Disadvantages of not sparging and hop bags?

[roosmur]

I have an all grain process, producing batches of 5 gallons and get good yields and nice beer when fly sparging. On my latest batch, I must admit I was in a hurry and simply added the Beersmith calculated amount of water to my mash tun (the mash water + sparged water amounts all in one go, at my strike temperature at the beginning of the mash) I then mashed for the normal time and got the right amount of wort at the right gravity when I tapped to my boiler. Which got me thinking : why do we sparge at all?

On another note, I used a hop bag for my hops in this batch. I usually put leaf hops in directly and then catch them in my hop strainer at the end of the boiling process, but then my kettle is a pain to clean, as is the hop strainer. With the hop bags I had an easy to clean kettle after boiling. Is there any disadvantage in not having your hops "boiling free" in the boil?

I am all about saving time, and making things easier, but know that this usually means you are cutting a corner somewhere and will not get good results. I can't think why I would compromise my results here though?

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

https://byo.com/stories/item/1375-skip-the-sparge by the one n only John Palmer.

No sparge seems to be ok, although you typically should use a bigger grain bill to avoid tannin extraction.

Hop bags (little ones) reduce hop utilization. Use a hop spider with a large nylon mesh bag so the hops are free to swim.

 

[roosmur]

Ah, a hop spider is a good idea indeed. Create space around the hops but still keep things clean. I have done some more research about the no sparge btw and I have found that the mash water:grist ratio affects your mash pH quite a bit when there is high residual alkalinity. So if you are brewing darker beers and have adjusted your water to accommodate acidic malt, a no sparge technique might keep you too high in your mash pH. I was luckily making a bohemian pilsner so was using low RA, but that kind've makes sense.

 

[roosmur]

I have just seen the palmer post. Excellent! This is precisely what I was going to ask next : how to convert recipes for a no sparge technique.

So basically if you are happy to get a lower yield from your grain (home brewers probably throw more grain away than this difference anyway) you might as well skip the sparge. Also, I like the way he adds the remaining water at the end of the mash. I didn't do this. I added it at the beginning. Hence we do away with the mash pH issues from too much buffering. So, scale up your grain bill, mash, add the final water and drain the whole thing into the kettle and away you go.

I have just changed technique after 10y of brewing...

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

Meh, adding the water at the end is just as much work as batch sparging once, methink. Measure water, watch water temp, struggle to keep it stable until you need it...

No thanks! But glad you like it!

 

[roosmur]

My takeaway from the palmer article was that he didn't seem to be too particular about the water temperature of that final addition. Ie more like just dump the remaining water from the HLT into the mash tun before you tap to the boiler. Certainly food for thought. I am going to try my next batch like that and will post up here and let you know the way it worked out.

 

[gbx]

No-sparge is awesome for session strength beers. Don't worry about your efficiency. I know people who are proud of their 80% efficiency but only get 3 batches per tank of propane (my 60% and 7 batches per tank costs less). My no sparge efficiency changes depending on the OG: 80% for 1.035 dropping to 60% for 1.050 (my limit for no sparge). You'll need to figure it out for your system and it will probably take a few batches.

Same thing with hop bags. I think they are worth it if using pellets because they make such a mess if left to roam free but you will need to add a few more to hit the same ibu's. Most brewing software will calculate it for you. If using whole flower hops, I don't bother.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

My takeaway from the palmer article was that he didn't seem to be too particular about the water temperature of that final addition. Ie more like just dump the remaining water from the HLT into the mash tun before you tap to the boiler. Certainly food for thought. I am going to try my next batch like that and will post up here and let you know the way it worked out.

No-sparge is awesome for session strength beers. Don't worry about your efficiency. I know people who are proud of their 80% efficiency but only get 3 batches per tank of propane (my 60% and 7 batches per tank costs less). My no sparge efficiency changes depending on the OG: 80% for 1.035 dropping to 60% for 1.050 (my limit for no sparge). You'll need to figure it out for your system and it will probably take a few batches.

Same thing with hop bags. I think they are worth it if using pellets because they make such a mess if left to roam free but you will need to add a few more to hit the same ibu's. Most brewing software will calculate it for you. If using whole flower hops, I don't bother.

Ye got more XP than me on the matter, but simplifying process for session beers is nice. It makes sense that as long as the temp is high enough to stop conversion, it's not so important.

 

[butterpants]

Using a pump and plate chiller, hop bags are really the way to go. I couldn't live without them n my hop spider.

 

[Skarekrough]

Generally I will sparge of some type when I'm doing a shorter mash. I teach a homebrew class and will Sparge since it's usually part of the process and there's usually time on hand.

I will say that 90% of my brewing I do an overnight mash where there is no sparging and I usually do better than 80% efficiency. The only issue I have is that some of my specialty grains I need to do either in the mash tun an hour or so before I mash out or in the kettle in a muslin bag.