Strike and sparge water quantities does its matter?

[Jamesman]

Hi everyone, can anyone tell me if it matters what percentage of the water is for strike water and what percentage is for sparge water.? The reason I ask is im doing a 23 litre brew and brewfather says I need 17.16 litres strike water and 15.58 litres sparge. Would it make any difference if I increased the strike water and had less sparge water as long as it still added up to the right amount of water? I'm curious because I heat my sparge water up in a pan and it only fits 10 litres in. Cheers.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

No it doesn’t just get the total at about 32 litres.

 

[Galena]

There is a long answer to this, but in short higher water to grist ratios do not significantly affect AAL or yield although mashes may take longer due to enzyme dilution.

 

[Jamesman]

Oh that's good. Thanks for the quick reply. Cheers.

 

[gyurmaember]

Doesn't make any difference, just sparge it until the desired pre boil volume.

 

[Jamesman]

Doesn't make any difference, just sparge it until the desired pre boil volume.

Niceone. Will do, cheers.

 

[EsterBanana]

So that's about 32l of water, for a 23l brew, where does all the water go?

I guess some gets taken away by the grain, and some evaporates, anything else?

 

[Galena]

Grain absorption around 1 litre per Kg, evaporation around 3 litre per hour, trub loss depending on system, leaf hops will no doubt absorb some as well.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I’ve learnt from experience that I lose about 1.5 gallons in a 1 hour (vigorous) boil so I need to get +6.5 gallons of wort from the mash. Usually ends up around 7. With 4-5 kg of grain I lose around 1 gallon during the mash so start with 8 gallons, 3 gallons go in the initial 1 hour mash and I get around 1.5 gallons of wort from that. I add another 2.5 gallons for 30 minutes gets me up to just under 4 gallons, and the last 2.5 gallons for another 30 minutes gets me to 7 gallons with a squeeze at the end. Just goes to show you can vary the process to suit your equipment and schedule.

 

[EsterBanana]

Excellent, really helpful info that's good to know - thank you!

 

[gyurmaember]

I'm glad, not I'm the only one who's not using fancy apps for this.