2 Mashes: Running one through the bed of the other?

Evan! · 04-10-2007, 01:53 PM

I was just wondering if you guys ever do anything like this:

Firstoff, I mash in my kettles and just add direct heat to keep the mash temps constant. Then I dump the grain into my false-bottomed MLT and drain/sparge there. That's all standard issue. So, whenever I brew 2 grain batches side by side, I'll drain/sparge the lighter beer first, and then, I'll pour the mash from the second batch directly on top of the first batch in the MLT. One reason is because I'm lazy and I don't feel like emptying out the MLT. The other reason, as far as I can figure it, is that I might pick up some remaining sugars from the first batch.

Is this cool? The one thing I worry about is fluctuating PH, but I never check my PH anyway, so who knows. I was just curious if this is an okay thing to be doing.

sonvolt · 04-10-2007, 02:02 PM

You will find that some brewers claim that oversparging can pull tannins out of the mash. I am not sure how true this is. The proof of your method is in the beer. Do you make good beer using the process? If so, what the hell

. I would though, if I were you, do two similar batches in which you use your normal process and then a revised process with seperate mashes - just to discover what qualities/characteristics this process brings to your final product.

Evan! · 04-10-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonvolt

You will find that some brewers claim that oversparging can pull tannins out of the mash. I am not sure how true this is. The proof of your method is in the beer. Do you make good beer using the process? If so, what the hell

. I would though, if I were you, do two similar batches in which you use your normal process and then a revised process with seperate mashes - just to discover what qualities/characteristics this process brings to your final product.

Hehe, yeah, I don't think oversparging is really an issue. Given my lack of large kettles, I think that I actually undersparge. I usually just fly by the seat my pantaloons, and don't take SG readings of my sparge runnings like I should. I mean, I only sparged with a single 4-gallon batch method this past weekend on my first mash, and still ended up with 82% eff.