Lauter speed

I have a coleman 36qt cooler and have just completed my first all grain beer, Orfy's Hobgoblin, which is in primary now.

I did notice that I could only lauter very slowly, which I think was due the the low diameter fitting I have going through my cooler wall. I have now sorted this and I have a threaded 0.5 inch pipe going through the wall. I tested this with water tonight and liquid now does run through the pipe quicker.

I'm still a little concerned as I have read that the faster you lauter when batch sparging the better, to a point obviously. I was just wondering what the best flow rate is and what kind of flow rate you guys use. Are there any major disadvantages if my lauter rate is a little slow?

Cheers

I've got the 10g Rubbermaid setup, and I usually lauter with the gate fully open. The only time that I didn't was for my pumpkin ale, because of the risk of a stuck sparge. For this one, it was half open.

There's no advantage to lautering quickly it's just that you CAN run it quickly without any problem. That's why I do it.

Just want to add that Batch sparging I dunno, but fly...absolutely makes a huge difference.

Agree 100% but I ignored that caveat because OP specifically mentioned batch sparging. Carry on.

I get better filtering through the grainbed by sparging more slowly so I runoff with the valve 1/3 open. I have a slotted manifold, though; if you are using a false bottom or braid you probably would get good filtering running off at any speed.

Thanks guys. I have just solved the problem. It was such a stupid error in the construction of my copper manifold, I won't go into details for fear of appearing absolutely stupid

The question is still relevant though. I have a slotted copper manifold, so I may benefit from a slightly slower run-off by the sounds of it, but I may try draining quickly and compare results. I'm only 1 AG beer in, so am soaking up information at the moment.

Come to think of it, the braid method would have proved a lot easier for someone of my limited DIY skills, but I had my mind set on the manifold. I understand that there are reports of good efficiency results with both designs. They seem as though they would be quite easy to interchange, so I may try making up a ss braid and comparing results.

Cheers

Actually, the stainless braid is the only design I've used that allows any speed runoff without grain bits. When I converted to a false bottom, I found that I had to runoff at the exact speed as my vorlauf. If I slowed or sped it up, I got husks. It makes sense to a degree, look at how small the holes are in a braid.

Adam's Apples said:

f it, the braid method would have proved a lot easier for someone of my limited DIY skills, but I had my mind set on the manifold. I understand that there are reports of good efficiency results with both designs. They seem as though they would be quite easy to interchange, so I may try making up a ss braid and comparing results.

Click to expand...

For batch sparging the two are equivalent, your efficiency is a function of the process more than the equipment. I went with a carefully designed manifold in my tun because I like to fly sparge bigger beers where there isn't enough volume after the 1st runnings to do a reasonable batch sparge.

Quick sparge (fly sparge, I mean) can cause channeling. Water finds channels in grain bed, where it can flaw faster, washing all the time the same grain. This may cause bad efficiency and more astingency in beer.

Other potential problem is grain particles blow-through.

My sparge takes 40-60 min.