Being sorta new to this hobby and doing recipe searches I often see .1 pounds etc, specifically Joan Palmer's siason calls for . 1 lb, 1/10 tenth on all the grains. Is it that necessary to be that exact. I mean the guy knows his stuff but what's the purpose of building the grist with 10.1 lbs for example.
Grain fractions
- Thread starter Lowlyric
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probably you have 10.1 pounds of grain and don’t want to waste it.
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Recipes should indicate the percentages of grain used, not the weight. Each system has different efficiencies, so it better to know the ratios of grains to each other and is best way to transfer recipe from system to system.
As far as the the differences in the recipe, it really not super critical. It may make a bigger difference on specialty grains, but as long as the amounts are close, you're good.
As far as the the differences in the recipe, it really not super critical. It may make a bigger difference on specialty grains, but as long as the amounts are close, you're good.
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Unless you are brewing small batches (1-3 gal), being off by a tenth of a pound difference will have no effect.
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As a small batch brewer, I would say: stick with the proportions (percentages).
You can adjust volume (and thus alcohol percentage) to a certain extent, but you cannot change the proportions...
As a wise person on this forum once mentioned: brew by gravity, don't brew by volume.
It was an eye opener to me
You can adjust volume (and thus alcohol percentage) to a certain extent, but you cannot change the proportions...
As a wise person on this forum once mentioned: brew by gravity, don't brew by volume.
It was an eye opener to me
Nothing wrong with being thorough. I'm learning more about lovibonds and the effect grain has in flavors etc, so I can appreciate the accuracy. I'm Way down the rabbit hole at this point so I like to get the experience from you all to help with such things.
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True.
One less variable if there’s some unexpected profile or flavor. Not that a little here or there in the mash bill is going to dramatically change the outcome, unless you’re talking smoked or peated malt ;-) Then a little goes a long way.
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One possible cause for "fractional ounce" weights: recipe books and home brewing magazines typically have a 'standard' batch size and extract efficiency that they use for recipes. For example BYO Big Book of Clone Recipes assumes a 5 gal batch size and 65% efficiency; others assume 5.25 (or 5.5) gal and 75% efficiency. If the contributor's recipe has a different batch size or efficiency, the 'standardized' recipe will likely contain fractional ounces.
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Another source of fractional amounts is scaling batches. And as any experienced brewer can tell you, the results of a mathematically scaled batch are not the same as the original batch. These things aren't linear. So ignore the fractions and round them.
Less than a few percentage points variation of the total grain bill, especially of a base grain, is imperceptible in the finished product. (some say as much as 5%) There are exceptions for variations with darker, especially roasted malts. I round all of my recipes to the nearest ¼ pound for all malts on 5gal batches except really dark malts which get rounded to whole ounces.
