Draining/Sparging

So I'm going to be constructing a simple mash/lauter tun out of a 3 gallon rubbermaid cooler like RichBrewer outlined in a thread for partial mashes. I've read a lot about all-grain a few books and here (didn't realize that all-grain would actually be as simple of a process as it sounds). Anyway, I'm not going to build an all-grain set up simply because I don't have the room. One question I just want to run by someone and get an 'OK'.

After my mash is complete: (batch sparging)
1) Begin draining wort and recirculate until clear; draining all liquid from mash tun into boil pot
2) Close valve, add sparge water, stir water and grains, let sit ~10 mins, repeat step 1

And if I want I can spilt the sparge water into two equal parts and perform two batch sparges.

Also since I'm only going to be doing partial mashes and boiling smaller volumes (~3.5 gals) should I refrain from splitting the batch sparges into two equal sparges because I might not have enough water for each sparge or should I be ok?

Thanks!

Justin

I've only done all-grain and I fly sparge, so I can't really answer your question from experience about splitting your small amount of batch sparge water. I would guess however that splitting it would be perfectly OK.

If you're going through all the trouble doing mini-mashes, it seems like taking the step to all-grain is a small one and the impact on space/cost is very small. Just a thought.

Cheers!

I too fly sparge. Why not just make them out of 5 gallon coolers? That way you could do all grain if you want...

As I said in my last post on the thread you got this from, I would not go that intermediate step. I would stick with steeping because you are not going to increase fermentables a significant amount even if a little base grains are added. Much better to concentrate on late extract additions and full boils and other techniques to improve flavor and body.

However, if you must. I would certainly not bother batch sparging in this case. I would do a simple fly sparge and on that much grain, it wouldn't take long.

My method when I did partial mashes was to put my grain bag in a large coliander and rinse the grains slowly with 170° water.

True enough.....I mean all I'd need to do is get a bigger cooler (5 gallon maybe?) to make my mash/lauter tun, a turkey fryer with a nice big pot and probably a wort chiller. It's tempting.....maybe I should think about it a little more before. I guess the up front cost is there, but each batch would be a good deal cheaper I believe.
EDIT: The only thing is to convince SWMBO to spend the cash......I guess the cheaper batches and being in the garage would be a good selling point, although she doesn't mind the brewing in the kitchen. Maybe I should just do it.

True enough.....I mean all I'd need to do is get a bigger cooler (5 gallon maybe?) to make my mash/lauter tun, a turkey fryer with a nice big pot and probably a wort chiller. It's tempting.....maybe I should think about it a little more before. I guess the up front cost is there, but each batch would be a good deal cheaper I believe.

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I wouldn't think going all grain is much cheaper. Not enough to pay out for a long time unless you brew a lot of beer.

Before I went all grain, I already had a turkey fryer and I bought a 32 qt stainless pot and a wort chiller. My first and best step to improve my beer was go full boil with late extract addition. The hops have to be reduced by 50% in most cases on the bittering side because of better utilization - free calculator on the web. This technique is a major step in the right direction. If you are going to mash your partial grains and not go full boil and late extract addition, you will be going through a lot of trouble for little or no gain. Full boil with late extract addition is a significant gain with little trouble and very little more expense.

If you are thinking about going all grain you can build a lot of your stuff to save money..

For example my 50' copper wort chiller cost me about $40 and 10 minutes to make..

uwmgdman said:

True enough.....I mean all I'd need to do is get a bigger cooler (5 gallon maybe?) to make my mash/lauter tun, a turkey fryer with a nice big pot and probably a wort chiller. It's tempting.....maybe I should think about it a little more before. I guess the up front cost is there, but each batch would be a good deal cheaper I believe.
EDIT: The only thing is to convince SWMBO to spend the cash......I guess the cheaper batches and being in the garage would be a good selling point, although she doesn't mind the brewing in the kitchen. Maybe I should just do it.

Click to expand...

go for it! After 6 hours labouring on a partial mash only to add some dme to the boil afterwards youll eventually go all grain anyways. The best thing about all grain for me is that i dont have to bother with extract. To me that alone is worth it.
You might want to get a 10 gallon cooler though. Thats what ive got and im not limited in anyway as far as space is concerned. ( i could mash a buttload in there, and add as many infusions as i like) Im sure the 5 gallons work fine, but i was looking at one the other day and they seem so puny to my 10 gallon.

I'm thinking of upgrading to either a 10 gallon or a rectangle cooler..

Only reason I didn't get the 10 gallon to start with is the cost..

5 gallon coolers are $18 10 gallons are $49 :\

I got a 9 gallon coleman extreme at REI for $28.00 and it has a well for the drain. Makes it real nice to get almost every drop of wort out of the cooler.

uwmgdman said:

After my mash is complete: (batch sparging)
1) Begin draining wort and recirculate until clear; draining all liquid from mash tun into boil pot
2) Close valve, add sparge water, stir water and grains, let sit ~10 mins, repeat step 1

And if I want I can spilt the sparge water into two equal parts and perform two batch sparges.

Also since I'm only going to be doing partial mashes and boiling smaller volumes (~3.5 gals) should I refrain from splitting the batch sparges into two equal sparges because I might not have enough water for each sparge or should I be ok?

Thanks!

Justin

Click to expand...

Take another look at this post:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10214
I had pretty good luck adding about half of the sparge water (almost boiling) to the mash, recirculating to clarify the wort, and draining the tun into the brew pot. Add the rest of the sparge, stir, recirculate again then drain the remainder into the brew pot

Sephro said:

I'm thinking of upgrading to either a 10 gallon or a rectangle cooler..

Only reason I didn't get the 10 gallon to start with is the cost..

5 gallon coolers are $18 10 gallons are $49 :\

Click to expand...

Then you essentially wasted $18, since after you upgrade you're left with an 18 dollar cooler that'll never get used again. Don't mess around get the big cooler right away. You can always use a big cooler for small batches , but you can't use a small cooler for big batches.

Prowler 13 said:

I wouldn't think going all grain is much cheaper. Not enough to pay out for a long time unless you brew a lot of beer.

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I spent about $400 on extra equipment for all grain over a period of about 10 years. I brew a 5g batch every two to three weeks. Each batch saves me about $10 (buying in bulk). That takes 40 batches to recover the cost of the equipment.

By my calculations, I've saved about $1,600 over the past 10 years.:rockin:

The down-side is if I charge for my time at the rate I get paid, it has cost me an extra $50,000.

I don't think I'll quit my day job to become a professional brewer.

-a.