FlyGuy
Well-Known Member
It is relatively common knowledge that extract efficiency in batch sparging is highly dependent on the volume of sparge water used in the brew. For high gravity recipes, the volume of grain is so great that a large volume of water is needed to mash the grains, and only a small volume of sparge water is needed to reach the target pre-boil volume. Unless one is willing to boil longer and evaporate extra water out of the wort, this is a potential problem because there is less water available to pull sugars out of the mash on the batch sparge(s).
Another potential problem with batch sparging a high gravity brew is that the grainbill is so large it might fill the mash tun. This is a big problem for batch spargers because some extra room is required to accommodate sparge water. If room is not available, many sequential batch sparges become necessary, taking considerable extra time and negating one of the biggest benefits of batch sparging.
After reading Biermunchers article on Hybrid Fly Sparging as well as the subsequent discussion, I realized that some of the ideas here could be used to alleviate the issues (above) that are encountered when batch sparging high gravity brews. Here is the method I propose -- perhaps it is not a new idea, but I certainly havent seen it discussed much.
My proposed hybrid batch sparge technique is a two-step process. First, once the mash rests are completed, the mash is vorlaufed and drained quickly as per a normal batch sparge. Heating the mash and/or a mash-out infusion may also be used prior to draining the grainbed to increase sugar solubility and facilitate lautering.
In the second step, sparge water is added to the grainbed and the entire grainbed is stirred and vorlaufed, as one would normally do when batch sparging. But here comes the hybrid part. Instead of simply draining and repeating the batch sparge process two or three times (or more, if you have a REALLY full mash tun), continually add sparge water evenly to the top of the grainbed as wort drains out the tun (aka fly sparging). The advantage here over traditional batch sparging is that you avoid the time and effort associated with adding water, vorlaufing, and draining. Instead, use the set and forget method of fly spargers until you have collected enough additional runnings to reach your boil volume. If all goes well, the extract efficiency of the fly sparge (as opposed to multiple batch sparges) should be higher also.
Could this method be used for low to moderate gravity brews? Yes, it could, but I dont think it would have any substantive advantages over a traditional batch sparge. It might result in a small increase in extract efficiency, but this benefit would be outweighed by the added cost of extra time and effort (sort of the worst of both worlds of batch and fly sparging).
Is this method going to be better than just plain old fly sparging? In theory, it should still be quicker than a fly sparge because the entire first runnings were just drained quickly. One could probably also sparge the mash very quickly using this method since we know the sugar concentration from the large grainbill is going to be high (i.e. a slow continuous sparge isnt really necessary in this particular situation since there is so much to easily rinse out of solution). So speeding up the process probably wont result in a big hit on efficiency, as it might with a lower gravity brew. So this method won't be as efficient as fly sparging, but it should take considerably less time and still have very good efficiency.
Anyways, I havent entirely thought this idea through yet. But I will try it on my next brew (I hope to do an I2PA or a RIS or something). Any comments or criticisms to help me work through this idea would be appreciated!
Another potential problem with batch sparging a high gravity brew is that the grainbill is so large it might fill the mash tun. This is a big problem for batch spargers because some extra room is required to accommodate sparge water. If room is not available, many sequential batch sparges become necessary, taking considerable extra time and negating one of the biggest benefits of batch sparging.
After reading Biermunchers article on Hybrid Fly Sparging as well as the subsequent discussion, I realized that some of the ideas here could be used to alleviate the issues (above) that are encountered when batch sparging high gravity brews. Here is the method I propose -- perhaps it is not a new idea, but I certainly havent seen it discussed much.
My proposed hybrid batch sparge technique is a two-step process. First, once the mash rests are completed, the mash is vorlaufed and drained quickly as per a normal batch sparge. Heating the mash and/or a mash-out infusion may also be used prior to draining the grainbed to increase sugar solubility and facilitate lautering.
In the second step, sparge water is added to the grainbed and the entire grainbed is stirred and vorlaufed, as one would normally do when batch sparging. But here comes the hybrid part. Instead of simply draining and repeating the batch sparge process two or three times (or more, if you have a REALLY full mash tun), continually add sparge water evenly to the top of the grainbed as wort drains out the tun (aka fly sparging). The advantage here over traditional batch sparging is that you avoid the time and effort associated with adding water, vorlaufing, and draining. Instead, use the set and forget method of fly spargers until you have collected enough additional runnings to reach your boil volume. If all goes well, the extract efficiency of the fly sparge (as opposed to multiple batch sparges) should be higher also.
Could this method be used for low to moderate gravity brews? Yes, it could, but I dont think it would have any substantive advantages over a traditional batch sparge. It might result in a small increase in extract efficiency, but this benefit would be outweighed by the added cost of extra time and effort (sort of the worst of both worlds of batch and fly sparging).
Is this method going to be better than just plain old fly sparging? In theory, it should still be quicker than a fly sparge because the entire first runnings were just drained quickly. One could probably also sparge the mash very quickly using this method since we know the sugar concentration from the large grainbill is going to be high (i.e. a slow continuous sparge isnt really necessary in this particular situation since there is so much to easily rinse out of solution). So speeding up the process probably wont result in a big hit on efficiency, as it might with a lower gravity brew. So this method won't be as efficient as fly sparging, but it should take considerably less time and still have very good efficiency.
Anyways, I havent entirely thought this idea through yet. But I will try it on my next brew (I hope to do an I2PA or a RIS or something). Any comments or criticisms to help me work through this idea would be appreciated!
