Mash Out with Single Sparge vs. No Mash Out with Double Sparge

I have a recipe for a porter with 14.25 lbs grain. I'm mashing 4.25 gallons water at 152 degrees for an hour. I'm going to lose about 1.75 gallons to grain absorption, and I want 6.5 gallons in the kettle.

Which scenario gives me better efficiency:

1. Add 1.75 gal boiling water (calculated) to raise mash temp to 168 degrees. Let it sit 10 min, then vorlauf. Do a single sparge of 2.25 gallons.

2. No mash out, two separate sparges of 2 gallons each.

Cheers

I do a double sparge. I let it rest for about ten minutes before draining. It makes me happy.

I have no idea of the efficiency though.


Also, check out the threads appearing at the bottom of the page.

You may end up with a slightly more or less fermentable wort with no mashout as the alpha-amylase will continue to work after a 60 minute mash. Mashing out will lock in the beer profile by denaturing both the beta and alpha amylase chains. Supposedly mashing out will make the wort less viscous and you may get slightly more sugars that drain off the grain. I'd be surprised if this gets you more than a point or two in efficiency though.

you can do a double sparge with a mashout. Mashout with boiling water as you would in scenario 1 then the second sparge should be with 168-170 degree water.

You'll get a bunch of a opinions on this, but it really depends on some key variables.

If you are getting 100% conversion in the mash, then you'll hit a higher efficiency with the double batch sparge and no mashout. If you aren't getting full conversion, then a mashout will give you an extra 10 minutes of conversion time at a higher (faster acting) temp. That will up your efficiency but also decrease the fermentability of the wort.

So to be clear then..

If I don't do a mash out, then the first sparge water needs to be hot enough to raise the temp of the mash to 168, correct? Do I need to be exact or does it just have to get somewhere above 168?

I'm trying to figure out what temperature the first sparge water should be.

Go to tastybrew.com. They have a bunch of calculators and sparge is one of them. You dont want the grain bed to get much over 170 as youll risk extracting tannins. 168 is a ballpark number

Go to tastybrew.com. They have a bunch of calculators and sparge is one of them. You dont want the grain bed to get much over 170 as youll risk extracting tannins. 168 is a ballpark number

Your sparge doesn't need to be exactly the right temp. You'll gain a little extra sugar if you get closer to 170, but sugar dissolves almost as well in 152 water as 168, so don't worry too much about it. Any of the calculators will get you in the right ballpark.

The risk of "tannins" in a batch sparge is pretty much zero. Unless your water is really, really basic, the grains will pull the PH down low enough that tannins are a non-issue.

I've been working the efficiency of my AG brews up to the point where I'm happy: I get a better crush at the LHBS than my preferred online vendor; I have to be patient *and* tip the mash tun when draining (give it 10 minutes longer than I want, usually), stir the stuffing out of the mash to get the temperature even, and make sure I mash it out hot enough (168-170). On the first few batches the mash out water was too cool/too small, and draining at 162 didn't work near as well.

I normally mash in at about 1.3 qt/lb and mash out at a total of 2 qt/lb +/- 0.1. The 0.65-0.7 qt/lb of mash out is the right volume to go in at boiling and bring the whole mash to 170 F. Again, that goes in while stirring to make sure nothing over heats and pulls tannins.