Overview
- Welcome
- Recipe
- Process
- Grain Temp
- Sparging Temp
- Mash Thickness
- Sparge Volume
- Grain Absorption Rate
- Hop Absorption Rate
- Boil Off Rate
- Kettle / Mashtun Volume
- Kettle Width
- Kettle Loss
- Trub Loss
- Mash Tun Loss
- Expected Conversion Efficiency
- Sparge Coefficient
- Measured Preboil Volume
- Measured Mash Gravity
- Measured Preboil Gravity
- Lauter Efficiency
- Mash Efficiency
- Brewhouse Efficiency
- Run Off Ratio
- Mashout Temp
- Mash / First Runnings
- Second Runnings
- Preboil
- Postboil
- Measured Gravities
- The End
Welcome
Welcome to the introduction and how to page of my mash calculator! Thanks for using it, Contact me here for further questions/comments/suggestions etc etc.
Recipe
Target OG
Enter your recipe OG here, it’s both for note taking and for the new autoscale function.*
Batch Size
Enter the Batch size here, as defined as the volume INTO fermenter after chilling. This is affected by all losses, including any wort and hops left behind in the kettle.
Grain Bill
Enter the total grain bill weight here.
Hop Bill
Enter the total hops used during the boil, and/or hopstand/whirlpool/steep etc. Do not include dry hops if you want absorption to be accurate. Affects losses between preboil and postboil.
Dry Hops
Enter the total hops used during dry hopping, pre or post fermentation if you want absorption to be accurate. Affects packaging losses.
Boil Time
I hope you know this one! Affects boil off, and thus preboil volume.
Mash Temp
Enter the initial mash/sacc/infusion temperature. Additional temp rests will be introduced at a later time. Affects strike temperature.
Process
Grain Temp
Enter the grain temp, affects strike temp.
Sparging Temp
Enter the temp of your sparge water, this affects the calculated mashout temp. At this time, a 2F loss during the mash is assumed.
Mash Thickness
Enter the desired mash thickness you would like to use. My preference is 1.75 qt/lb, for full volume or no sparge you should enter zero.
Sparge Volume
If instead of a fixed mash thickness, you’d like to enter a manual sparge volume then enter your value here. Again, for full volume or no sparge you should enter zero.
Grain Absorption Rate
Enter your expected grain absorption rate here. Standard values include 0.125 gal/lb (1.04 L/KG) for a typical mashtun setup, 0.08 gal/lb (0.67 L/KG) for BIAB, and 0.06 gal/lb (0.5 L/KG) for a very hard BIAB squeeze.
Hop Absorption Rate
Enter your expected hop absorption rate here. This is a rough estimate, as the absorption rate will depend on the age of the hops, how old they are, the condition they were stored in, the brand of the hop manufacturer, and whether they’re pellet, dry leaf, or wet leaf.
#Equipment
Boil Off Rate
Enter the boil off rate here, as defined by Post boil - preboil, measured when both volumes are boiling.
Kettle / Mashtun Volume
Kettle/mashtun volume. Affects minimum sparging volume.
Kettle Width
Used to calculate the gallon height.
Kettle Loss
Volume left behind in the kettle, after the boil. Potental reasons may include whirlpooling and seperating some wort from protein break or hops. Affects brewhouse efficiency.
Trub Loss
Volume lost due to yeast cake/trub in the fermenter. Affects packaging volume. Typical value is 6-10% of the batch size, depending on yeast strain, whether or no kettle losses were present, and cold crashing.
Mash Tun Loss
Volume left behind in the mash tun, after the mash. Potental reasons may include undrainable volume under a false bottom. Affects lauter, mash, and brewhouse efficiency. This should be minimized as much as possible.
#Efficiencies
Expected Conversion Efficiency
Conversion efficiency is defined as the ratio of extract in the mash to the total potential extract. Acceptable values should be 92%+, with 95-98% being typical. <92% should be troubleshooted.
Sparge Coefficient
This is a new concept I coined, and can be used to adapt my batch sparge simulations for your process and equipment.
Measured Preboil Volume
Enter the volume when measured at boil. If measured at another temperature, you’ll need to do some math to adjust to the new density.
Measured Mash Gravity
If using a hydrometer, ALWAYS wait to cool the sample. Do not trust those temperature correction tools. If using a refractometer, you’ll need to use a wort correction factor. Used to calculate measured conversion, and lauter efficiency.
Measured Preboil Gravity
If using a hydrometer, ALWAYS wait to cool the sample. Do not trust those temperature correction tools. If using a refractometer, you’ll need to use a wort correction factor. Used to calculate measured mash and brewhouse efficiency.
#Estimated Efficiencies
Lauter Efficiency
The percentage of sugars that were extracted during the mash process, that were then brought into the preboil volume. Affected by how well the lauter process occured, ie did you stir before first runnings, and how effective your sparge process was. No sparge mash tun brews usually are around 69%, the same setup for BIAB is usually around 72% given the lower grain absorption rate. A batch sparge with a mash thickness around 1.5-1.75 qt/lb and near equal runnings should give about 80-81%* lauter efficiency. The same setup with a BIAB squeeze should increase that to about 86-87%* lauter efficiency. A fly sparge should at the very least increase your lauter efficiency by at least 3%, if you’re not at least matching the above batch sparge lauter efficiencies by fly sparging, you’re mash tun is probably not set up optimally for a proper fly sparge and you’re getting a considerable amount of channeling, my recommendation would be to do a proper batch sparge and see if you get better results. Even if you come out even, you’re saving a bunch of time.
Mash Efficiency
Mash efficiency, is the combination of conversion and lauter efficiencies. A batch sparge with a mash thickness around 1.5-1.75 qt/lb and near equal runnings should easily be capable of ~75%* mash efficiency for 1.055 typical brew. The same setup with a BIAB squeeze should increase that to about 79-80%* mash efficiency. A fly sparge should at the very least increase your mash efficiency by at least 3%*, yielding ~78% or 83% mash efficiency respectively. if you’re not at least matching the above batch sparge lauter efficiencies by fly sparging, you’re mash tun is probably not set up optimally for a proper fly sparge and you’re getting a considerable amount of channeling, my recommendation would be to do a proper batch sparge and see if you get better results. At the very least, you’ll save a substantial amount of time.
Brewhouse Efficiency
Similar to Mash efficiency, there’s not much going on here. Any losses after the boil occurs will affect this number.
Run Off Ratio
This is the ratio of first runnings to second runnings, where 1.0 indicates equal runnings. Equal runnings imply the maximum lauter efficiency for a batch sparge system, although the difference is minimal as long as it’s close-ish to 1.
Mashout Temp
The temperature that the grain bed will reach at the end of the sparge. Currently this assumes no loss of temperature during the mash. Just haven’t gotten around to adding an offset yet.
#Estimated Gravities
Mash / First Runnings
Gravity of first runnings and/or mash. Affects conversion, and lauter efficiency.
Second Runnings
Gravity of second runnings (from sparge), affects lauter and mash efficiency.
Preboil
Gravity of preboil volume, affects mash efficiency.
Postboil
Gravity of postboil volume. Not used in any calculations. Hopefully it’s close to Target OG.
Measured Gravities
Same as above, but measured instead of estimated. Not
#General Results
OG Difference
The difference between estimated postboil OG, and the Target OG. OG Diference = TargetOG - Postboil OG. Used in the “Autoscale” function, which will automagically adjust the grain bill until the Target OG matches the Estimated OG.
Total Water Needed
The summation of all losses as welkl as the batch volume. This is the total maount of water needed, strike + sparge.
Strike Temp
Temperature of strike volume in order to hit the mash temp. Assumes preheated mashtun.
MashThickness
Enter the desired mash thickness you would like to use. My preference is 1.75 qt/lb, for full volume or no sparge you should enter zero.
Total Volume Loss
The summation of all losses, grain absorption, hop absorption, boil off, mashtun losses, etc etc.
Gallon Height
The height of 1 gallon of water at room temperature. Calculated from the interior width of your kettle. Assumes straight walled cylinder.
Estimated Boil Off
Estimate is done based on the width of the kettle. Assuming a mildly vigorous boil intensity, somewhere between 3 and 4 is good. Note: This is not used in any calculations, it’s just displayed as an estimate for first time brewers so they know, roughly, how much to expect to lose.
Minimum Sparging Volume
Minimum sparge volume in order to not exceed the mashtun volume.
#Volumes and Heights
Water Volume at 68F
Total water needed, as measured at 68F. See* thermal expansion.
Strike Water Volume
Water to add to the mash tun to be combined with grain bill before the mash. Temperature adjusted to calculated strike temp.
Volume of mash
Strike water volume + grain bill * 0.08. Volume of the mash, do not exceed mashtun volume unless you want to make a hot sticky mess…
First Runnings
Estimated volume of first runnings, affected by grain absorption rate and strike volume.
Second Runnings
Second runnings volume, sparge run off. For batch sparges is should be equal to the batch sparge. Fly sparges may be variable if not completely drained.
Preboil
Preboil volume, when measured at boil temp, in order to hit the postboil volume based on the boil off rate and boil time.
Post Boil
Necessary postboil volume in order to hit batch size based on kettle losses and thermal expansion.
Out of Kettle Chilled
Post boil volume - chilling thermal expansion - kettle losses. This is the batch size.
Packaged Volume
Batch volume minus dry hops minus trub loss (kettle).
The End
Any Questions? Something I missed, spelled wrong, or otherwise found confusing? Contact me