Question for batch spargers

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mangine77

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Do you do the 2 or 3 step batch sparges like beersmith recommends??

Ya know like it tells you to do 3 X 1.4 gallon sparges, or do you just do one big batch sparge???

I'm guessing the multiple sparges is supposed to increase efficiency?? But obviously doing one is a lot easier.
 
I mash in, let that sit for 60 minutes, then drain. Then fill it up again with the same amount of water, stir and let sit for 10 minutes, then drain. That's it...works pretty well for me.
 
I do two sparges. For a typical batch, 1st runnings = 50% of the sugars, 1st sparge 33%, 2nd sparge 16%. I've tried one large sparge and the efficiency is much lower.
 
I usually do my Mash. (60 min.) Then, I measure the amount of wort that I get from the first runnings after grain absorption.

I subtract that amount from the total amount of wort needed.

Then divide that by two and run two batch sparges of equal amounts. (I got 79% eff. last batch.)

Did that make sense?:eek:
 
I do 2 also. 10 gallon round mashtun (cooler) so I cannot fit all the water in at once.

Mash one hour
Batch sparge 15-20 minutes
Batch Sparge 15-20 minutes
 
another vote for two equal sparges. I would think at some point beyond 2 you might actually start to hurt efficiency by not having enough water in each sparge to properly rinse the grain.
 
I have done it both ways and prefer one big batch sparge, if it will fit in my mash tun. I just like that it is less work, which is the reason I started batch sparging in the first place.

I know others may have had different experience, but I saw no significant efficiency increase when using two batch sparges. The caveat here is that you must do a hot mash-out if you only do one sparge, if you want to keep your efficiency up.
 
Building on what flyguy said, you want to save the effort of doing the extra vorlauf and drain, you can get away with a single batch sparge but the way you maximize efficiecy in that case is an infusion to the mash just before first runnings to do two things:

1. Get the grainbed up to 168f, sugar is more fluid at higher temps.
2. Get the two runnings volumes to be close to equal.

Using software is the easiest way to figure what temp and volume to use to get both of those goals met.

Now, I've played around with that method and a double sparge (without the mashout infusion) and it's slightly more efficient than what I just described. How much is hard to say since I didn't do two side by side batches but it averages about 3-4%. If it's a large grainbill, 4% might be worth the extra vorlauf labor.
 
How long do you let the sparge water sit on the grains if your doing 2 sparges?
In the past I have done a 60 minute mash then a single 15 minute sparge. My efficiency has always been low.
 
How long do you let the sparge water sit on the grains if your doing 2 sparges?
In the past I have done a 60 minute mash then a single 15 minute sparge. My efficiency has always been low.


me too.
i let sparge sit for 10 mins, and start vorlauf. takes about 10 mins to drain into the brewpot.

anyone with good efficiency care to take a shot, mine sucks!
 
I have done it both ways and prefer one big batch sparge, if it will fit in my mash tun. I just like that it is less work, which is the reason I started batch sparging in the first place.

I know others may have had different experience, but I saw no significant efficiency increase when using two batch sparges. The caveat here is that you must do a hot mash-out if you only do one sparge, if you want to keep your efficiency up.

What he said. Works for me also. Consistent 75%+ efficiency.
 
If you read my primer and heed the advice your efficiency will improve. Just to qualify, I get 88-92% and everyone in my brew club that watched the method has also had the same success.

You don't need to let sparge water sit, just stir it in well and make sure it's hot enough. Somewhere between 180-185f should work.
 
I did my 5th AG yesterday and used the double batch sparge method as Bobby_M endorses (his primer is great!). I was previously using a single batch sparge and was getting OK efficiency but yesterday I got 85% efficiency into the boiler. Nothing else was different than the others which were coming out to 70-78% into boiler. I split my batch into two equal amounts (2.6g per sparge) at 170 degrees, let sit for 10 min, stirred and drained. I really like how that worked out. My brewhouse efficiency on the other hand still sucks at 65%.......

BTW- When people refer to efficiency numbers, are they talking about efficiency into boiler or the brewhouse efficiency?? It seems into the boiler gives you the most accurate number for how much sugar you extracted.
 
my last @ 62.7% was brewhouse. i never checked mash efficiency. always assumed people posting their 80-85% numbers were talking about into the fermentor numbers, no?
 
You don't need to let sparge water sit, just stir it in well and make sure it's hot enough. Somewhere between 180-185f should work.

You sparge that hot? I thought that I read somewhere that 170f was a high as you should go.
 
You sparge that hot? I thought that I read somewhere that 170f was a high as you should go.

The sparge water is about 180 - 185 deg. F. Raises the grain bed temp to 160-170. If you are over 170 in the grain bed, no worries, as you are draining almost immediately.
 
lately I've been sparging at 188-192 and getting better efficiency - then again, the garage has been cold lately, so even at 188-192, the grain bed is barely getting to 168...
 
You sparge that hot? I thought that I read somewhere that 170f was a high as you should go.

I thought that was pretty hot too. I've been sparging with 168F water.

From John Palmer's How to Brew site:
The temperature of the sparge water is important. The water should be no more than 170°F, as husk tannins become more soluble above this temperature, depending on wort pH.

I thought my efficiency was pretty good with sparge water at 168F. It varies depending on which HBS mills my grain but I hit 85% one time last month, though I'm usually around 75%. So is the general consensus to sparge with water over 180F?
 
You need to consider the context. Palmer is suggesting a 170F sparge because the preceding paragraphs suggested using a mash out to raise the grain bed temp to 170f prior to the sparge. This is done with water way hotter than 170F anyway. Trust me, there's no problem at any temp as long as the over mash doesn't settle into temps over 170 out of PH range. If it were, I'd have consumed 100 gallons of astringent beer.
 
Gotcha. That makes sense. I figured it was something I wasn't understanding and just needed some clarification.
 
So the water temp in the 180's is essentially a "strike" temp for the sparge water? Your target temp for the mash should still be under 170. That makes sense.

Would you still go this high if you were doing two smaller but equal sparges?
 
Heres my limited AG experience related to this Batch sparge method. My 1st AG (with my own crush) yielded a crappy 60% ish eff using like 168F sparge water.

Later I started using Bobby's Primer with 180-185F sparge water and I increased my eff up to 70% consistently on my next couple batches. I then unwisely used 175F temp sparge water this weekend in my garage when it was about 40F. This only raised my grain bed to about 154-156F.

Needless to say I only hit 60% and I will be making sure I use 185 min temp on the next batch and monitor my GB temp closer
 
If your efficiency improves by letting the grainbed sit after sparge infusions, you need to crush your grain better. Everybody I know who gets really good efficiency crushes the holy snot out of their grain. My crush looks like flour and rice hulls. ;) If you don't have a mill, ask your LHBS to mill the grain twice. No, I have never had a stuck sparge.. but if you are worried use a half pound of rice hulls, they are cheap and they will speed up the vorlauf.

I typically do a double batch sparge, no mashout. I have a big Coleman 70 mashtun, so if I'm doing 5 gallon batches I have to use 195*F water for the first sparge infusion, and 185-190*F for the second. This gets my grainbed to 165*F. My efficiency to boiler is 85-88%. With 10 gallon batches, 185*F and 180*F should be about right. When batch sparging thinking of the sparge water as an infusion temp is the right way to think of it.
 
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