For my first AG batches, I had a couple of efficiency struggles. Every time I brew beer, I try to make changes to my system and methods until I find the one that pleases me the most.
This time around, I bought a barley crusher grain mill, and hope that will resolve the majority of my issues. However, I also think the way I batch sparged may have impacted poor efficiency.
The first time around I tried using a "hybrid" approach where I batch sparged half the amount, and then fly sparged the second half with a bucket with holes. I think I messed that up by draining much faster than sparging.
The next time around I switched to double batch sparging. After mashing and draining, I heated my sparge water to 185~ and mixed it with the grain for about 5 minutes, vorlaufed, and repeated twice. Note, it was a cold day, so during the 5 minutes of mixing I did lose quite a bit of temperature in the grain bed.
So when batch sparging, what is the important factor? Maintaining the temperature as close to 170 as possible while mixing the grain; or simply mixing the grain well?
Sugar is more soluble at higher temps, so does that mean I should just mix really really well for about 1-2 minutes (rather than mix and rest 5-10 min) then begin vorlauf and drain?
Edit: Not trying to start a debate of any kind, simply improve my process through more experienced member's experiences.
This time around, I bought a barley crusher grain mill, and hope that will resolve the majority of my issues. However, I also think the way I batch sparged may have impacted poor efficiency.
The first time around I tried using a "hybrid" approach where I batch sparged half the amount, and then fly sparged the second half with a bucket with holes. I think I messed that up by draining much faster than sparging.
The next time around I switched to double batch sparging. After mashing and draining, I heated my sparge water to 185~ and mixed it with the grain for about 5 minutes, vorlaufed, and repeated twice. Note, it was a cold day, so during the 5 minutes of mixing I did lose quite a bit of temperature in the grain bed.
So when batch sparging, what is the important factor? Maintaining the temperature as close to 170 as possible while mixing the grain; or simply mixing the grain well?
Sugar is more soluble at higher temps, so does that mean I should just mix really really well for about 1-2 minutes (rather than mix and rest 5-10 min) then begin vorlauf and drain?
Edit: Not trying to start a debate of any kind, simply improve my process through more experienced member's experiences.