FlyingSailor
Active Member
In reading through "How to Brew" by John Palmer, he references three different types of sparge techniques. From Ch 17 I quote:
"In the English method of sparging, the wort is completely drained from the grain bed before more water is added for a second mash and drained again. These worts are then combined. Alternatively, the first and second runnings are often used to make separate beers. The second running is lighter in gravity and was traditionally used for making a Small Beer, a lighter bodied, low alcohol beer suitable for high volume quaffing at mealtimes.
Batch Sparging is a U.S. homebrewing practice where the full volume of sparge water is mixed into the mash. The grain bed is allowed to settle, and then the wort is drained off. The re-circulation step in this process takes place in the first minutes of the sparge. You can use more than one batch of water if you need to. This method differs from the English method in that the mash is not held for any significant time at the saccharification temperature before draining."
To me, it sounds like he is describing something different from the batch sparge that most AG brewers use today, as I understand it. It would seem like most people that "batch" sparge are actually using the English method, whereas a true batch sparge would have you dump all your sparge water into your MLT along with your original strike water and lauter from there. Am I taking crazy pills here or something?
"In the English method of sparging, the wort is completely drained from the grain bed before more water is added for a second mash and drained again. These worts are then combined. Alternatively, the first and second runnings are often used to make separate beers. The second running is lighter in gravity and was traditionally used for making a Small Beer, a lighter bodied, low alcohol beer suitable for high volume quaffing at mealtimes.
Batch Sparging is a U.S. homebrewing practice where the full volume of sparge water is mixed into the mash. The grain bed is allowed to settle, and then the wort is drained off. The re-circulation step in this process takes place in the first minutes of the sparge. You can use more than one batch of water if you need to. This method differs from the English method in that the mash is not held for any significant time at the saccharification temperature before draining."
To me, it sounds like he is describing something different from the batch sparge that most AG brewers use today, as I understand it. It would seem like most people that "batch" sparge are actually using the English method, whereas a true batch sparge would have you dump all your sparge water into your MLT along with your original strike water and lauter from there. Am I taking crazy pills here or something?