My sparging was all messed up!

Out of Whack!

I am brewing an Orange Blonde. The extraction got a little messed up.

I hit it with 168 deg water, which settled to 158. I used 12.8 quarts, then used 7.5 qts and added that for the last 10 mins which was at 168. I only ended up with 4.5 gallons and the boil volume needs to be 6.5 gal. I had a total of 10.25 lbs of grain.

Should I hit it at a higher or lower temp?

How was your OG? Really, what we are usually shooting for after the mash and boil is a combination of a certain volume of wort with a certain original gravity.

If you look up a member here, Bobby M, he has a very helpful website on how to do all-grain mashes. The link is in his signature, I think.

Here's a summary of what I do:

1. Use Beersmith to figure out what my mash water should be, both temperature and volume. Mash.

2. Heat the sparge water up to around 170 towards the end of the mash.

3. Vorlauf and run off the mash.

4. Fill up my mash tun (a five gallon cooler) with 170 or so degree sparge water. Stir, vorlauf and drain. Add to wort on the heat.

5. Check on the volume of wort I have at this point, see approximately how much more I need for my pre-boil volume.

6. Do a second sparge, with approximately the volume of water needed to get the wort to the right pre-boil volume. Stir, vorlauf, and drain.

I count on 75% efficiency and usually come pretty close to the volume and original gravity I was shooting for.

JOHN51277 said:

Out of Whack!

Should I hit it at a higher or lower temp?

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I don't think mash temp will impact your pre-boil volume. Others can correct me if I'm mistaken

Your mash temp will affect the ways sugars are extracted from the grain. Generally, if you want more non-fermentables and a higher final gravity (sweeter, fuller-bodied, etc.), use a higher mash temp. If you want a drier, thinner, crisper beer with a lower final gravity, use a lower mash temp.

158 is a high mash temperature. For most of my beers, I used mash temps ranging from 149 to 156.

Cheers!

I know that my mash temp should be lower. What I am looking for is, is it better for how I messed up and hit it 2 times with sparge water, to use hotter, or cooler water than the actual mash temp?

JOHN51277 said:

I know that my mash temp should be lower. What I am looking for is, is it better for how I messed up and hit it 2 times with sparge water, to use hotter, or cooler water than the actual mash temp?

Click to expand...

Your sparge water should be hotter than your mash water. 170-180 degrees will be fine. You are trying to stop the enzyme process that happens during mashing and at the same time rinsing off sugars that are still on the grains.

Thanks Pappers!!