Sparge Question - Noob

I'm new to all-grain brewing (did about 3 extract batches). I have one AG batch under my belt and it tastes surprisingly good. However, I'm confused on the sparging process.

My equipment is a 10gal home depot MLT, 7.5gal boil kettle, and a 2gal boil pot as well as some other handled pots for catching runnings.

For my first batch, I drained the wort from my MLT into a pot (after vorlaufing) and started pouring into my brew kettle. Once most of it drained out, I started pouring in sparge water (I used my 2gal pot to heat the water on the stove). I needed 4.4gal of sparge water @ 178°. So I poured in the close to 2gals of water into the MLT and kept catching the runnings and poured them into the brew kettle. I brought more water to around the target temp using the 2gal pot and poured that into the MLT. I was just trying to hit a 6.5gal preboil volume.

I guess what I did was considered fly sparging. I was really unscientific when doing the sparge...my sparge volume wasn't calculated (I just tried to guesstimate using my 2gal pot) and my sparge temperature was pretty inexact. I think I would rather batch sparge and get all 4.4gal at one temperature in my brew kettle rather than rushing to heat another batch of 2gal sparge water.

1. If I do batch sparging instead, I just add 4.4gal of water @ 178° right into the MLT after the mash timer expires, vorlauf and drain into the kettle?
2. If I continue to do fly sparging, how does one get 4.4gal of water without a second brew kettle? I would need another 2gal pot plus a kitchen pot I guess.

It does sound like a type of fly sparging. I have a set-up similar to yours and what I do is vorlauf and collect first runnings. Add first batch of sparge water, stir like crazy and let it sit for 10 min. Vorlauf and collect second runnings. Repeat. I calculate may amounts based on what I need to collect to get to pre-boil volume, typically 2-2.5 gal each sparge.

I batch sparge, the way I do it is fairly simple, I usually mash at a ratio of 1.5:1, after the mash I heat my mashout water to temp, add to the mash tun, stir and give it 5-10 min to get the grainbed up to temp, vorlauf and drain into my keggle, I then heat 1/2 of my sparge water and dump it into the mash tun, stir like mad and let it rest for another 5-10 min, vorlauf again, drain into keggle and repeat the above steps with the second 1/2 of the sparge water.

What is holding your sparge water that you are adding to the MLT?

I boil in a keggle (a keg with the top cut off and a valve at the bottom to drain it), I use the original turkey fryer pot to heat the water additions, makes life a lot easier, I also use a pair of welding gloves to pick up the pot to dump the water into the mash tun. this is a huge improvement from using oven mits, or pot holders/towels.

So it sounds like I need something with more volume than my 2gal pot.

I think I have maybe two solutions to have 4.4gals of sparge water on hand:

1. Buy a smaller kettle....like 5gallons. Use that instead of my 2gal pot for heating sparge water.
2. Use a 5gal rubbermaid cooler I have in my garage (currently unused and unconverted). While I'm mashing, use the 2gal pot to heat water and dump it into the 5gal rubbermaid. I'll do this 2 or 3 times to get 4.4 gals in there. When it's time to lauter and sparge, transfer this water to a pot or something to dump into MLT in batches.

This is the perfect time of the year to pick up an inexpensive large Tamale pot, my local grocery store sells them for around 24 dollars for a 6 or 7 gallon aluminum pot, I have also spotted a 60qt "steamer" pot at Home Depot for 28 dollars on clearance.

BrewThruYou said:

1. If I do batch sparging instead, I just add 4.4gal of water @ 178° right into the MLT after the mash timer expires, vorlauf and drain into the kettle?

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I find I get noticeably better efficiency by doing two smaller batches instead of one giant batch sparge. But that's a luxury, not a requirement. If your equipment/kitchen dictates a certain process, just go with it and your beer will still be delicious

BrewThruYou said:

2. Use a 5gal rubbermaid cooler I have in my garage (currently unused and unconverted). While I'm mashing, use the 2gal pot to heat water and dump it into the 5gal rubbermaid. I'll do this 2 or 3 times to get 4.4 gals in there. When it's time to lauter and sparge, transfer this water to a pot or something to dump into MLT in batches.

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That'd work if you didn't want to buy another pot, and then you'd call it a Hot Liquor Tank, or HLT.

BrewThruYou said:

So it sounds like I need something with more volume than my 2gal pot.

I think I have maybe two solutions to have 4.4gals of sparge water on hand:

1. Buy a smaller kettle....like 5gallons. Use that instead of my 2gal pot for heating sparge water.
2. Use a 5gal rubbermaid cooler I have in my garage (currently unused and unconverted). While I'm mashing, use the 2gal pot to heat water and dump it into the 5gal rubbermaid. I'll do this 2 or 3 times to get 4.4 gals in there. When it's time to lauter and sparge, transfer this water to a pot or something to dump into MLT in batches.

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The cooler should work and be the cheapest solution. If you are willing to invest I would suggest another pot in the 8+ gallon range.

I started with extract and a 5g pot. When going AG I bought an 8g pot. I converted a 48qt cooler to be the mash tun. The 8g pot is my boil kettle and the 5g pot heats my water in most cases. There are some recipes (not many) where the 5g pot is not enough. Most recipes require 4+ gallons and that gets pretty full in the 5g pot and it's easy to spill.

If I make another purchase I will probably get a 10g or 15g pot. With a 15g pot I could eventually upgrade it to a mash tun. I like the idea of using a pot for a mash tun so I can better control the temp. But if I don't upgrade it I still have no issues with the 8g pot for heating water.