bottom unless I try tipping it.  So it would seem to me that two volumes need to be specified.

Great software!  This is going to keep me entertained for ages!  Thanks!

Regards, Craig
 
Hi Brad,

Any idea when this feature is likely to get added?

In my mash tun, I have 11 pts under the false bottom but 6 pints of this is above my spigot - so currently I use beersmith to set my dead space to 11 pints to calculate my dough in, then take the extra 6 pints off my sparge water - does that sound reasonable?

Thanks

Mark
 
I've been taking a closer look at water calculations since I moved to all grain.  I've been lazy with sparging, simply adding sparge water until I get what I want in the boil kettle.  Of course, without letting the mash tun drain, I'm leaving a lot of sugar behind.  Anyhow, I've read this post and have come up with the following example, which I plan to use until BS added the feature I think everyone is talking about.  I'd love to get feedback, at least so I can ensure I understand the basic idea and calculations.  Here's what I've come up with:

Grain:
12 lb grain
1.25 qts/lb
15 qt = 3.75 gallons for grain

Equipment:
space under screen = 2.25 gal (9 qt)
space which will not drain from mash tun .25 gal (1 qt)

Note: When calculating strike temperature, the "space under screen" + "gallons for grain" must be used.

So...

I actually need 3.75 gal + 2.25 gal = 6.0 gal in my mash tun to ensure 1.25 qt/gal of water is exposed to the grain.  In addition, as noted above, 6 gal is used for strike temperature calculations.

For convenience sake, let's say I have 1.5 gal absorbed by the grain during mashing.


How much will I get from my mash tun?

6.00 gal starting
-0.25 gal which will not drain
-1.50 gal absorbed by grain
---------
4.25 gal from mash alone

I want 6.5 gal in my boil kettle, so I would sparge with 6.5 gal - 4.25 gal, or 2.25 gal.

Note: I didn't use the term "deadspace", as I don't understand if it means "space under screen" or "space which will not drain".  If my understanding is correct, "space under screen" is used for strike temperature calculations and "space which will not drain" is used for sparge water calculations.

I think the new feature to be added would allow the setting of each of these.

Cheers,
redrover

 
Hi, I have the same problem, has this issue been addressed yet? My bottom drain keggle has a 1 gallon "deadspace" under the false bottom. I recover all of it!
 
erdius said:
Hi, I have the same problem, has this issue been addressed yet? My bottom drain keggle has a 1 gallon "deadspace" under the false bottom. I recover all of it!

The deadspace is the amount of liquid that you leave behind in the mash ton.  Since you are able to recover all the wort, you shouldn't need to use the deadspace field.
 
Yes but this messes up mash thickness calculations, mash water and sparge amounts that beersmith doesn't take into account.  Right now I'm simply adding my recoverable space to the mash water amount and then subtracting that from the sparge, but this also messes up my strike temps since I'm using different volumes that beersmith thinks I have. There needs to be an option to account for recoverable mash water otherwise this program doesn't work for me.
 
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