Continuous sparging?

So I was reading today on How to Brew about the types of sparging and in there he explains continuous sparging. I think this is what I did with my last AG brew. Basically I drained the MT out, the poured sparge water in (about 185) in until it went above the grainbed. I started to drain and replaced water as it drained out. I did this until all my sparge water was gone. Is this continous sparging, or am I misunderstanding it? Palmer says it can get you better efficiency sometimes, and on that particular brew I hit 83% efficiency according to brewsmith. So I am wondering whether to keep doing this or just stick with batch sparging?

Thanks!

Dan

Or it's called fly sparging, do some searching around here and you will find a bunch of threads on here. and it is a popular concensus that you do get better efficiency.

Cheers

Are you saying you ran off the wort from your mash, filled the tun back up, and then started continuously sparging?

That would be a batch sparge followed by fly sparging which isn't a common technique as far as I know. For continuous or fly-sparging there is no need to drain the tun off completely and then fill it back up...just start running off and keep the water level above the grainbed.

wop31 said:

Or it's called fly sparging, do some searching around here and you will find a bunch of threads on here. and it is a popular concensus that you do get better efficiency.

Cheers

Click to expand...

OK so continuous and fly are the same thing. It's weird as he says not to worry about sparge arms in it.
From "How to Brew"
"Continuous Sparging usually results in better extractions. The wort is re-circulated and drained until about an inch of wort remains above the grain bed. The sparge water is gently added, as necessary, to keep the fluid at least at that level. The goal is to gradually replace the wort with the water, stopping the sparge when the gravity is 1.008 or when enough wort has been collected, whichever comes first. This method demands more attention by the brewer, but can produce a higher yield."

It has me all mixed up.


Dan

Baron von BeeGee said:

Are you saying you ran off the wort from your mash, filled the tun back up, and then started continuously sparging?

That would be a batch sparge followed by fly sparging which isn't a common technique as far as I know. For continuous or fly-sparging there is no need to drain the tun off completely and then fill it back up...just start running off and keep the water level above the grainbed.

Click to expand...

I drained and then added sparge water until it rose above the grainbed (took about 30 seconds) and then started to drain and added sparge water to keep the level above the bed. The reason I ask is basically because my first AG batch just doesn't taste like anything..and I'm trying to figure out if this was the problem.


Dan

Willsellout said:

The wort is re-circulated and drained until about an inch of wort remains above the grain bed. The sparge water is gently added, as necessary, to keep the fluid at least at that level. The goal is to gradually replace the wort with the water, stopping the sparge when the gravity is 1.008 or when enough wort has been collected, whichever comes first. This method demands more attention by the brewer, but can produce a higher yield.

Click to expand...

Well that is because he is talking about a recirculating mash and then fly sparging. you will need a pump to do a recirculating mash. The way you did it sounds alright to me, next time don't let the water level drop below the grain bed, not sure if you did or not just sounded like you did to me. when you do that you run a better risk of getting stuck or channeling, unless you are batch sparging. Try to maintain about an inch or so above the grains, you will have to play with the HLT and Mash Tun outputs at the same time in order to get your flow rates down. I belive you want to be draining at about a pint/quart a minute.

cheers

wop31 said:

Well that is because he is talking about a recirculating mash and then fly sparging. you will need a pump to do a recirculating mash. The way you did it sounds alright to me, next time don't let the water level drop below the grain bed, not sure if you did or not just sounded like you did to me. when you do that you run a better risk of getting stuck or channeling, unless you are batch sparging. Try to maintain about an inch or so above the grains, you will have to play with the HLT and Mash Tun outputs at the same time in order to get your flow rates down. I belive you want to be draining at about a pint/quart a minute.

cheers

Click to expand...

I think from now on I will just batch sparge. It seems I didn't understand how it went. I also think I sparged too quickly. I will definitely correct these on my next brew.

thanks for clarification!


Dan

Nice avatar, wop31!

wop31 said:

Or it's called fly sparging, do some searching around here and you will find a bunch of threads on here. and it is a popular concensus that you do get better efficiency.

Click to expand...

I've also seen it written that batch sparging can give you HIGHER efficiency. And in my extremely limited experience (2 batch sparges, ~10 fly), I've found that to be true, though not enough to make me care one way or the other.

I find fly to be less effort, but I use a sparge arm...just set the output and inflow valves, and let it go for 45 minutes. Batch is faster but requires more intervention (add, stir, vorlauf, let it rip; repeat). YMMV, depending on your setup.