2.5l to 1 kg is fine. You could even go a little more than that, up to around 3l to 1kg. Some will go as high as up to 4l to 1kg, but I wouldn't personally.
I'm not really sure these days what I use. When I first started AG brewing, I used to try to hit about 2.5 to 1, but I've stopped worrying about it.
I now heat my strike water to 9 to 10ºC above my desired mash temperature, and just let the HLT tap dribble into the mash as I stir. I stop once I hit my desired mash temperature.
It's another one of these little details to get hung up on, but which make very little difference in the end, so long as you are within a reasonable range.
cheers, i got my measurements wrong with my last beer and it was probably about 2.2/kg and it seemed quite thick, a couple litres more water should help.
Permalink Reply by MrC on October 1, 2009 at 6:42pm
I usually mash in with around 2.5L/kg. That leaves room for me to add more water throughout the duration of the mash to keep the temp just right without thinning down the mash too much and trying to keep the total mash water less than 3.5kg/l. Works for me.