Improving Mash Eficiency

[jfontenot06]

I am writing this post for all those who gave suffered with low efficiencies on their all grain systems.

I currently mash with a 52 quart rectangular cooler. For my grain bed filter I used a ss mesh that I pulled off a faucet hose and then clamped to my bulkhead. I typically mash in around 155F and check every 15 min o ensure I stay at temp.

I have been using the batch sparge method where I basically mix in water at 175F. I use a sparge water calculator on brew365.com. I the. Let the grain bed drain for an hour. I also do a vorlouf at the beginning of the sparge.

I have been getting very low efficiencies around 60% for my last 4 batches. All of my grain is crushed at the local brew shop and they claim their customers all get high efficiencies when having the shop crush their grains.

I have made a new grain bed filter and sparge arm out of cpvc. I chose this over PVC for its higher temp rating, however, those ratings are based upon having 100psi on the line. There is no pressure on the plumbing in an all grain system and I believe that PVC would work fine.

When I do my next brew I will update this post with the results of my new efficiency. I hope to achieve 80-85%.





New rectangular cooler sparge arm and grain bed filter.

 

[jbsg02]

One thing that helps me get a few extra points is doing a mash out by adding a few quarts of boiling water to get the mash up to 168

 

[CA_Mouse]

I am interested in your results. I use the same cooler at home for my mash tun and use the SS braid. I typically get efficiency in the mid to low 70s, but would like to bump that to the high 70s low 80s. I, also, drain my MT fairly quickly for batch sparging. Typical 15-16# of grains I'm draining in about 20 minutes and then adding my sparge water, letting that sit about 15 minutes and then draining that in about 15 minutes.

 

[Adaman05]

You are gaining nothing by batch sparging slowly.Fly sparging, on the other hand, should be done slowly.

Have you tried splitting your batch sparge addition into 2 halves? Make sure you are stirring like you mean it...

 

[ajf]

I'm puzzled.
Why have two manifolds?
With batch sparging, you need to vorlauf and drain your first runnings at the end of the mash. Then you need do add your sparge water, stir really well, vorlauf again, and then drain quickly.
If you are adding the sparge water through the top manifold, while simultaneously draining through the bottom, then you are fly sparging, and the bottom manifold, and http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD.html gives some useful pointers about how to construct a manifold for fly sparging. Your current setup would cause channeling.

-a.

 

[jfontenot06]

I will be using the manifold on top to fly sparge. I will set the sparge rate equal to the drain off from the mash tun. I will target 1 hour for the sparge.

The manifolds both have several holes drilled on the bottom. This is not shown in the pics.

The bottom manifold should allow for a fairly even flow profile across the grain bed and channeling should be minimal. I did fill the mash tun with water and then drained. It sucked the mash tun nearly bone dry.

I will admit that the bottom manifold is not perfect. The more runs of pipe used the better your flow profile across the grain bed.

Given that before I was using a single piece of steel mesh I do believe channeling will be greatly reduce with this setup.

Once I post my results of changed mash efficiency I will then decide if my design needs modifications. The fact about brewing is that it is an art as much as a science. If I find that my efficiency is above 80% with my techniques then I will be satisfied with the design. Another person may use slightly different techniques with this design and find lower efficiencies. In either case I will make mods until I reach 80% or better.

 

[ajf]

OK, that makes sense if you're going to switch to fly sparging. I still think that your bottom manifold would be subject to channeling, but much less than with a braid.
If you are going to fly sparge (which I always do), I would recommend doing a mash out by adding about 1 gallon of near boiling water (for a 5 gallon batch) and stirring it in really well, before vorlaufing and starting the sparge. When I started doing this, it increased my efficiency by about 10%.
If your efficiency is still not as good as you want, you could also try a batch sparge with the new set up minus the top manifold. Providing you stir in the mash water sufficiently, channeling is not an issue with batch sparging, as the sugars are extracted by the stirring.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum. (I just noticed your post count).

-a.

 

[billdog]

Ever try adding amylase?

 

[RLinNH]

You are gaining nothing by batch sparging slowly.Fly sparging, on the other hand, should be done slowly.

Have you tried splitting your batch sparge addition into 2 halves? Make sure you are stirring like you mean it...

I disagree. My Eff. numbers go up when I run off my batch sparge at a slower rate.

 

[Yooper]

I disagree. My Eff. numbers go up when I run off my batch sparge at a slower rate.

Then there is an issue with conversion, or some other reason, because the whole point of batch sparging is to "knock" the sugars into suspension. If draining slowly improves the efficiency, then something isn't right.

I don't think the manifold set up in the above picture is well suited to fly sparging, although it would be better than a braid. It'd be a great manifold for batch sparging, but I think there would still be issues with channelling due to the shape of the MLT and the manifold.

 

[ajf]

I disagree. My Eff. numbers go up when I run off my batch sparge at a slower rate.

If your efficiency increases with a slow run off, then you are not stirring enough prior to running off.

With a properly conducted batch sparge, the gravity of the runnings should remain constant from the start of the batch to the end. The duration of the runnings should have no effect.

-a.