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DirtyHaus · 11-19-2012, 08:55 PM

I started off brewing all grain using traditional batch sparge techniques but have been experimenting with full volume mashing as well.

I'm wondering.... why not somewhat blend the two techniques and would it actually work?

So here's my theory (for what it's worth):

1. Use the common 1.25 quarts per pound of grain in the mash

2. Instead of a second infusion add the rest of the water needed for preboil volume at the end of the mash to bring temp to 170 for mashout. no second infusion...

How would this differ from a full volume mash? I figure this should yield better results than a full volume mash since the water\grist ratio is more ideal. Could this turn out higher efficiency? maybe somewhere in between what i would get with batch sparge\full volume?

My mash tun can fit all the water as long as my grain bill is kept under 10 pounds for a 5 gallon batch which is fine with me. I'm going to try it anyways but was hoping somebody out here has been down this road and can provide some insight.

Thanks everyone

duboman · 11-19-2012, 08:58 PM

As long as you can fit all sparge water in the tun at the same time there is no need to do two steps. In addition, it is important to be sure your Ph is within proper range and not to use water in excess of 170. If Ph is high and water is too hot there is a possibility of extracting tannins and creating astringency issues

**pgrebus** · 11-19-2012, 09:00 PM

I think what you're describing is a mash out - rather than drain the wort, add sparge water, then drain again, you add the mash out water - to bring the temp of the mash to 170, then drain the wort.

I believe that BYO did a comparison of the two techniques, and found very little difference.

Pete

nickelmcgee · 11-19-2012, 09:06 PM

If I understand the question you want to add the sparge water in on top of the mash water mix it up and drain it all to the kettle for your boil, hitting the correct volume and gravity?

Your efficiencies will drop dramatically. Batch sparging is a game of dilution. Taking the high gravity wort left behind in grain and diluting it with fresh sparge water. Draining this sparge leaves behind wort (in the grain) that is at a much lower gravity. Doing it twice or three times continues to lower gravity of the wort left in the grain. If you mix in the sparge with the first runnings, the wort left in the grain will be much higher this will directly impact efficiency of sugar extraction.

**AnOldUR** · 11-19-2012, 09:07 PM

per Denny Conn

Quote:

No Sparge Brewing

As described by John Palmer in his BYO article “Skip the Sparge” (May-June 2003), a no sparge brew has the entire volume of “sparge” water added to the mash and stirred in before any runoff has taken place. Even though additional water has been added, since it’s been added to the mash before runoff has begun, we can more properly think of it as a mash infusion, rather than a sparge addition...hence the name “no-sparge”. This method is the easiest way to mash, but at the expense of poor extraction, typically 50%. The advantage, though, is that because all the sugar from the mash is in solution from the agitation of adding the water, lauter design has minimal effect.