Fly Sparge - Batch Sparge - No Sparge

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

epp200

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Location
Chicago
I am VERY new to AG. I have only one AG under my belt and that one I did was last weekend and I fly sparged. I have been doing a little reading on the 3 topic listed "sparges" and really have not found the answer to the following:

BESIDES time, what is the pro and cons to fly sparging vs. batch sparging vs. no sparging?

This maybe one of those personal preference things but everyone here brings so much experience and are so helpful so I would love to hear what you guys think. Thanks. .............. Cheers! ... Ed
 
Typically the method is chosen by the equipment.

If you've got a mash tun big enough to hold your entire mash fluids and your grain, go for no sparge, it's nice and simple.

Assuming that you don't have enough for 20lbs of grain and 18 gallons of water, then pick a method that suits you.

There are tricks and tips for each method, but they'll all get you there.

Welcome to all grain. The best tip i can give you being new to all grain is don't get too obsessed chasing efficiency. It will drive you nuts. :)
 
You realize this borders on religion for some people, right? Also, that you are not the first person to ask this question.

Fly Sparge VS Batch Sparge: Facts
Batch Sparge vs. Fly Sparge??
Fly Sparging Vs. Batch Sparging

And there are many more threads on this subject. That first link is a pretty good synopis of the pros and cons.

I fly sparge. I do it because I was getting poor efficiency with batch sparging. My efficiency was usually around 70% with batch sparging. I don't know why. Many people report efficiencies up to 90% with batch sparging, but I couldn't seem to get the hang of it. I routinely get 85% efficiency fly sparging.
 
THANKS for the quick replies guys.

@Manoaction: Not set-up for that big of a grain bill. I made my own MLT and HLT with 2 Igloo 10 gallon round coolers.

@billtzk: Yeah I figured some guys on here might have strong opinions on one or the other. THANK YOU for providing those links. I will be checking them now.

Cheers! .... Ed
 
Check the equipment forum sticky on mash tun size.

As I understand it, no sparge and batch sparge need more equipment space. Fly is supposedly the most space effecient.

If you're doing ten gallon batches, I'd reccomend fly sparge.
 
Check the equipment forum sticky on mash tun size.

As I understand it, no sparge and batch sparge need more equipment space. Fly is supposedly the most space effecient.

If you're doing ten gallon batches, I'd reccomend fly sparge.

This is somewhat true, however; no sparge is the only option that requires a larger mash tun space for it to be done by the book. Since everything goes in the tun before you vorlauf and dump you need the extra mash tun space. Batch sparging does not require extra space in your tun, but does require you to have a HLT at temperature to apply the sparge water after you have drained your kettle the first, and then again after your second if you are double batch sparging.

Example for batch sparge; 12 gallon batch you vorlauf and transfer your mash tun to boil kettle, fill with half (if doing a double batch sparge) or all of your sparge water (if doing a single batch sparge... which might require a larger mash tun to accomplish depending on your initial mash thickness), stir and vorlauf and then transfer into kettle. The only difference is if you do a double or single here.

Fly sparging, requires a inch or two of water on top of the grain at all times during the sparge and you measure your kettle volume to know when to stop... or your gravity of runnings if you are worried about over-sparging (which due to efficiency may or may not be more or less than you want in your kettle).

I do a hybrid batch sparge sometimes. This means I am not as worried about my run-off gravity as much as my run-off volume. I do this two ways. 1st, I do a typical batch sparge and dump my first mash run-off into my kettle and completely empty my tun before adding my sparge water (which in a hybrid setup I do until I am a inc or two above my grain bed), stirring and vorlaufing. In a hybrid setup, I know what sparge water I have left in my HLT and start to add that while emptying the sparge from the mash tun. Once I am out of HLT sparge water, the mash tun starts to drop until I am empty (just like you would do for each step in a typical batch sparge). If I am over or under efficiency, it is much easier for me to know where to tweek my software for the next brewday, since my volumes are the same every time.

I agree that you should fret too much about your efficiency. If you get your system down, get repeatable results, then you are well on your way to tweeking things to get to where you want/need to be no matter how you sparge. So, at this point if you got 60% efficiency every time you brew... you know that without making recipe adjustments (or other adjustments) you will get the same results, making it much easier to formulate a recipe based on your system. I would take a repeatable 60% over a fluctuating 75-80% any day!
 
Back
Top