how much water?

[novernmunkee]

pardon my ignorance, but i'm a little confused with water.
in 1 of the books i read it reads mash in 15 litres/ 3 gallon of water, sparge to collect 4 gallon/ 20 litre boil, cool then top with cold water up to 25 litre/ 5 gallon.
does this seem right, or do i not add any water after the boil and if so how much water would be needed to end up with a 23 litre brew.

thanks

[Mitchamitri]

My tun is a bit big so I add water to a grain ratio of 3.5 to 1 for mashing as I get a more stable temp. For sparging I draw off enough to give me 2 brewbins (about 80 pints) plus a smaller bin. I draw off from sparge slowly so effectively I add enough sparge water to give me sufficient and little more (next day if i try draining the tun for clean up normally i only see a litre or two of very pale wort). I wouldnt ever top up the worth with plain cold water - theres always got to be soemthing in the tun worth getting out!
Its not as scientific as Chris's method (and therefore isnt as reliable) but it works for me.
Just one point - I heard from a few sources always boild with the lid off - so I do.

[daveyk]

It may be easier to top up in the fermenter but by topping up in the boiler, particularly towards the end of the boil you will help improve efficiency (lower gravity wort in the boiler etc, see above) and you sanitise the water (although tap water shouldn't require it - it's at least reassuring to do). Again thoug, if you have a 25L and the losses to the hops and trub totals 4L you are still going to fall short of your target volume and will have to top up in the fermenter anyway.

Do you recommend water straight out of the tap when topping up in the FV? or is it best to treat with campden tablet in a sanitised spare FV? or........

[novernmunkee]

thanks for the replies I'll give it a go and see what happens

[Blackjack]

I wouldnt ever top up the worth with plain cold water - theres always got to be soemthing in the tun worth getting out!
.

Yeh Tannins