Can I sparge "from the bottom up"?

[GearJammer]

After reading another thread about adding water to grain or grain to water when doughing in, (some brewers add water through the drain manifold) I was wondering if I can sparge by gravity feeding from the HLT into the manifold at the bottom of the (rectangular cooler) MLT... I just did my first 10g AG with this cooler, so I'm trying to dial in the whole thing...When I was sparging I was sprinkling water over the grains with some rubber tubing, but I know there's a better way.

Or is this idea just heresy?
TIA

 

[HBHoss]

You want to "wash" the grains by letting water flow over them without disrupting the grain bed. If you go from underneath then the bubbling action will disrupt the grain bed and the filter action of it.

 

[Revvy]

You want to "wash" the grains by letting water flow over them without disrupting the grain bed. If you go from underneath then the bubbling action will disrupt the grain bed and the filter action of it.

Actually that's not quite true, there are systems that fill and empty from the bottom. There is a podcast on the Australian Homebrewing website that talks about exactly what you want to do...Unfortunately their archives aren't tagged all that well, so it's hard to pinpoint the right podcast to you it might be one about "alternative sparge methods" or one of the one's where the hosts talk about their herms or rims setups.

But I do recall a discussion about bottom up sparging, because like Hoss, I assumed that it couldn't be done, and was surprised that the aussies were messing with it.

http://radio.craftbrewer.org/

You'll just have to do some digging on their site.

Good luck!

 

[HBHoss]

Actually that's not quite true, there are systems that fill and empty from the bottom. There is a podcast on the Australian Homebrewing website that talks about exactly what you want to do...Unfortunately their archives aren't tagged all that well, so it's hard to pinpoint the right podcast to you it might be one about "alternative sparge methods" or one of the one's where the hosts talk about their herms or rims setups.

But I do recall a discussion about bottom up sparging, because like Hoss, I assumed that it couldn't be done, and was surprised that the aussies were messing with it.

http://radio.craftbrewer.org/

You'll just have to do some digging on their site.

Good luck!

Figures the Aussies would go from the bottom up since they are south of the equator.
I suppose if you used a ring diffuser to have the HLT go up the sides of the MLT, then drain through the grain it would work. Just have to keep the volume low like a regular top down sparge.

EDIT: Check Northern Brewer's web site or catalog. They have a stationary speage arm that looks like it could work for this. I guess I should have done more thunking before responding.

 

[Revvy]

Figures the Aussies would go from the bottom up since they are south of the equator.
I suppose if you used a ring diffuser to have the HLT go up the sides of the MLT, then drain through the grain it would work. Just have to keep the volume low like a regular top down sparge.

EDIT: Check Northern Brewer's web site or catalog. They have a stationary speage arm that looks like it could work for this. I guess I should have done more thunking before responding.

Well I think it is simply that the water fills from the bottom, then the let it rest to re-set the bed and then drain from the bottom as well. IIRC it's basically just a hose nipple in the bottom of the vessel where water is connected to it, it fills and then they drain it out of a typical false bottom or braid setup. I think it's just a batch sparge setup...I don't think the flysparge with it...it's basically fill with water, let sit and drain.

 

[2funkids]

One thing I noticed when sparging with a sight glass the first few times was that there was a distinct color change in the fluid as the heavier higher gravity wort was pushed out the bottom by the hotter (lower gravity) sparge water. I could actually see the line and sure enough as soon as the line moved far enough down I noticed a huge gravity shift in the runnings. Not sure how this would be effected by bottom up sparging?

 

[GearJammer]

Thanks for all the responses -- you guys are quick! So, if I were to try to do a bottom up, how long should I let the sparge water sit in the MLT so it can 'filter' back through the grains?

 

[Revvy]

Thanks for all the responses -- you guys are quick! So, if I were to try to do a bottom up, how long should I let the sparge water sit in the MLT so it can 'filter' back through the grains?

Your guess is as good as mine....Probably 15-20 minutes maybe to let everything settle back down. Like I said, do some digging on the aussie site and see if you can find the podcast I heard a couple years ago.

They also have a second site with articles and some even older podcasts (The show actually is the oldest brewing cast in the world, it started over a decade ago in australian radio evidently)

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/

 

[DrDirt]

I don't think this will work very well. The purpose of the sparge is to wash the heavier, sugary wort through the grainbed and into the boil kettle. Fly sparging from the top of the MLT allows the dense wort to drain to the bottom while it's displaced by thinner hot water. If you sparge from the bottom the sugary wort will simply mix with the hot sparge water.
I think you'll end up with something akin to batch sparging, in which case I ask, "why not just batch sparge?"

 

[Edcculus]

Thats kind of what I was thinking. You could fill from the bottom to batch sparge. I'm kind of confused how you would fly sparge this way.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's counter intuitive to try fly sparging in that direction but I always "underlet" my batch sparge infusions from under the false bottom to help dislodge any grain from the holes in the FB.