Batch sparging questions

I'm thinking I may be able to assemble a bargain AG system soon. It looks to me like batch sparging makes for a little simpler setup than fly sparging--less need to hold the sparge water at a certain temperature for a long period of time and less need to worry about the pH of the sparge water.

So the basic procedure is to sparge w/ about half the anticipated sparge water, recirculate, run off the entire tun, then repeat w/ the other half of the sparge water, correct?

Other than perhaps a bit less efficiency, are there other significant disadvantages to bacth sparging? Grain is pretty cheap, so I'm thinking a little less efficiency is not a big problem if it keeps things simpler (and cheaper).

I haven't run into anything I'd call a major disadvantage. I've been getting efficiency in the 70-75% range pretty consistently as well.

I batch sparge exactly as you describe and haven't run across any real problems. I like it because I don't have to lift the hot water to a tank above the mash tun nor it any monitoring required. I give each batch about 10 minutes and stir gently. I use pH 5.2 in the sparge water as well as the mash water and don't have problems with efficiency or tannins.

Another thing I like, is because I'm draining the first run completely, I can start heating the wort immediately.

I sparged with a watering can rose, but found it a bit awkward and time consuming. I think I am going to try the batch sparging method next time (seems like a lot less hassle).

I like it because it's fast. My time is worth a lot more than a few efficiency points and the pound of grain it takes to make up for them (to me, anyways).

There are no disadvantages. You can acheive the same efficiencies, but obviously it will take some time to figure out how to do that with your system.

My first time I got an eff of 67%, after that I haven't dropped below 78%, and one time I had 81%.

Baron von BeeGee said:

I like it because it's fast. My time is worth a lot more than a few efficiency points and the pound of grain it takes to make up for them (to me, anyways).

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Yes--this is one of my concerns about the AG process is the increased brewing time.

Is it really true that you empty the lauter tun quickly in batch sparging? (Rather than restricting the flow, as in fly sparging.) That seems like a big selling point to me.

cweston said:

Is it really true that you empty the lauter tun quickly in batch sparging? (Rather than restricting the flow, as in fly sparging.) That seems like a big selling point to me.

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Yep, you just let it rip. There's no advantage to draining slowly because you're not trying to create a 'sugar gradient' through the wort, you stir the sugars into a uniform solution and just run it off. I run off a few quarts slowly (so as not to swiftly compact the grainbed) which I recirculate, and then slowly open the valve wide open. Usually drains in less than 5 minutes by which time I have the next batch of water ready to go.

Baron von BeeGee said:

Yep, you just let it rip. There's no advantage to draining slowly because you're not trying to create a 'sugar gradient' through the wort, you stir the sugars into a uniform solution and just run it off. I run off a few quarts slowly (so as not to swiftly compact the grainbed) which I recirculate, and then slowly open the valve wide open. Usually drains in less than 5 minutes by which time I have the next batch of water ready to go.

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That rocks.

I actually had formed a plan for fashioning a hot liquor tank from a cooler I already own and some cheap CPVC for a valve and sparge arm, etc. I would only have cost a couple bucks, literally. But the time is the big thing. I'm definitely going to try batch sparging. (I'm making a MLT from a 34 quart cooler with a CPVC manifold. I just need to decide whether to do it fancy by drilling the cooler or easy by just using siphon action.)

Baron von BeeGee said:

... by which time I have the next batch of water ready to go.

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I heat all the sparge water (make it hotter than necessary and lower it's temp later if necessary) beforehand and keep it in a big cooler. Come sparging time I ladle the water into the MLT for each batch.

BeeGee, I'll try to let it rip next time. Thanks for the tip.

Kai

Kaiser said:

I heat all the sparge water (make it hotter than necessary and lower it's temp later if necessary) beforehand and keep it in a big cooler. Come sparging time I ladle the water into the MLT for each batch.

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I thought about doing it that way, but my batches are at two different temperatures...one for the saccharification, and then my next batch is hotter for mash out.

Although, come to think of it, my strike temp for saccharification isn't really much different from my mashout temps...perhaps I thought about this one too much and brainlocked.

Oh yeah, and since I got my 36qt cooler I only do two batches, so there's not that much heating to do.

Not coincidentally, I just started another thread on getting poor (70% vs 80%) efficiencies when I mash wheat-based grists (>50%). I'm wondering if this is the Achilles Heel of batch sparging, a problem with my process, or if it's common regardless of sparge method.

Baron von BeeGee said:

Not coincidentally, I just started another thread on getting poor (70% vs 80%) efficiencies when I mash wheat-based grists (>50%). I'm wondering if this is the Achilles Heel of batch sparging, a problem with my process, or if it's common regardless of sparge method.

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I have not used wheat yet, so I don't have any data to add to this.

Kai

Speaking of sparging, I am too dang cheap to buy a pvc home-made looking sparge arm when I should have the skills to make such an item. Does anyone have plans, etc for making an economical sparge arm?? Thanks!

how long then does it typically take to batch sparge a five-six gallon batch of beer? i'm loggin close to an hour to collect about 6.5-7 gallons of wort fly sparging, and i'm not certian my efficiancy is all that great. i'd love to cut my sparge time in half if i could.

I'm sure there are people here who can help, but a thread on batch sparging probably isn't the ideal place to look.

sorry, didn't mean to intrude!

t1master said:

how long then does it typically take to batch sparge a five-six gallon batch of beer? i'm loggin close to an hour to collect about 6.5-7 gallons of wort fly sparging, and i'm not certian my efficiancy is all that great. i'd love to cut my sparge time in half if i could.

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You can easily be done with sparging within 20-30 min, depending on how long you let the mash sit after each sparge.

Kai

Biermann said:

sorry, didn't mean to intrude!

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Didn't mean to imply you're intruding...just that you don't need a whirly-gig thingy if you're batch sparging, so your question might get lost in this particular thread. Look for a thread on fly sparging, or do a search on sparge-arm...I'm sure I've seen people talk about building their own here.

I've been batch sparging, which led me to this thread. My efficiency has been hanging around high 60's to 70%. I wanted to get some advice on it. I was also wanting to try other methods. I'll do a more thorough search on the other methods. Thanks.

Baron von BeeGee said:

I like it because it's fast. My time is worth a lot more than a few efficiency points and the pound of grain it takes to make up for them (to me, anyways).

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I like fly sparging because it is slow. I enjoy savoring the brewing process . . . and it is a very relaxing time when you are watching water drips trickle into the mash while the homebrews are flowing (more rapidly, mind you) . . .