Bamsdealer
Well-Known Member
So, I've done quite a few all grain brews so far. My typical brew day is a single infusion mash then fly sparge with 185-190 degree water in a 10 gal cooler MLT with false bottom. I'm consistently getting about 75% efficiency. My first few beers I did my sparge with 170 degree water and my gravities were finishing where I thought they should.
I slowly started increasing the water temp as I brewed more beer to have the finished grain bed hit 168-170 degrees, hence the 190 degree water. Well, I noticed that since I've been doing this, my FGs were finishing a little higher despite better yeast practices. My reasoning is that I'm my unconverted grains are resting at progressively warmer temps resulting in a fuller final product. Would a longer mash cure this?
I could add another infusion of boiling water to mashout then sparge with 170 degree water. This seems to be pretty common, but would add another step to my day.
Is there much downside to going the other way and just sparging with water the same temp as my mash? I'm thinking this should keep the FG where I want it. I've never had issues collecting first runnings from my MLT so I'm not sure the warmer sparge water is even necessary.
I slowly started increasing the water temp as I brewed more beer to have the finished grain bed hit 168-170 degrees, hence the 190 degree water. Well, I noticed that since I've been doing this, my FGs were finishing a little higher despite better yeast practices. My reasoning is that I'm my unconverted grains are resting at progressively warmer temps resulting in a fuller final product. Would a longer mash cure this?
I could add another infusion of boiling water to mashout then sparge with 170 degree water. This seems to be pretty common, but would add another step to my day.
Is there much downside to going the other way and just sparging with water the same temp as my mash? I'm thinking this should keep the FG where I want it. I've never had issues collecting first runnings from my MLT so I'm not sure the warmer sparge water is even necessary.