Quick sparge question

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milnea

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I'm new here and just started all grain. I tried brewing honey ale the other day. I was having trouble with the sparge--wort that was cloudy and filled with particles. From what I've read on here that's a problem. I did indeed take a few cups of wort from the mash tun and feed it back into the mash, pouring it over a double layer of tinfoil with holes. Seemed to get a little better but not much.

I'm using the DIY mash tun, 10 gal cooler etc, that I found here. There are two things I suspect. 1) I used only 8 lbs of grain, so it is possible there was not a sufficiently weighty and dense mash column above the SS hose to plug all the holes. 2) The mash tun was at an angle. Stupid, I know. I was being a little hasty and my basement doesn't have too many angles.

Thank you for any help,

-Alex
 
I usually try to vorlaugh the mash and sparge to get cleaner runnings and to set the grain bed. I typically end up doing at least a few quarts (I have quart, and gallon, measure cups) at each step. But, I still find grain particles getting through the manifold (I use Bazooka screens). So, I've started placing a large nylon grain bag in the kettle before draining the mash tun and letting it filter through that. It catches everything the screen misses. Since I already had the grain bags, it didn't cost me anything extra (leftover from my BIAB days)...

I've been using either a 10 gallon RubberMaid cooler mash tun, or a 70qt Coleman Xtreme converted cooler to mash in. BUT, I'll be converting a keg into a mash tun next Saturday (got the parts ordered from NorCal today) and plan to use that for my next batch. I'll probably use one of the coolers for a HLT, at least for now. At least until I move and have the space to setup a proper brewing stand, with a couple/few burners on it. Since I have a pump (still setting that up too) transfers will no longer depend on gravity.

You might want to just get a nylon bag that will fit in your kettle to filter the grain. You can also use a nylon hop bag to filter if you want.

The mash tune being at an angle should only impact how much wort you collect from it (IMO)... You want the SS hose to filter the grain/wort, so the holes should be small enough to not be plugged up, but large enough to allow good wort flow.

Another option would/could be to remove the screen, for now, and use the nylon bag inside the cooler mash tun. I'm sure there are plenty of people here (I recall reading posts stating it) that use that method inside the cooler mash tuns. Basically, use what works best for you.
 
Alright, thanks. This is helpful. I have a hop bag, I'll just slide that over spigot.

-Alex


I usually try to vorlaugh the mash and sparge to get cleaner runnings and to set the grain bed. I typically end up doing at least a few quarts (I have quart, and gallon, measure cups) at each step. But, I still find grain particles getting through the manifold (I use Bazooka screens). So, I've started placing a large nylon grain bag in the kettle before draining the mash tun and letting it filter through that. It catches everything the screen misses. Since I already had the grain bags, it didn't cost me anything extra (leftover from my BIAB days)...

I've been using either a 10 gallon RubberMaid cooler mash tun, or a 70qt Coleman Xtreme converted cooler to mash in. BUT, I'll be converting a keg into a mash tun next Saturday (got the parts ordered from NorCal today) and plan to use that for my next batch. I'll probably use one of the coolers for a HLT, at least for now. At least until I move and have the space to setup a proper brewing stand, with a couple/few burners on it. Since I have a pump (still setting that up too) transfers will no longer depend on gravity.

You might want to just get a nylon bag that will fit in your kettle to filter the grain. You can also use a nylon hop bag to filter if you want.

The mash tune being at an angle should only impact how much wort you collect from it (IMO)... You want the SS hose to filter the grain/wort, so the holes should be small enough to not be plugged up, but large enough to allow good wort flow.

Another option would/could be to remove the screen, for now, and use the nylon bag inside the cooler mash tun. I'm sure there are plenty of people here (I recall reading posts stating it) that use that method inside the cooler mash tuns. Basically, use what works best for you.
 
I would put it at the end of the tubing you're running the wort through from the mash tun into the kettle... That's what I've done before, with good results. Although I only did that once before going to the large bag inside the kettle... That way you can let the tube rest while you do what you need to for the next step... Once the mash tun has been drained, and I'm not processing the grain any longer, I simply put the nylon bag in there for cleaning later.
 
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