BeerSmith Sparge Inconsistency

[BlackDuck]

phillm00x recently posted a question on efficiency and Yankeedag suggested to increase the mash ration to 1:1.75. I'm going to give that a try this weekend. So I went into BeerSmith to adjust the settings and am now getting some inconsistent information. I contacted BeerSmith with the question, but thought I would drop it here too. I hope I can explain this clearly. I am batch sparging.

If I use a mash ratio of 1:1.50 BeerSmith tells me to batch sparge in two steps. Step 1 is drain the mash tun. Step 2 is sparge with 3.46 gallons. When I click the "vols" tab to review my volumes, it tells me my sparge volume should be 3.2 gallons, not 3.46.

If I use a mash ratio of 1:1.75 BeerSmith still tells me to batch sparge in two steps. Step 1 is drain mash tun, and step 2 is to sparge with 3.46 gallons, which is the same as above (which doesn't make sense). But this time when I click the "vols" tab to review my volumes, it tells me my sparge volume should be 2.28 gallons (this makes more sense).

I'm confused. If I increase my mash ratio and get more wort from the mash, shouldn't I sparge with less water??? I've checked a couple of my previous and I did notice that if the first sparge step is "drain mash tun" the sparge amount in the "mash" section is different that the sparge amount in the "vols" section. I wonder if there is an issue with BeerSmith on this.

If I do the math and start with the "water avail from mash" amount and add in the 2.28 gallons then, subtract all the other variables (losses), the 2.28 sparge volume is what I should be using to get to my final volume into the fermentor. But 2.28 gallons of sparge water doesn't seem enough for 14.5 lbs of grain.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[FrozenInTime]

Sounds confusing, how can u trust the software when it's all over the place. I still need to use B/Smith a little more to understand it/dial it in.

[BlackDuck]

I hear you FIT....that's what I'm starting to wonder.

[philm00x]

Yeah, if you use a higher water/grain ratio, you would use less water for sparging. As for the discrepancy, I just took notice of it myself. When I checked the mash profile, I found why there is a difference in volumes. If you go into the Mash tab of your recipe, next to the profile, there's a settings button that looks like a sheet of paper with a red check mark. Make sure on the section Batch Sparge Options to have a check mark on all three options (Batch sparge using batches that fill [I have default as 90%], Use Equal Batch Sizes, Drain Mash Tun Before Sparging). After editing this, your sparge volumes should all be equal.

[BlackDuck]

Thanks Phil...I didn't have the "drain mash tun" checked. That did it. Thanks a bunch.