For those who don't sparge, what do you do?

I am extremely interested in sparging, but do not have the equipment or money to do what I would think is an effective sparge.

After steeping (usually 30-45 min), i place the bag in a strainer and pour 2 cups of hot water (from tap) over the bag, and let it strain into a bowl. I call this the "mini-sparge."

what are some other techniques you have used that might improve my efficiency?

what are some easy ways to move toward a full sparge?

What kind of grains are you using? If you're using grains like crystal/caramel malt, black patent, chocolate malt, etc, there is no benefit to mashing and sparging and it's simply a waste of time.

If you're using grains that are mashed (victory, vienna malt, munich malt, etc) then a sparge is in order. You'd mash in 1.25 quarts/pound or so, and then simply pour up to .5 gallon of 170 degree water over them. You can do it by lifting the grain bag and putting it in a colander and pouring the rinse water (sparge water) over them to rinse off all of the sugars that are left behind.

Specialty malts are already converted, so you're not getting sugars from them. You're simply making "tea" out of them, so while rinsing with some water won't hurt, it's not necessary to sparge.

if you are simply steeping, then it sounds like you are doing a good job of it right now. if you are mashing, i would take it one step further.

how many pots do you have and what size? no matter what size, you can use my "tea-bag" method of sparging if you purchase a nylon bag. read my thread on easy partial mash brewing (it's in my sig.)

Currently I am just steeping, ubt want to move to a higher quality beer.

I have used a variety of grains, including, 2-row, munich, crystal, and chocolate. I found a chart that says what needs to be sparged and not.

I'm probably going to use your sparge method "tea bag" with my 2nd batch after x-mas, probably a Sam Adams Lager knockoff (only an ale tho).

histo320 said:

Currently I am just steeping, ubt want to move to a higher quality beer.

I have used a variety of grains, including, 2-row, munich, crystal, and chocolate. I found a chart that says what needs to be sparged and not.

I'm probably going to use your sparge method "tea bag" with my 2nd batch after x-mas, probably a Sam Adams Lager knockoff (only an ale tho).

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Well, it's not so much what need to be sparged and not. It's more what needs to be mashed or not. Of course, 2-row and munich are two that must be mashed. In that case, the amount of water in the mash (I like 1.25 quarts per pound) are even more important than the sparging. Even in all grain brewing, there are no-sparge brewers. But definitely no no-mash brewers! The important thing is to have conversion though the mash- sparging is much less critical.

Still, you can sparge in those cases with up to .5 gallons of water per pound of grain, simply by pouring 170 degree water through/over the grains. It's best if they are loose in the grain bag, or in an MLT, so that all of the sugars that are in suspension from the mash are rinsed away. Grains like chocolate and crystal don't have those fermentable sugars, so don't need to be mashed and/or sparged unless also mashed with 2-row or Munich malt.

My advice would be to look at the grains and see if it's a steeping recipe, or a partial mash recipe. If it's steeping, just steep 20 minutes and move on. There would be no advantage for longer steeping or sparging- you'd just be wasting your time. If there are base malt grains in the recipe, though, a proper mash and sparge would be beneficial.

I've read about a "no sparge" method with all grain brewing. It has very low efficiency.

Conroe said:

I've read about a "no sparge" method with all grain brewing. It has very low efficiency.

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Yes, so you just use more grain. There have been threads about some good effects with this method, though- like more maltiness. I've never tried it, so I'm no expert on it. John Palmer mentions it in his book, and mentions that the efficiency is lower, but might be worthwhile for some brewers.

A fairly cheap lauter tun is the "zapap." Just take an old plastic fermentation bucket and drill a couple hundred 1/8" holes in the bottom, then set it inside an old bottling bucket. Magic, a false bottom and drainage system, $30, or free if you have old ones you quit using because of scratches or whatever. I'm making the jump to AG right now and I rigged one of these up to save some money. I've done 2 partial mashes with it and have had no problems thus far. I think I'm going to wrap it in some insulation like you would use for a hot water heater to keep my temps up.

I made a few really good beers in a zapap (like form TJOHB.) I used a chest cooler for the mash-tun. Pouring it into the lauder-tun proved to be problematic.

You might want to do a search for "brew in a bag." It's a relatively new technique using a huge bag made of polyester curtain material. Because the mesh is so fine, you can grind much finer, and thus retain the efficiency of sparging. Basically you're making a huge tea bag. I've never tried it, but those that have report good results.

mattmcl said:

You might want to do a search for "brew in a bag." It's a relatively new technique using a huge bag made of polyester curtain material. Because the mesh is so fine, you can grind much finer, and thus retain the efficiency of sparging. Basically you're making a huge tea bag. I've never tried it, but those that have report good results.

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used the large grain bag fits in a 5 gallon bottling bucket. I've also used this bag in my zap pap with the plastic false bottom. Seems to help run off and makes it easy to remove spent grains zapap.

Search the web for an article called "Countertop Partial Mashing" from BYO. They use a bag inside a 2-3 gallon drink cooler. Essentially a mini-mash tun. Should be more efficient than pouring the water over the bag.

Even a simple redunking of the grain bag in a separate vessel of hot water would be leaps and bounds more efficient than a no sparge. You can mash in your brew pot as long as you have another moderately sized pot to heat your sparge water up. Pouring water over a grain bag is not even worth doing.