john palmers book

[dazer23866]

i have been looking around this forum for a few weeks now and reading How to brew by John Palmer at the same time.
i have followed this book all the way so far and just finished the Cincinnati pale ale recipe which is still in the fermenter, and all is well until i get to the next section on mashing techniques and all them calculations.
Well it may as well have been written in Russian, there must be an easier way to calculate amounts of water and grains, because that goes right over my head no matter how many times i look at it.
please if there is an easy way to understand this someone please tell me because i am stuck

[mysterio]

It really couldn't be easier, you first choose your water to grain ratio (which doesn't really matter a lot, but 2.8 L per KG is what I use anywhere between 2.5 and 3.5 is normal). So 5 kg of grain, 14L of water.

The next part is that this water needs to be at the right 'strike' temperature in order to get your mash temperature, this is going to be higher than your mash temp as the grain will cool it down. This will depend on your grain temperature but you can expect it to drop around 7C when grain is added. You need a mash temperature between 65C and 70C. Warmer will give a fuller mouthfeel and cooler will give a dryer & thinner beer.

There are all sorts of calculators that will calculate your strike water/ mash temperature based on variables, as well as other calculations in the process. Here's a free one: http://www.practicalbrewing.co.uk/calcu ... eerengine/

There are others like Beersmith, Promash and Beer Alchemy on the Mac.

[dazer23866]

thats ok then i think i will just stick to that at the moment 5kg too 14L sounds good to me
i think i am right in saying continuous sparging is a good method because you can let it run until it gets to a certain reading on the hydrometer.
Would be good to maybe watch someone do this maybe get a mentor ( any volunteers i am in Oxford )

[mysterio]

There are loads of brewers in Oxford on here, I can't remember who any of them are. Try starting a thread with Oxford brewers in the title and I'm sure someone will invite you over.

[coatesg]

I'm one of them - there's fallen, befuggled and oxfordbrewer too from memory. Drop me a PM!

[coatesg]

i think i am right in saying continuous sparging is a good method because you can let it run until it gets to a certain reading on the hydrometer.

Yup - though it is a massive amount easier if you have a refractometer. Batch sparging is also a good method (and is less prone to issues like tannin extraction, pH issues, etc due to oversparging)- either produces excellent beers, but you may need a larger mash tun for that method than continuous sparging.

[dazer23866]

Wow thanks for all the help
regards the mash tun im going to be using all sanke got 4 on order as we speak just getting all the bits together for my first run.
once again anyone in Oxford having a all grain brew day and wouldent mind me watching give me a shout
i would love to come allong