Thinking of trying a batch sparge.

Does this sound right? Am I missing anything equipment wise (I got the boiling and cooling down I'm worried about the mashing). I feel like I'm forgetting something in my planning.

I'm doing a double batch sparge mainly due to equipment constraints. You will see what I mean below.

10 gallon batch
17.5 pounds of grain
1 10gal mash tun
1 15gal keggle (for wort boil)
1 approx 6.5gal kettle (for heating mash in and sparge water)

• 5.25gal @ 175 looking for 153

• Close the lid wait 60 min

• Drain the wort into my kettle as fast as I can. I figure I get 3gal out with grain absorption

• Add 5.25 gal of 180 sparge water stir and give it 10min to settle

• Drain again. At this point I have 8.25 gallons

• Here is the kicker. It will take a while to heat another 5.25 gallons of water to 180deg. Is this going to hurt anything.

• Add another 5.25 gal of 180 sparge water stir and give it 10min to settle

• Drain again. At this point I should have 13.25 gallons and I'm ready to boil

Is this going to work

That's about how you do it. You probably do not need to heat that second batch sparge water up to 180, though, or you risk getting your grain bed too hot.


TL

TexLaw said:

That's about how you do it. You probably do not need to heat that second batch sparge water up to 180, though, or you risk getting your grain bed too hot.


TL

Click to expand...

Not if he has to wait for the second sparge to heat up. My first sparge is at 195, by the time I drain that into a bucket it cools to 190, perfect. After running that off (10-15) minutes the remaining water has cooled to 175-180f, never went over 168f yet.

TexLaw said:

That's about how you do it. You probably do not need to heat that second batch sparge water up to 180, though, or you risk getting your grain bed too hot.

Click to expand...

So how hot are we talking? 150? I have heard that once you go below 1.010 you should stop sparging anyway. So again how hot? and if I get to 1.010 or below should I just add water to make up the difference? Thanks for the help.

E

You won't get anywhere near 1.010 on that grain bill. No worries.

Thats what I do. Works great for me, use the same temp for both sparges, like Bobby said, no worries about tannins.

As soon as your first sparge volume is in the tun, get the second batch on the burner heating up. Then go and stir and settle. You'd be surprised how little lag time there is, by the time my first sparge is collected, the second is about ready to go in.

you could always just buy another cooler to use as an HLT... It will keep things nice and warm for you during your entire sparge... As for your temp and water calculations, I always factor in my grain temperature as well as my mash tun temp and mash tun dead space...

to the OP, i don't see varloufing (can't spell it) in your batch sparging technique. i'm a believer that it's definately a neccessary step to ensure that you have clear wort being drained in the sparge, and help efficiency some.

You are going to have fun. If you are not crushing your own grains, I recommend doing a 90-120 minute mash.

Long? Yes. But, it will ensure that you get the most out of your grain.

Heck I still do 90-120 minute mashes even though I crush my own.

You can use my directions in my handle if you like. Good Luck!