There are some really technical reasons for manipulating the water-grist ratio (the ratio of water to grain) but since you're asking the question, I'd offer this answer and apologize in advance if it seems snarky: Use one and a half quarts of water to one pound of grain, at least until you know why you would want to change the ratio.Is there a particular water to grain ratio for mashing?
agreed. it's great to fine tune things and brew how you want, but I can't tell you how many times i've looked for a quick, easy explanation or procedure that gets the job done. case in point, ive been reading up on a lagering method that's simple and the least fussy as possibleThere are some really technical reasons for manipulating the water-grist ratio (the ratio of water to grain) but since you're asking the question, I'd offer this answer and apologize in advance if it seems snarky: Use one and a half quarts of water to one pound of grain, at least until you know why you would want to change the ratio.
fwiw, i BIAB and use that number. but then again, i sparge and i can't do full boils, so i guess i'm in a gray phantom zone in terms of brewing stylesThe typical number you hear for non-BIAB brewing is 1.25 or 1.5 qt/lb of grain.
I use 1.25 for step mashes as well - we're into the technical stuff that seems to be a bit more information than TrevMc needs at this time. And Trev, forgive me if I'm wrong about that.fwiw, i BIAB and use that number. but then again, i sparge and i can't do full boils, so i guess i'm in a gray phantom zone in terms of brewing styles
Much more, I'd say.... What malt are you using that you need a protein rest? I only do one if I have a lot of unmalted grain to knock down the protein and gum.Mash thickness varies with desired outcome as well as the limitations of your system. Since many if not most systems depend on the addition of boiling water to raise temperature between mash steps or to mash out, you have to determine the maximum capacity of your tun and work backwards from there. Unless you can mash your full volume of water you'll need to decide how you'll sparge since that's the way you make up the difference and arrive at your total pre-boil volume and get the rest of the fermentable sugar flushed out of your grain.
I start with less than 1 qt/lb for a protein rest and hit around 1.5 qt/lb after boiling water additions for my main conversion rest. Boiling water addition for 168 degree mashout puts me over 2 qt/lb and depending on my grain bill starts getting to my tuns max capacity.
If I go straight to a single infusion temp for a typical 10-11 lb grain bill, I can count on 13 quarts for strike, 6 to 7 quarts for raising to mash out and 12-13 quarts for sparge. That puts me at 32 to 33 quarts total with a loss of 3-4 quarts in grain absorption and 7 to 7.5 gallons for pre-boil and that gets me to 5.5 gallons into the fermenter.
I know...More info than requested...
For now, keep it simple. Brewing is a rabbit hole, there's no bottom to it. Pretty soon some of this chatter will start to make sense. And I hope your beer turns out wonderfullyHaha thanks guys, so much info for me to take in, wow!
Czech floor malted Pilsner, mostly. Protein rest isn't really necessary, but I like to dough in thick and if I'm doing any sort of step mash, that's usually my starting place. I don't do it for every beer, but I've got the process worked out so that It's easy and it gives me excellent wort and makes very good beer, so I'll keep doing it until I find that it presents a problem.What malt are you using that you need a protein rest?