14 replies to this topic

[Corbin]

Didn't want to hijack Schwanz's thread on mash temps but it made me curious. What is your water to grain ratio you normally use? Thick or thin I guess? I'm pretty consistent at 1.5qt/lb

[HVB]

I typically will vary between 1.5-2.0 qts/#.  It will mainly be determined by the amount of grain I have.  This is up in recent years, when I first started to use my RIMS system I was always at 1.35 but I have been experimenting with a thinner mash.  I will even go into the 3's so I can do a no sparge but 1.5-2.0 is more normal.

[positiveContact]

My new MO has been to push the water:grain ratio as high as I can and still fit everything in my mash tun.  Typically this means well over 2.5 qt/lb depending on how much grain we are talking about.  I've been embracing the minimal sparge.  It's a little easier on my setup to do this versus a more typical batch sparge amount b/c I am just dumping the sparge water into the cooler.  So if I only have to dump in 1-3 gallons that is easy lifting with minimal risk of me scalding myself with hot water .  I haven't seen a significant hit in efficiency and the beer has been great so I think I'll continue with it.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

3ish. I only no-sparge now.

[Poptop]

1.3 - 1.5 quarts per pound while always attempting to have equal amounts of both mash and batch sparge water at pre-boil

[positiveContact]

1.3 - 1.5 quarts per pound while always attempting to have equal amounts of both mash and batch sparge water at pre-boil

 

that's essentially what I used to do.  no problems there either.

[matt6150]

Between 1.25-2 depending on grain bill. But average around 1.50.

[Big Nake]

On the thin side... 1.8qts/lb to a little over 2qts/lb. I used to sweat that detail until I heard of many, many brewers mashing thinner. Also, I wanted to make my sparge volume less so I upped my mash water volume which accounts for the thinner mash.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Depends on the OG for me do to space contraints in the tun. Also, since I started fly sparging I don't want too much liquid in the mash because when you set the grain bed you end up with a lot of head pressure from wort sitting above the bed. You want to sparge on about 0.5" - 1" of wort/water. All that water over the bed can cause it to get too thick, it will ruin lautering/efficiency, and possibly stick the mash.

 

For my hefe last weekend I started out at 1qt/lb for the ferulic acid rest, then I added boiling water to get to 150 deg and 1.83 qt/lb.

 

If I'm doing a single rest I aim for 1.5qt/lb. 

[positiveContact]

On the thin side... 1.8qts/lb to a little over 2qts/lb. I used to sweat that detail until I heard of many, many brewers mashing thinner. Also, I wanted to make my sparge volume less so I upped my mash water volume which accounts for the thinner mash.

 

for people with ken like water who are worried about the sparge pH being too high doing a minimal sparge is kind of nice b/c it removes or reduces the need to treat the sparge water.

[realbeerguy]

Typically 1.5qt/#.  Likewise if I have a large grain bill, lower to fit it all in the tun. (Igloo 10 gal)

[neddles]

No sparge BIAB, anywhere from 1.9-3.8qt/#

[gnef]

I wish I could tell you I measured such things! Haha.

 

For most average beers, I strike with as much as I hope to go into the fermenter (so for a 5 gallon batch, I strike with 5, then sparge with about 2-3). If I am doing a big beer, I just add more water. 

 

You could call me a brew-by-feel brewer. I don't really measure volumes other than the rings on the keggle, and I don't measure gravities any more either unless it is something special. The only thing I measure really is grain and hops. I even add my salts by feel now as well.

[Big Nake]

I wish I could tell you I measured such things! Haha. For most average beers, I strike with as much as I hope to go into the fermenter (so for a 5 gallon batch, I strike with 5, then sparge with about 2-3). If I am doing a big beer, I just add more water.  You could call me a brew-by-feel brewer. I don't really measure volumes other than the rings on the keggle, and I don't measure gravities any more either unless it is something special. The only thing I measure really is grain and hops. I even add my salts by feel now as well.

I only knew my ratio by going back and figuring it out. It's not the type of thing I know for each batch. I also don't check OG or FG anymore either. I am very careful with mash temp and also with pH throughout the process and I'm also very careful about measuring out hops, grains and salt additions mainly because I want to be able to reproduce a beer that may have come out nicely. Most of my beers come in around the same gravity so I pretty much always filter and measure out the same amount of water.

[ChefLamont]

I wish I could tell you I measured such things! Haha.

 

For most average beers, I strike with as much as I hope to go into the fermenter (so for a 5 gallon batch, I strike with 5, then sparge with about 2-3). If I am doing a big beer, I just add more water. 

 

You could call me a brew-by-feel brewer. I don't really measure volumes other than the rings on the keggle, and I don't measure gravities any more either unless it is something special. The only thing I measure really is grain and hops. I even add my salts by feel now as well.

 

*sigh*

 

 

 

For my small batch BIAB and normal sized batches on my regular rig, I shoot for 1.5 qt/#.  However, I will adjust as needed for mash tun volume.  For example, I did a double batch last Friday, and I mashed for all 20 gal in the cooler.  So, I had 42# of grain mashing in there.  I stared at a ratio of 0.8 but had a little extra room at the top, so I added a little more water.  I probably ended up at 0.85-0.9 qt/lb.  It was a thick mash that was a bear to stir.  It all worked out fine though.