Hey batch spargers, do you keep collecting runnings as you boil?

I start my boil asap but runnings continue to drizzle out of my MLT as I boil. I continue to collect that sweet precious maltose and add it to the brewpot as it boils for about 20 minutes into my boil. I figure it is a shame to waste it. How bout you?

I do not, usually on my set up it is only drips very little. Maybe half a cup would come out of it if I let it continue for 20 minutes.

I do feel shamed when I throw out my spent grains that are still packed with wort .

When I reach my needed boil volume I stop collecting wort. Plain and simple.

You can use the extra drippings for yeast starter.

I just collect my pre-boil volume and nothing more

HomebrewMTB said:

You can use the extra drippings for yeast starter.

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I see alot of people recommend this, but my problem is that towards the end of my sparge, my run off SG is around 1.010 or less. A starter should be between 1.030-1.040. Are u adding extract to up the gravity for the starter?

I brew to volume so if I reach a boil and I'm not at volume then I keep lautering. There is no issue with boiling while lautering as long as when you add the hops and start timing the boil you stop lautering.

I know guys who add wort right up to the end of the boil but all you're doing is diluting what you've already collected and not letting the proteins coagulate and precipitate. They're very concerned with collecting every last drop of wort that has been created.

I don't start boiling until I've finished my sparge by hitting my volume. I don't boil right where I mash so it would just make things harder to start before I was done running off wort.

I've read that if your 2nd sparge (or 'fly-sparge runnings' or whatever its called) drops below SG 1.010 then you are extracting tanins. just throwin that out there.

A lot of comments seem to be at odds with the batch sparge process. Batch spargers should be calculating their sparge volume so that the desired preboil gravity is achieved by fully draining the tun. You don't just decide to stop collecting as it has a major impact on your efficiency.

The title of the thread says "hey batch spargers..." so if you fly sparge or don't know the difference, disregard.


Yes, collect those last bits that come out and add them to the boil whenever.

I agree. If your tun keeps flowing for 20 minutes after you have started boiling, you're doing something wrong. I'm lucky if I can get enough for a small starter out of my mash tun after I hit my desired volume.

Agree with Bobby. First running, drain til it stops. Measure what you collected. Add the difference between that and your desired boil volume to the MLT. Drain again.

AnOldUR said:

Agree with Bobby. First running, drain til it stops. Measure what you collected. Add the difference between that and your desired boil volume to the MLT. Drain again.

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+1 How can you still continue to have drippings??

Now, I see nothing wrong with doing one more sparge and collecting that and boiling down to a starter gravity on a separate burner...

Bobby_M said:

A lot of comments seem to be at odds with the batch sparge process. Batch spargers should be calculating their sparge volume so that the desired preboil gravity is achieved by fully draining the tun. You don't just decide to stop collecting as it has a major impact on your efficiency.

The title of the thread says "hey batch spargers..." so if you fly sparge or don't know the difference, disregard.

Yes, collect those last bits that come out and add them to the boil whenever.

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It may affect my efficiency, but it also affects how much more water I have to boil off. That increases my propane expenditures. My grain is cheaper than my propane costs.

I wish we'd get those fusion reactors going so we could all switch over to electric and not worry about energy costs anymore.

I'm not arguing for or against larger preboil volumes. I'm saying that in the batch sparge process, you determine what volume you want preboil and sparge the appropriate amount to achieve it. In that way, you boil all your runnings and there is no question regarding when to stop collecting. In other words, "when to stop collecting" is a fly sparging question. "What should my preboil volume be" is a universal question.

A little off topic, but how does one store the wort boiled down for a starter? Throw it in the freezer?

What Bobby_M is saying.

I didn't pay attention to the OP question. I don't really batch sparge or fly sparge anyway, I'm "flatch" sparging. LOL

soup67 said:

A little off topic, but how does one store the wort boiled down for a starter? Throw it in the freezer?

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People typically can it.

Like the OP, I batch sparge and usually also start heating the kettle during the sparge. The run off slows down to barely a trickle. I move the tun to the side and keep the valve open. Midway into the boil, i have a couple of cups of wort that has drained from the tun. I have checked the gravity on it and it has been greater than 1.010. If it is I usually just toss it in to the boil.

Homercidal said:

+1 How can you still continue to have drippings??

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Yeah I don't get this either. Beersmith tells me how much water to put in and how much I will get out. It factors grain absorption and deadspace under my braid. When my sparge stops emptying I get the pre-boil volume I was shooting for which usually is 6.5 gallons.

Revvy said:

Yeah I don't get this either. Beersmith tells me how much water to put in and how much I will get out. It factors grain absorption and deadspace under my braid. When my sparge stops emptying I get the pre-boil volume I was shooting for which usually is 6.5 gallons.

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Well at least in my system, even though I get my expected pre-boil volume, I will prop a shoe in the back to tilt the MLT a bit, and stick a bucket under the spigot and let it continue to drain. And it does. Not much, usually a quart or so, but that is a quart of rather sweet wort usually and I just throw it in the boil with the rest. It has no tangible effect on my final volume (within the margin of error that I can measure accurately), but it does seem to make a moderate difference in my OG, maybe a point or two.

The main reason I let it continue dripping out is because that then makes it easier for me to clean out the MLT and get it ready for being reused later on in my brewing process.

I drain into a direct fired kettle to get the first mash runnings above mashout temp, but I have the flame on low to avoid boiling until the last of the 2nd batch sparge is done. Then I crank the heat to start boiling.

I've started heating the first running while waiting on the some of the second running to cut some time out of the process, may save me 10 or 15 minutes.

Worth it? Not sure. Does it hurt? Not that I can tell.

I usually have about a quart leftover if I let the MLT sit for long enough. I few times I have boiled it for about 20 minutes on the stovetop inside while the full boil is going on in the garage. I then chill it and pour it into my starter after decanting, and I put it on a stir plate. It gets the yeast started for an hour or so before I pitch it into the full wort. It doesn't take any extra time since it's all going on during the boil anyway.