I think the slower fly sparge is by choice, not by design. The theory goes that the longer you take, the better extraction, so you'd choke down the input/output so that it takes 45 minutes for 6 gallons and 1.5 hours for 12 gallons (or so).
I have been doing this modified fly sparge for the last 8 batches and I love it. The grain is covered all the time and the pressure is constant on the grain bed up until the last 2 gallons that come out of the mash tun. I use a false bottom and recirculate before I begin to collect. I see no need for rice hulls for a false bottom and I keep the water 1 to 2 inches above the grain. I really get a good and constant efficiency too using 180F sparge water. The trick is to only drain just under 1 quart per minute for a 10 to 12 gallon batch which would be 14 gallons preboil volume which takes about an hour. Your milage may vary. Biermuncher would not do this if it did not work well, so try it.
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Fermentor 1: Bill's House Ale II, Fermentor 2: German Helles, Fermentor 3: Bill's Schworzbier (Black Bier) Tap 1: Bill's House Ale II, Tap 2: German Hefewizen, Tap 3: Nut Brown Ale Future Brews: Stone IPA Clone, Blonde Ale, Budvar Clone, Newcastle Clone New toy: Blichmann 27 gallon fermentor
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[*]I usually will lay the pot into the water and then gently tip it to “fold” the water in rather than pour it.
small tip: put small plate or saucer on top of the grain bed and pour sparge water on it, this way you won't disturb the grain bed even if you pour a bit faster.
I agree with Bobby_M, I don't see any difference in this method and my method. I pump from my HLT over to my MLT and use a ball valve to control the flow of sparge water onto the grain bed. I always keep a couple inches above the bed, I match my flow going out to the kettle, Usually takes a good 50-60 min. brewhouse efficiency is 87%. I call it Fly Sparging!
Isn't all of this in How To Brew? My first Partial Mash ever was using this technique, including the small plate thing. And I was doing it a couple months back when my HLT was out of commission for a few brews. I seem to get near 80% with this method, or with my sparge arm.
Seems to me like it is pretty much just fly sparging with a "man"ual arm (or "woman"ual) instead of a mechanical arm. Why does it not take as long, if the slower you go the better efficiency, seems like you would still want it to take about 45 minutes or so?
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Great timing on the post. I read this in the BYO but hadn't thought to try it. I'm about to do my Xmas brew (OG 1.090) and was terrified my eff. would suck wind after calculating my teenie weenie batch sparge infusions. My eff. is usually 75-80% but this technique may get me more than the 65% I planned for, so I'll give it a whirl. Worst thing that could happen is ..
I agree with Bobby_M, I don't see any difference in this method and my method. I pump from my HLT over to my MLT and use a ball valve to control the flow of sparge water onto the grain bed. ...
The target audience wasn't fly spargers. Of course this sounds obviously familiar to someone who fly sparges, or the uber experienced batch sparger.
It was targeted at newer batch sparging folks who thought the only way to improve efficiency was to convert to fly sparging...and to convert to fly sparging you needed to invest in special fly sparge equipment like sparge arms and whirligigs.
Maybe this belongs in the beginner section where there's less of a "duh" factor...
Damn this works! I usually do a split batch sparge of equal amounts. This time I drained mashtun after 60 minutes, poured in my first sparge(2.67gallons), vorlaufed, Then started slowly releasing into pot. When water was about 1/2 over top of the grains I started slowly pouring second sparge(2.67gallons). When pot was full my preboil was 1.060, when it was supposed to be 1.049! Wow! Now I am usually 2 points above pre-boil gravity, but this was a BIG jump, and it was faster than my usual method. I added 2 quarts of water to boil, that's all I had left of my spring water. When all was said and done, my OG was supposed to be 1.067, it came out 1.072. My efficiency went from 75%+ to well over 80%.
Fricking awesome, especially considering it saved me at least 10 minutes. The muncher rules.
Wildwest -- glad to hear this worked out so well for you! I have been toying with the idea of fly sparging again (just for the fun of it to see how I do), but perhaps this is a good compromise since I am always too impatient to spend the extra time doing a full fly sparge.
One question for you, however -- how is it that this method was QUICKER for you than a typical batch sparge? Even doing two sparge infusions shouldn't take very long. Are you resting between sparges or something? For me, two sparges would take about 15 mins tops, but doing a 'partial' continuous sparge like this would definitely take me longer (assuming an equal volume of sparge water). Just curious about your method and where you saved your 10 mins.
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