Preferred Sparging Method

CTownBrewer said:

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of going with #2 if the second 1/2 sparge water temp isn't a huge concern. Is there a need to vorlauf after the grain bed settles each time or do you just drain your runnings & move on?

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CTownBrewer said:

I'm gearing up to brew my first all grain batch in a couple weeks & feel like I have the process down, except for sparging. I've read about 3 different methods & I'm not sure which is most effective for my set up. I have my boil kettle doubling as a HLT during the mash/sparge, 10 gallon converted rubbermaid cooler for my mash tun, & an extra ale pail to collect my runnings in.

1) After draining first runnings leaving about 1" water over grain bed, gently pour sparge water a few quarts at a time on a lid to disperse evenly without compacting grain bed. Continue adding sparge water & draining slowly until you reach pre-boil volume leaving 1" water above grain bed at all times during process.

2) Add 1/2 sparge water slowly & mix gently. Let grain bed settle out. Vorlauf. Slowly drain first 1/2 sparge water into pail. Repeat with second 1/2 sparge water until pre-boil volume is reached.

3) Add all sparge water slowly & mix gently. Let grain bed settle out. Drain slowly until pre-boil volume is reached.

It seems like you'd need to continuously monitor the temp of the remaining sparge water constantly for methods 1 & 2 so you're always adding 170-180 F sparge water. Plus for method 1, you'd need a way to transfer the sparge water without disturbing the grain bed so you don't get a stuck sparge. I guess using a pitcher would be easiest. Method 3 seems simplest, but I'm guessing your efficiency suffers a bit.

What would you guys suggest?

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Bobby_M said:

I think you're picking up on a few different techniques and kind of assembling hybrids so I'm going to address each of them and tell you what I think you're describing.

1. I THINK this is your idea of a fly sparge but there are a few issues. First, in a fly sparge, you don't drain first runnings before sparging. You vorlauf, then start sparging. In many cases, this requires you to run sparge in until you get a decent foundation of 2" of sparge water over the grainbed before you start running the wort off. Of course, manual addition of sparge water over the course of a 40 minute sparge is tedious. I'd recommend orienting your vessels to make use of gravity.

2. This is a variant of batch sparging where you attempt to make the volume of both runoffs approximately equal. The thing is, without figuring out the approximate wort available in the original mash "half the sparge" isn't necessarily going to get you there. It may actually be 1/3rd of the sparge. Instead of adding confusion here, just skip this for now.

3. This is a variant of a no sparge since you reach a state where the mash tun is holding the entire volume of wort at the same time. While this might be the easiest method you can think of, it's an efficiency hit that you can avoid.

4. Try this. At the end of your mash, collect a gallon of runoff into a pitcher and pour back over the grain bed to clarify the runoff (vorlauf). After that, drain the entire tun into your bucket. See how much you collected. Subract that amount from 6.5 gallons and THAT is how much sparge water you need. Add that volume of sparge water to the tun at about 185F, stir the hell out of it (not gently), vorlauf again, then drain that into your pot (not slowly). Add the wort from the bucket and start your boil.

This is a single batch sparge. The only true difference between this and your #2 method is that no particular attention is being paid to the relative percentage of runoff volumes. Attention here is worth a small amount of lauter efficiency but skip it for your sanity's sake for now.

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CTownBrewer said:

I've done 5 gallon extract boils on my stovetop & usually boil off about 10%. Since this is the first time using a propane burner, the boil should be a little more vigorous resulting in a higher boil off rate. I'm estimating around 15% for 60 minutes. The surface area of my pot isn't that big either...guessing about 14-15 inch diameter.

I've been using BrewPal to create recipes, so I have an idea of how much sparge water I'll need, but it's hard to know for sure since I haven't used the new all grain set-up before.

Luckily, I'm attempting my first all grain batch on a recipe my SWMBO wanted me to brew for a raspberry brown. Her palette for beer isn't the best (she's more of a wino) & I'm not a huge fan of fruit beers, so if something goes wrong that hurts my efficiency I won't be too devastated on this one.

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