Sparging on the Grainfather

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MeanLowerLow

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So I wanted to start a separate thread from the "Grainfather!!" to specifically discuss sparging.

How is everyone doing it?

I have been using a kettle, heating it on my stove then transferring to a pitcher to pour slowly over the grainbasket. But this is a pain. Plus, I'd like to automate this more.

So now my ideas are to either:

A) Get a small kettle with a ball valve and thermometer (similar to the new anvil kettle, but brand isn't the point here), then elevate the kettle and set the valve to sparge - of course I would need to set the kettle on something that could withstand the heat. Price around $130-150 for decent quality kettle with valve and thermometer, but then I have to monitor the temperature myself (which hasn't been too difficult so far). I suppose I could also get an electric induction countertop burner for around $60 that would prevent me having to move 4 gallons of hot water.

B) Get a GF electric sparge water heater, hook up a ball valve to it, and use that for in the same way as above, Price around $200 for the heater and the ball valve - but can control and maintain the temp on its own.

My buddy at the LHBS suggested a Blichman auto-sparge, but I don't think that would work for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the GF basket is not 12", and also 1-2" of wort on top of the basket is way more than the recommended 10mm, and would likely go down the overflow.

What are your thoughts? How are you sparging on your Grainfather?
 
I have the GF sparge heater, a ball valve would be nice. I've just been pouring a half gallon at a time
 
I just did my first batch last week when I received the unit. I did stove top and pitcher method but am looking at getting the sparge water heater but they are out of stock. I went on Amazon to check out coffee heater and found one that I might hook up a temp controller to and ball valve. I hit my efficacy spot on but it seems to be a little elementary to pour over a pitcher at a time. I would really like to extend the arm of the unit to pour in water and recirculate when the basket it lifted! Just an idea
 
I don't have a GF, (it is on my wish list) but the easiest seems to be to get a pot with a ball valve, set it on a stove with the GF below. Use gravity to sparge. Or if it needs to be higher, make a stand for a hot plate or induction burner.

Since you are only heating water and 5 gallons should be enough a cheap stock pot would work. I got one at a local discount chain for $19. Add a ball valve and a piece of tubing and it could be done for less than $75.
 
I have my GF on the floor and an Anvil BK that is higher than the top of the grain basket when lifted. The Anvil BK sits on an induction heater. I put all my water into the Anvil BK, add all my water additions and then gravity drain it into the kettle for the initial mash leaving just behind what I need for my sparge. I crank the induction heater to max and by the time my mash is over I have reached my sparge temp and I lower the settings on the induction top to hold my sparge temp and then just slowly control the sparge flow with the ball valve.


So far it's working great

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Interesting. I would have thought batch size would have been limited by how much volume they could boil on 120V...

From what I've read, folks routinely boil 7 gallons in them. Just takes it a while to get there.

Personally, I boil 7 gallons with about 1800 watts total. I've also boiled 13 gallons with about 2500 watts with one 1500 watt element at 100% and the other set to 70%. Boiled off about 3 quarts in an hour's time.
 
Tried to do a triple bel this week but got a stuck sparge. Sucked. First one. Not happy but at the end, I think I learned a lot. Any troubles with this?
 
They can be, but my understanding is that you can't make a no sparge 5 gallon batch. Most folks sparge.

I simply up the mash water and the grain bill and I dont bother sparging.I am not worried about efficiency as I am not Annheiser Busch or Coors etc.

I buy my malt in multiple bags at a time at a cost of less than .50 cents a pound for ESB/Pale Ale/Munich/Vienna.If I use 16 pounds of malt and mash with 7 gallons of water and I end up with 6 gallons of wort to boil and end up with 5 it is all good with no worry about extracting tannins at all.

Typical cost for me to make a batch of beer is $12 including malt/hops/additives/yeast as I buy everything in bulk.

My view is that the Grainfather is a constant recirculation mash system so it doesn not need a sparge if you over do it on the grain bill.

Never had a bad beer yet nor one that was under volume.

RMCB
 
I have my GF on the floor and an Anvil BK that is higher than the top of the grain basket when lifted. The Anvil BK sits on an induction heater. I put all my water into the Anvil BK, add all my water additions and then gravity drain it into the kettle for the initial mash leaving just behind what I need for my sparge. I crank the induction heater to max and by the time my mash is over I have reached my sparge temp and I lower the settings on the induction top to hold my sparge temp and then just slowly control the sparge flow with the ball valve.


So far it's working great

The overflow inlet (part number 36) that fits onto the top of the overflow pipe in your photo is upside down. Just a friendly FYI.
 
I have the GF sparge heater, a ball valve would be nice. I've just been pouring a half gallon at a time

This is my method of sparging and on average takes 20 mins or so. I usually hit the Boil switch as soon as I lift the grain bucket up so we can work to the boil faster and I let the grain to continue dripping after I use all the sparge water until just before the boil. Might as well get every last drop of goodness.
 
The overflow inlet (part number 36) that fits onto the top of the overflow pipe in your photo is upside down. Just a friendly FYI.

lol thanks. Wasn't actually brewing here just cleaned everything and moved it to it's new place and testing out the new induction cook top.
 
AKbrew907, judging from your name you are clearly up in Alaska. Which part? I have friends in Homer, Cordova, Kodiak, etc. How do you manage fermentation temps?
 
AKbrew907, judging from your name you are clearly up in Alaska. Which part? I have friends in Homer, Cordova, Kodiak, etc. How do you manage fermentation temps?

About an hour north of Anchorage.


I have a stand up freezer that I currently use for fermenting and temp control and another fridge freezer that I have my keg in right now. In the process of building a custom fermentation chamber though that will also dub as my brewing station.

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So I settled in modifying an electric Grainfather sparge heater. I added a ball valve to control the flow and a thermometer to dial in the temp. I am happy I used the thermometer and the switch on the sparge heater thermostat has about 5° of "float" so it is difficult to dial in without the thermometer.

If I were going to do it again, I would have used a smaller valve. It's all my LHBS had and while I am able to dial it in, I feel I would have had more control and an easier time controlling the flow with a smaller valve.

All in all I am happy with the automation. It does still require monitoring and adjustment of the valve a few times but still way easier than the pitcher method!

I should also add that I measured and the sight glass is spot on the heater as packaged. However despite my best intentions, my valve is .25L short. It's easy enough though, I just ad 1/4L to my desired sparge volume when reading from the sight glass.

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If I were going to do it again, I would have used a smaller valve. It's all my LHBS had and while I am able to dial it in, I feel I would have had more control and an easier time controlling the flow with a smaller valve.

Smaller valve might help, but really the type of valve you're using (ball valve) is not the best for controlling flow. If you decide to change it out one day, look for a globe valve or even a needle valve.

Ball valves are best suited on/off applications. But it just so happens that's the only kind of valve many LHBSs, and online retailers that cater to the home brew industry, carry. So we make do with what we have essay access to.
 
Interesting... Could I get a globe or needle valve that would thread onto the weldless fitting used by the ball valve? Do you happen to have a link?

That's a great piece of info... I wish I had known it a bit sooner!
 
Interesting... Could I get a globe or needle valve that would thread onto the weldless fitting used by the ball valve? Do you happen to have a link?

That's a great piece of info... I wish I had known it a bit sooner!

Something like this should work. LINK
 
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Can I ask a total-newb question? I'm asking in this thread because my question is about sparging on the Grainfather. I want one of these and that's the only way I'll ever do all-grain brewing, and the sparge is my one last thing to worry about.

When sparging, why can't you just hook up the pump and hose on the Grainfather to recirculate the wort back over the grains? Set the temp control for whatever temp, and then start the motor. Sparge for X minutes, as dictated by the recipe.

Thanks!
-Johntodd
 
When sparging, why can't you just hook up the pump and hose on the Grainfather to recirculate the wort back over the grains? Set the temp control for whatever temp, and then start the motor. Sparge for X minutes, as dictated by the recipe.

The sparge step is simply rinsing the grains of any remaining sugars. You want to use fresh water because it does a better job of that than recirculating wort will. The wort already has sugar in it and may be saturated, or close to it. Fresh water doesn't have any sugar so in theory you should do a better job of rinsing.

What you could do is a full volume mash, like BIAB, and just recirculate during the mash like normal, pull the grains and start the boil skipping the sparge step completely. Your efficiency will likely suffer a bit but if you don't mind spending a couple extra bucks in grain it should work.
 
The main reason I want the Grainfather is because of it's temperature control. I want to get away from heating water on the stove with a thermometer; it's a pain.

Could I just sparge with my 120* tap water?
 
If I use 16 pounds of malt and mash with 7 gallons of water and I end up with 6 gallons of wort to boil and end up with 5 it is all good with no worry about extracting tannins at all.
RMCB

How is it possible for 16lbs of grain to only absorb 1 gallon of water when mashed? Doesn't absorption run about 1-1.25 qt/lb???
 
I use the Grainfather Sparge heater and pour a quart at a time.(the company with the bear logo had them in stock).

Part of the reason I got the grainfather was because I was tired of lifting water up 5' high, running hose, playing with pumps, lighting burners etc.

A Grainfather brew day is nice and simple. Sipping a beer and sparging for 20 minutes is far from a hardship to me!! :) I've hit my target OG or better with every batch I've done.

Just one brewers opinion!
 
No. The 1 - 1.25 qt / lb ratio is for traditional mash. My biab system has about .08 gallons per pound of water absorption.

RMCB was referencing his absorption rate on the grain father which is more of a traditional mash not BIAB. My last brew on the grainfather was 10lb grain bill and I mashed with 5g and sparged with 4g and ended with 6g after chilling. So his claim of 1g absorption for 16lbs of grains seems totally off.
 
I do a hybrid sparge with the Grainfather. After mashout, position the pump arm to drain to a kettle. Make sure you turn the heating elements off so you don't pop the scorch breaker. Personally, I put the kettle on the stove to hasten the boiling process, but I suppose you don't have to. Then remove the top strainer and stir in as much of your calculated sparge water that will fit. You can turn the heat back on after you added a couple of gallons. Return the pump arm and recirculate until you reach 170 F. Pull up the grain basket and set your temp to boil. Pour your remaining sparge water as you would your typical fly sparge.

Water temp at this point has a negligible effect because
a) The grains have already gotten a good rinse
b) The grains are already hot enough to keep the viscosity low.

I use hot water out of the tap. Some people scoff at this citing a greater risk of leached metals from the plumbing. I grew up during the 60's and 70's so I ain't afraid.
 
I do a hybrid sparge with the Grainfather. After mashout, position the pump...

So, I am curious. What kind of numbers are you getting this way? To ball-park it, what would you expect with an ordinary 10Lb grain recipe for OG/FG? Better yet, do you have a %brewhouse efficiency? Mine is low per GF directions...looking for alternative sparging ideas...
 
I can't really say with a 10# grain bill- I have not done a batch < 19#

I was getting pretty low results, like 62%. With the hybrid sparge it has gone up to 78%. I found that pushing it to 20# does more harm than good.
 
Okay, thanks for the info...I've done several between 10-17Lbs grain and getting around 65%...78% is much better. Will try it, but also keep digging to get over 80. Improving this system's efficiency is tough to figure out! I need help from a German ha.
 
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I found on the larger grain beds, I was looping the recirculating hose around the outer edge. This was causing the wort to whirlpool down the side instead of through the wort. Trim the hose so it goes through the wort and not the size. Also longer rests are needed to convert all that grain.

Pull the basket up to drain as much wort as possible. Even better remove the basket and scrape out any crud sticking to the heating element and remove any trub. Then add as much sparge water as you can. Stir, then wait. It seems like you can always put a little more in after it soaks a bit.

You can do a partigyle brew like this too.
 
Ok here's a question you guys with the GF might be able to ask.

My sparges are running fast.
Like super fast.
And I'm thinking this is one of the major causes of not hitting my EOG.

And when I say fast...I pull the basket up, press the top grate down right over top of grain and slowly pour the sparge water as slow as possible while still maintaining some water on top of the grainbed/grate. All good right?
I fill a half gallon pitcher for each pour...and as slow as possible to maintain some water on the grate is nearly a full pour...as in about as fast as my GF Sparge heater can fill a half gallon pitcher!

The sparge is just free flowing through the grains....which I wouldn't complain about, but I'm missing OG's by 10 points or more.

So I'm sparging (for example on my last Irish Red brew) a 3.6G sparge in roughly 3 minutes...and missing the OG by 10 points.


I've considered rigging something to the recirculation arm as to recirc the wort with the sparge just to make the process longer (I've always heard a good sparge is 45 minutes)


Thoughts?
 
Ok here's a question you guys with the GF might be able to ask.

My sparges are running fast.
Like super fast.
And I'm thinking this is one of the major causes of not hitting my EOG.

And when I say fast...I pull the basket up, press the top grate down right over top of grain and slowly pour the sparge water as slow as possible while still maintaining some water on top of the grainbed/grate. All good right?
I fill a half gallon pitcher for each pour...and as slow as possible to maintain some water on the grate is nearly a full pour...as in about as fast as my GF Sparge heater can fill a half gallon pitcher!

The sparge is just free flowing through the grains....which I wouldn't complain about, but I'm missing OG's by 10 points or more.

So I'm sparging (for example on my last Irish Red brew) a 3.6G sparge in roughly 3 minutes...and missing the OG by 10 points.


I've considered rigging something to the recirculation arm as to recirc the wort with the sparge just to make the process longer (I've always heard a good sparge is 45 minutes)


Thoughts?

Don't recirc the wort with the sparge. That will just put sugar back in the grain bed. You're trying to rinse sugar out of the grain bed with the sparge. Rinsing only works if you use a liquid with lower concentration of the solute (sugar in our case) than the liquid that was previously in contact with whatever you are trying to rinse. You can't rinse dishes by putting them back into the soapy water.

Brew on :mug:
 
Ok here's a question you guys with the GF might be able to ask.

My sparges are running fast.
Like super fast.
And I'm thinking this is one of the major causes of not hitting my EOG.

And when I say fast...I pull the basket up, press the top grate down right over top of grain and slowly pour the sparge water as slow as possible while still maintaining some water on top of the grainbed/grate. All good right?
I fill a half gallon pitcher for each pour...and as slow as possible to maintain some water on the grate is nearly a full pour...as in about as fast as my GF Sparge heater can fill a half gallon pitcher!

The sparge is just free flowing through the grains....which I wouldn't complain about, but I'm missing OG's by 10 points or more.

So I'm sparging (for example on my last Irish Red brew) a 3.6G sparge in roughly 3 minutes...and missing the OG by 10 points.


I've considered rigging something to the recirculation arm as to recirc the wort with the sparge just to make the process longer (I've always heard a good sparge is 45 minutes)


Thoughts?

3.6g seems like a lot of sparge water. Are you using grainfather calcs set to 6g batches but doing a 5g recipe?
 
So I wanted to start a separate thread from the "Grainfather!!" to specifically discuss sparging.

How is everyone doing it?

What are your thoughts? How are you sparging on your Grainfather?
Hi. I also posted this earlier in the Grainfather!! thread, but though it appropriate here as well. I bought a 5 gallon water cooler to use as a Hot Liquor Tank (HLT.) I replaced the stock spigot with 1/2" bucket spigot and use a piece of 1/2" silicone tubing to reach the basket to sparge. What I do is heat all the water of a batch in the GF kettle to strike, then pump off the sparge amount into the cooler before doughing in. It stays nice and hot while I mash. The spigot is great to control the flow. Hope that helps. Ed
 
3.6g seems like a lot of sparge water. Are you using grainfather calcs set to 6g batches but doing a 5g recipe?


Nope. My recipe volume was 5G. Technically it was 3.17G of sparge.



Guys at Grainfather suggested I mill my grain finer...but if the sparge was already running through it so fast, wouldn't a finer mill make it that much faster?

Or would the finer grain create a more solid bed?
 
Guys at Grainfather suggested I mill my grain finer...but if the sparge was already running through it so fast, wouldn't a finer mill make it that much faster?

Or would the finer grain create a more solid bed?

My first reaction to your sparge question was that you are milling to coarsely. My sparges take at least 20-30 minutes to add all the water, and another 30+ minutes draining the basket while I'm heating to a boil.

I believe my mill is set somewhere around 0.028.

I have stuck/very slow sparge problems when doing large grain bills over about 17 lbs or more. I've started using a 1/2 pound of rice hulls in all my large grain bills and my sparges still go very slow.
 

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